Good Samaritan Sneijder will show no mercy
Reuters - Friday 24 September 2010, 12:32
MILAN - Brief news ahead of this
weekend's Serie A matches.
Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder has been hailed by a
scooter rider for helping her after an accident in Milan city
centre.
"He didn't have to but he stayed with me to wait for the
ambulance. He showed his sportsmanship off the field too,"
Elisabetta Savazzi told www.gazzetta.it.
The Dutchman will show no mercy on Saturday though when the
champions and Serie A leaders visit beleaguered rivals AS Roma.
Inter are without injured Argentines Javier Zanetti and
Walter Samuel as well as defender Marco Materazzi for the
standout game, back on after the Serie A players' strike was
suspended, so Ivan Cordoba is likely to come into central
defence.
Roma, runners-up last term but in terrible form so far
this season, said in a statement that Francesco Totti and
Daniele De Rossi would be in the squad after missing Wednesday's
2-1 defeat at Brescia through injury.
Defender John Arne Riise returns after several weeks out
with a head knock while Nicolas Burdisso is back from
suspension.
Fellow centre-half Philippe Mexes is banned for three games
and goalkeeper Julio Sergio is out for around a month with ankle
ligament damage, according to media reports, meaning Bogdan
Lobont or forgotten former No. 1 Doni will step in.
Claudio Ranieri's Roma, still linked with ex-Italy boss
Marcello Lippi in the media despite denials, were furious with
the refereeing of Carmine Russo on Wednesday and the official
has been given a weekend off for the fifth round of matches,
Serie A said in a statement.
Napoli's highly-rated Slovakia midfielder Marek Hamsik has
extended his contract until 2015, the club said in a statement,
giving Walter Mazzarri's side a boost for Sunday's game at
Cesena after their inconsistent start to the campaign.
Faltering AC Milan host Genoa on Saturday with
in-form Kevin Prince Boateng available despite being owned by
the visitors.
The Ghana midfielder was bought by Genoa from Portsmouth and
bizarrely loaned to Milan on the same day, the fourth player
transfer between the clubs in the August window.
English side Portsmouth have said they are unhappy that
Genoa have not paid their first instalment of the fee.
Juventus entertain Cagliari on Sunday with coach
Luigi Del Neri pulling his grey hair out after Thursday's 3-1
defeat by Palermo following a 4-0 weekend win over Udinese.
"We've taken a step backwards," he told reporters. "We have
defects which we have not yet managed to correct."
This weekend's matches were due to be called off because
of a players' strike in a dispute over a collective contract and
other matters.
Negotiations led to the walkout being postponed pending more
talks but the players' union has won the battle to have matches
on the national holiday of Jan.6 moved.
Serie A bosses have said the January 6 matches will now take
place on January 19 rather than December 22 as first announced.
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