Milan: Cassano showing marked improvement
Reuters - Monday 31 October 2011, 21:31
AC Milan and Italy
forward Antonio Cassano, in hospital after being struck
down with an undiagnosed illness on Saturday, has shown a
"marked improvement" the Serie A champions said Monday.
The club denied reports that the famously temperamental
29-year-old player, who was taken ill on the flight back from
the 3-2 win at AS Roma on Saturday, had suffered a stroke.
"AC Milan inform that the news in circulation containing a
hypothetical diagnosis on Antonio Cassano's state of health
cannot be considered true as it does not come from an accredited
medical source," Milan said in a statement.
"AC Milan underline that Antonio Cassano is in a phase of
marked improvement and in the next few days will undergo further
medical examinations."
While Cassano, who appears to have matured and settled down
well since joining Milan at the start of the year, was confined
to a clinic, Milan left for Belarus where they play BATE Borisov
in a Champions League match on Tuesday.
A win could guarantee Milan a place in the last 16 with two
games to spare depending on the result of the Viktoria
Plzen-Barcelona game.
"I know that he feels better and I hope to have him back
with us soon. He is resting and I have felt that he is calm,"
coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters before the team left
Italy.
"The team is calm but disappointed at what his happened.
From the human point of view, it's always disappointing
especially when it happens to a lad of 29.
"Antonio has been playing really well but the important
thing now is to rule out that it's anything dangerous."
Bari-born Cassano has previously played for AS Roma and Real
Madrid in a career marked by tantrums and personality clashes.
Later, in Belarus, Allegri told the pre-match media
conference: "We will play for Antonio. There are so many other
aspects apart from the sporting ones and we're all saddened."