Moratti was speaking in reply to Real Madrid coach Mourinho having claimed earlier that he could see himself returning to coach in Italy again some day.

But while Moratti wasn’t ruling out such a possibility, he said that doesn’t mean he doesn’t trust Mourinho’s successor, Rafael Benitez.

“Everything’s possible but I’m counting on Benitez and I hope he does well because I believe in him,” he told Sky Sport.

“Mourinho also said these things about Chelsea, it’s a cute thing to say but you can’t have nostalgia in life otherwise we should be thinking about (legendary Inter coach Helenio) Herrera.

“We love Mourinho and we’re grateful for what he did but now Benitez is at Inter to do well and we hope to be grateful to him too.”

Italy play Estonia in a Euro 2012 qualifier in Tallinn later on Friday with a much changed side from the one that was humiliated at the World Cup a couple of months ago.

And the former Fiorentina coach believes the 28-year-old Cassano, who was not part of predecessor Marcello Lippi’s plans, is the one who can make his team tick.

“I expect Cassano to be lethal in one-on-one situations, the team have to play for him and he must play for the team,” he told Rai TV.

Prandelli also expressed his belief that in the long run 24-year-old Luca Cigarini, a Napoli player on loan at Sevilla, could be the man to replace playmaker Andrea Pirlo when he hangs up his boots.

“When he was at Parma he was in the under-21 set-up and we called him the professor,” said Prandelli of Cigarini.

“He’s developing a lot in Spain but Pirlo is tying my hands: other than having great technique, he’s also a great professional.”

Coutinho has been much hyped in Italy since Inter bought him two years ago from Vasco da Gama when he was just 16.

He remained in Brazil until this season as Italian league rules stipulate that a foreigner cannot play for an Italian team until he has turned 18.

And as Coutinho plays in a similar ‘trequartista’ position between forwards and midfielders, the comparisons with AC Milan’s Ronaldinho were inevitable.

But Coutinho wants to nip those in the bud straight away.

“I’m just Coutinho, a kid who’s getting better. Ronaldinho is an extra-terrestrial who’s won everything,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He is football. If we have a similarity it’s maybe that we like to start on the left and head for goal.

“But please don’t get us confused. I’d be happy to achieve half of his success.”

But while Coutinho is star-struck by his compatriot, he is also highly impressed by one of his own club team-mates: Wesley Sneijder.

“He deserves the Golden Ball, I watch him in training and I’m enchanted, he’s a legend.

“I’m trying to steal his secret, his speed of thought. His head flies, he sees things before the ball arrives. I need to be quick like Sniejder.”

As for the future, Coutinho is hoping to form part of an attacking trident in the Brazil team to rival the great Ronaldo-Ronaldinho-Rivaldo combination that guided the Selecao to the World Cup in 2002.

Coutinho, Milan’s Pato and Neymar of Santos are three youngsters for whom Brazil has high hopes.

“It would be a great trident but as for a central striker, pay attention to Andre at Dynamo Kiev.

“And you’re forgetting Robinho, another phenomenon. Milan have made a great signing there.”

Donadoni is keen on managing in England and has expressed an interest in succeeding Martin O’Neill at Villa Park.

The 46-year-old has some club management experience after guiding Livorno to Serie A safety before taking the reins at Napoli.

However, Donadoni has been unemployed since leaving Napoli last October.

And Collymore has confirmed the Italian has applied for the post.

“Roberto is a great student of the English game and he is very interested in the job at Aston Villa,” Collymore told skysports.com.

“He knows Villa are a top club with an ambitious owner and he feels he could be a success there.

“Roberto has worked at the highest level and he has always dreamed of coaching in England.

“Roberto has the experience and talent to help develop the best young English talent and also the knowledge to help find the best foreign talent available.”

Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Alan Curbishley and current Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald.

While Serie A rivals AC Milan were relatively quiet in the transfer market until the last few days when they landed two coups, bringing superstars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho to the club, Juve’s policy seemed more one of quantity than quality.

Delneri brought in 10 players while letting the likes of playmaker Diego return to Germany, although he did offload veterans David Trezeguet and Jonathan Zebina.

Although his acquisitions included five full Italy internationals, he was overshadowed by Milan’s dealings.

But Delneri insists he is happy with his buys.

“The club did what it could bearing in mind our technical and economic needs,” he told Friday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“And that’s fine by me because I have a young squad with cover in every position.”

Milan spent 42 million euros on their two marquee signings, far less than Juve spent in total but Delneri argued that his rivals tactic does not guarantee success.

“Milan bought two stars that no one imagined they could but only time will tell who did well (in the transfer market) and who didn’t,” he added.

“I remember a year ago that everyone was eulogising over Juve’s buys. After the first few games they seemed to be able to compete with Inter but then we all know what happened.

“Who guarantees that a star will resolve all your problems? We’ve already got quality given that we’re full of internationals.”

Despite winning their first four games, Juve slumped to their worst ever season in Serie A with records numbers of defeats and goals conceded last time out.

Juventus actually wanted to buy even more players but were snubbed by Antonio Di Natale, Mario Borriello and Georgia centre-back Kakha Kaladze.

Although, that’s not how Delneri sees things.

“Calm down, no one turned us down. Di Natale had already rejected Napoli in a life-choice because he wanted to stay in Udine.

“Borriello preferred another team for contractual reasons while for Kaladze it’s something else altogether.

“But all the others came here running like (Fabio) Quagliarella, showing that they love the shirt.”

Delneri insists Juve will be aiming to qualify for the Champions League this season and he brushed off the scepticism surrounding him, particularly from fans expecting a bigger name at the club’s helm.

This is the biggest job of Delneri’s career. Prior to joining Juve his best achievement as a coach was guiding Sampdoria to fourth place last season.

“Even (Nelson) Mandela was suspicious when he was freed because he was afraid he’d be killed.

“To tell the truth I’ve felt a lot of warmth around me. But who’s sceptical?

“I’d say they’re right because they don’t know me, even if my career numbers are on my side.

“Not least given that last year when I didn’t finish last but 12 points ahead of Juventus.”

Borriello completed a loan move from AC Milan to Roma on transfer deadline day, following the arrivals of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the San Siro.

“With the arrival of Robinho and Ibrahimovic at Milan it was obvious that the spaces for Marco were shrinking,” Borriello’s agent Tiberio Cavalleri told Corriere dello Sport.

“Juventus was the first to move but the loan with no fixed deal was a formula that didn’t convince Marco.

“But there wasn’t only Juve, on Monday, Roberto Mancini called me personally.

“We talked, he wanted Borriello at Manchester City, but then I explained to ‘Mancio’ that Borriello wanted to play in the Champions League while his team is in the Europa League.

“And then, on Tuesday at noon, the plot took a twist.

“Why Roma? Because they have offered to Marco a long-term project, because of the conviction and passion that were in the words of (Roma’s chairwoman) Rosella Sensi, because of the opportunity to play in the Champions League.

“And because of the two text messages that Daniele De Rossi sent to him.”

[Source: Il Corriere dello Sport]

Ibrahimovic completed an initially loan move from Barcelona to AC Milan last week. The deal could turn into a permanent move next summer.

Manchester City were heavily linked with a move for the former Inter Milan striker over the summer.

“City must fight Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal – sides which took years to build,” said Ibrahimovic.

“City are still a side for the future. I chose Milan because they are a team that can win prizes now.

“City can wait for the future but I can’t.”

[Source: Tuttosport]

After an extended honeymoon where Capello was lauded for presiding over an imperious World Cup qualifying campaign, a familiar storyline has unfolded in the wake of England’s calamitous showing in South Africa, which ended with a miserable 4-1 second round defeat to Germany.

Now, just months after being favorably compared to Sir Alf Ramsey, the architect of England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, Capello finds himself subject to the sort of ridicule dished out to less celebrated occupiers of the managerial hotseat known as international football’s “Impossible Job.”

One tabloid even branded him “Jackass” — above a picture of the Italian wearing a pair of super-imposed donkey ears — following his decision to drop Arsenal starlet Jack Wilshere back into England’s Under-21 squad.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, the Daily Mirror called for Capello to be fired next week, regardless of the outcome of England’s opening Euro 2012 Group G qualifiers against Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and Switzerland in Basel next Tuesday.

“It is obvious that it is over for Capello,” the Mirror wrote. “Everybody knows he should be gone already. The FA knows it. The England fans know it. The players know it. And most of all, Capello knows it.”

In public however, Capello has brushed off the criticism with the confidence of a man who amassed five Serie A titles, two La Liga crowns and one European Cup during a glittering career in club management.

“I’ve read and heard a lot of different things but I am focused on my job,” Capello told journalists ahead of the Bulgaria match. “I’m a fighter. It’s my job, I fought for it. I am here because I enjoy my job.

“We must focus on the games we play against Bulgaria and Switzerland – and the future will be to play the finals because England is a very important country to play in the Euros.”

Capello has also dismissed suggestions that his faltering grasp of English has hindered his ability to communicate effectively with his players.

“I never had a problem with the players. When everything was okay I was a fantastic manager, I spoke fantastic English,” Capello said. “After we lose against Germany it’s bad.”

Against Bulgaria on Friday, Capello will be forced to field an untested starting line-up missing injured Chelsea mainstays John Terry (hamstring) and Frank Lampard (hernia) along with long-term casualty Rio Ferdinand.

Injuries have also robbed Capello of two attacking options after Peter Crouch (back) was forced to withdraw from the squad just days after Bobby Zamora suffered a thigh problem.

Capello acknowledged that a Bulgaria team able to call on the technical craft of England-based players Martin Petrov and Stilian Petrov will be more than capable of exploiting any possible gaps in his defence, and he was impressed by their display in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Russia last month.

“It will not be an easy game because they played good football and they played very well against Russia in that game,” Capello said. “They lost 1-0 but they played good football, because technically they are really good.”

Aston Villa skipper Stilian Petrov is determined to end his international career on a high — preferably at England’s expense.

The 31-year-old, who has vowed to retire from international football following the Euro 2012 campaign, is desperate to lead his side to the finals in Poland and Ukraine.

“England will be favourites to go through from our group but I’ve decided this will be my last international campaign and would love to lead Bulgaria to the finals,” he said. “I won’t be too popular at Wembley.

“England are in a period of change but it could go both ways. It could be good for us, it could be bad for us. We hope it will end good for us.”

UEFA told its 53 member associations that it had adopted the ban to protect “Europe’s football culture and tradition”, adding that “the atmosphere at matches would be changed by the sound of the vuvuzela”.

“UEFA has decided that vuvuzelas — the trumpet that came to prominence at games during this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa — may not be brought into stadiums at matches in UEFA competitions,” it announced on its website.

The decision takes immediate effect, days before the kick off the Euro 2012 qualifiers and before the main phases of the Champions League and Europa League get under way this month.

Europe’s footballing chiefs took exception to the introduction of “a continuous loud background noise”, while acknowledging that in South Africa, “the vuvuzela adds a touch of local flavour and folklore”.

The long plastic trumpets brandished by thousands of spectators alternately enchanted or infuriated football supporters, purists, players, coaches and commentators with their incessant soundtrack for the World Cup in South Africa.

Any bans on national league and cup matches in European countries are up to individual associations.

“The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players,” UEFA claimed.

“However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game.”

The governing body headed by ex-French international star Michel Platini defended a European footballing tradition of “singing, chanting, etc.”

National football associations in Europe were told to ensure that clubs involved in UEFA competitions “take all necessary operational measures”.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson was keen to bring in Pavlyuchenko in order to strengthen his attack, but Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was not ready to let the Russian international leave the club.

Hodgson wanted Pavlyuchenko to partner with Fernando Torres in the Liverpool attack, but failed with his move.

Hodgson was desperate to bring in another striker before the transfer window closed and also failed with a move to West Ham striker Carlton Cole.

The Reds were ready to include Ryan Babel in a deal for Cole, but the Dutchman has declared that he does not want to leave Liverpool.

[Source: talkSport]