Inter-ness: Kicking Ass for Once
(Miss me?)
For a change this weekend, Inter came out strong and put the game away inside 20 minutes. How long has it been since we saw actual focus and movement at the start of a match? Too damn long, that's for sure. I don't care if was against Livorno, it was awfully nice to see. Two goals by Suazo within less than five minutes and, apart from a couple fantastic saves by the ever-reliable JC and one helpful goalpost, it was pretty quiet from there on out.
Oh, and some Portuguese guy made his first appearance in more than three months. The supporters seemed pretty happy about that.
Inter 2 - 0 Livorno
Suazo 14, 18 (I)
Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon (Figo 72), Burdisso, Chivu, Maxwell; Zanetti, Pelé, Cambiasso, Stankovic (Maniche 68); Suazo, Crespo (Materazzi 85)
Livorno: Amelia; Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante; Balleri (Rossini 71), Pulzetti (Vailatti 68), De Vezze (A Filippini 80), Vidigal, Pasquale; Diamanti, Bogdani
"Thank you. Thankyouverymuch."
(Trying to sort out the morons.)
Tifosi say "Yay!"
So, Crespo started, and played 80 minutes!
It, um, didn't go that well.
(You can tell things are bad when the ironic grin comes out.)
Like, you forgot he was out there at all for long stretches.
This pretty much sums up his whole match: "Aw, shucks."
In better news, look!
FIGOOOOOOO! He played 18 glorious minutes.
And, yeah, I'm biased, but I thought he was damn good.
Please notice Pasquale's totally ghetto sock situation. Love, love, love.
So, Suazo.
He played a lot, and played well -- had the coordination working, MOTM-style.
He made this face (I've decided it means "Oh, soclose!") very, very infrequently.
Doh!
Things were going so well, he even had time for a little nap.
And, um, do a flapper dance.
Look at this -- defending, too!
(Look at the pile of bodies in the background.)
Goal #1 was with his head -- man has, like, Ivan Ramiro-style hops. Seriously, he can get up.
And #2 was more tradition Suazo-style, with his feet.
He fled after both.
RAWR!
"Yeah, that was me who scored."
Then came this two thing, which he did after both goals, confusingly.
(That's the visiting Curva. Either they were banned, or just really disinterested.)
"That's enough, David. No dancing before halftime."
Aw.
Yes, there's lots of head-touching. This is Inter, after all.
Deki really, really liked the first goal.
*flails a little*
(Mancio got a fly-by.)
Unusually, Maicon got a lot of camera love this weekend.
Probably because he was wildly kicking ass.
Well, that and being dramatic.
Cuchu was great. (Do I even need to say that anymore?)
He also almost scored, but it was not to be.
HAI DEKKERS.
Jeez, go easy on him, would you?! The man is fragile.
He wasn't Awesome!Deki, but definitely had some good moments. Plus, nothing broke, which is progress.
In case you were wondering, Pele was AWFUL.
Most of the game he was either watching (like this), or passing the ball to Livorno.
Look, I know I talk about Javi's thighs all the time and everything, but OH MY GOD LOOK AT THEM. That's not human.
Max played a fantastic game.
This guy twice just grabbed him and held him until the whistle, because Max was eating his ass up. (So to speak.)
Also:
Maniche!
JC!
Chivu! (Was very good. *sigh*)
Matrix!
The man played only five minutes, but still managed to get into it with the ref.
Liverpool in the CL tomorrow (FEAR! TERROR!), then @ Samp on the weekend, which could also potentially be scary. Cross your fingers no one gets hurt, huh?