Inter-ness: Here We Go Again
(Multiply this by 85,000 and you've got the San Siro after the match.)
The San Siro was packed and festive for Inter's last home game, and also for what everyone hoped would be a Scudetto party -- all they had to do was beat Siena, and no matter what Roma did, the title would be Inter's.
And things started out incredibly well -- Inter were all over Siena at the start, and went ahead after just 10 minutes on a Paddy header. When that happened, the place went crazy, and it really felt like it was going to be like 5-0 given the ease and confidence with which Inter were playing. They had several more corners but, after nothing came from those, Inter cooled off a bit and Siena started to put together some chances. The tying goal was basically off Matrix being casual with a clearance, and Max making a stupid decision with the ball on the resulting throw; just like that, it was 1-1.
Inter were never really as impressive as they were in those first 15 minutes, but they went back into the lead through MOTM Supermario, who headed in from close-range just before halftime. In the second half, Cruzi had two great chances to make it three, but he failed to even test Alex Manninger when he was in alone, and threw away a another great chance later. And, inevitably, Inter got careless and Siena punished them, again: 2-2 with 20 minutes to go.
Inter were almost saved by a late, dubious PK, but Matrix -- who took the ball from Cruzi, who was supposed to be first-choice -- had his attempted saved, and from that point on, despite laying absolutely siege to the Siena penalty area for the last 10 minutes or so, you could tell Inter were done -- half of them weren't even running, and just looked resigned to their fate.
So, like Marie said, next weekend for all the marbles. For the third week in a row, Inter's fate is in their own hands: If they win, the title is theirs no matter what anyone else does. If they don't win, god only knows what'll happen.
Inter 2 - 2 Siena
Vieira 12 (I), Maccarone 30 (S), Balotelli 45 (I), Kharja 69 (S); Missed penalty: Materazzi 79 (I)
Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi; Maxwell (Crespo 81); Zanetti, Cambiasso (Pele' 85), Vieira; Jimenez; Cruz, Balotelli (Suazo 63)
Siena: Manninger; Ficagna, Portanova, Loria, Rossi; Vergassola, Codrea (Coppola 46), Galloppa (Rigano' 65); Kharja, Locatelli (Alberto 46); Maccarone
Before the match, things were incredibly festive.
There were literally about 20 Siena supporters in the away corral, everyone else in the place was there to see Inter, and very loudly so.
Even the injured masses were there.
All of them with kids in tow, just in case.
(Notice Zlatan's haircut.)
Even Mancio was pretending to be calm.
Deki's still hurt, so Little Luis started for him. (I could be wrong, but I think Paddy's touching his ass.)
Let's start with Little Luis, then, shall we?
My love for him renders me even less articulate than usual, but he started and played the full 90.
He worked SO HARD -- at the end you could tell he was furious no one else was running, he was charging clearances down, and had to come out of the midfield to force Manninger to pick a ball up when Cruzi and Suazo just turn around and walked away.
The fact that one of the papers basically said "He wasn't decisive, but at least he fought," gives you some idea of what most of Inter were doing (or not doing) in the second half.
*whimpers*
*loses the ability to speak*
His Paddy was a big factor, at least in the first half.
In the second half he still did some good things and played some good balls, but he also didn't sometimes -- overall he was just sort of average, like pretty much everyone apart from Mario.
But boy, things were really looking good at about the 10 minute mark.
He went up and met Mario's corner, and almost put his header right through Manninger.
(Maicon was a little excited.)
The goal kicked off a mass orgasm, there were people hugging everywhere, on and off the pitch.
First, there was Paddy by himself.
He looks like a big, scary, hungry bird when he's really happy.
Awwww.
Then, there was Paddy and Mario.
(I cannot believe Paddy almost looks small here.)
Oh, and mustn't forget Paddy and Cruzi (and his arm hair).
Paddy's all "WHAT, BITCHES?"
And then, of course, there was Paddy and everyone.
Little Luis remembers how much he likes touching Cruzi's head.
But then remembers Paddy is there, and forgets all about the Argie.
He had to wait, but he eventually got his own hug.
Meanwhile, away from Paddy, people were freaking out on their own.
(Or together -- Cuchu hugged Maicon, just because he could.)
Matrix did a bit of yelling.
And trying to be cool.
You know, the usual.
(Though he did eventually get around to acknowledging the one who actually scored.)
For his part, Javi made straight for the bench after both goals, with Toldo as his main destination.
It's really, really cute.
Seriously. How can anyone resist this?
*snort*
Once he got his hugs in, Javi turned to firing up the tifosi.
(Not made of plastic.)
Even Paddy got into the RAWR! act, and he rarely gets excited about anything.
The lead lasted less than 20 minutes, at which point the squeeing stopped.
Nico is back to sucking, btw.
Though he's definitely not alone among the defenders -- in the papers I checked, Nico, Matrix and Max all uniformly got grades of five and below.
Maicon was better but, as I find myself saying way too often, that's not saying much.
He didn't make any big errors, and got forward well on some occasions.
(Look, Suazo! He played about half an hour. Didn't fall down much.)
Let's take a break from the suck, shall we?
This probably isn't a surprise to anyone any more, but holy crap is Mario good.
To be the best player in a match like that really means something -- he was the only one who really stepped up for the occasion.
(And, yes, I'm ignoring what that says about the rest of the team, thanks for asking.)
He scored after Paddy headed a cross back across the goal to him; he was so close there was no way he was going to miss.
He sometimes forgets at first that he doesn't want to celebrate, and it always comes out in shirt-grabbing, and a little prance.
Then he remembers, and brings out the pimp-strut-cum-pose.
Max, however, will not let this continue without some hugging, no matter the norm.
(Mario seems to like lifting people up.) (Max does not seem to mind.)
Eventually, a few others arrived.
Matrix is trying to play it cool this time -- all that squeeing before wore him out.
Paddy, however, is doing no such thing.
Awwwww.
(JC rawred.)
(He also made some saves, btw. No pictures, but he really did.)
This time, the lead lasted almost 20 whole minutes!
Even Javi was feeling down, which is saying something.
I love that the others are all studiously ignoring Matrix.
The score could have been 3-2 at this point, had finishing been better.
Not to mention any names, or anything.
*heavy sigh*
He's a drama queen, but this time he was right -- he was all alone early in the second half and just missed everything.
This was from in the last five minutes when he and Little Luis both missed great chances -- poor Cruzi really couldn't hit a barn yesterday.
(Cruzis in the Mist.)
He also had a shot hit Matrix, who for some reason was lying down in front of the goal -- when you're having a bad day, you're having a baaaaaaad day.
Speaking of bad days.
For the most part, things were never really good for Matrix.
Actually, that's not true -- he hit the bar with a header in the first 10 minutes, but it was all downhill from there.
It's never good to spend so much time lying in the other team's box, among other things.
And then there was the whole PK debacle.
When he jumped the queue to be the center of attention/be the hero/be Matrix, and actually took the ball from Cruzi, who allegedly nearly kicked his ass after the match.
All of which would have been forgotten, had the result been better.
This is his "Oh I am so fucked" face.
Because Alex Manninger, who I'd really like to have been less of a pimp in that moment, saved it.
Italy's legendary lip-readers claim to have caught Moratti saying "Materazzi just cost us the game," but for all they know he also could have been speaking Swedish.
You think things can't get any worse?
Oh, how wrong you are.
Little Luis and Cuchu collided going for a ball in the Siena box in the last five minutes.
He's broken, and will miss Sunday's match. Say it with me now: FUUUUUUUUUCK.
Mancio took it hard.
Really hard.
He was progressively losing his mind as the match went along, and by the end he was totally out of control.
Really, it's sort of nice to see him freaking out for once.
I mean, he and his team make us do it all the damn time -- it's only right that he go through it, too.
Despite Mancio's strenuous efforts, though, the extra goal never came, and it ended 2-2.
"Seriously. This is what I've been waiting for all my life?"
Thinking maybe he fucked up.
Being stalked by Cruzi. (Thanks to Marie for this pic.)
Hating Manninger.
Being ignored.
Maicon was a huge drama queen after the match.
He sat on the pitch entirely alone forever after everyone had left, and then took off his shoes. Slowly.
All the fans were still there in stunned disbelief, and they gave him the love he craved.
Stunned disbelief, the evidence:
Matrix-lovers were particularly morose.
Those faces are how you say "Are you fucking kidding me" in Italian.
In case you've been wondering what I look like, btw, that's me on the right.
At Parma on Sunday for the all the marbles. Definitely without Cuchu (in addition to all the long-term injuries), don't know about Chivu and Deki. Commence being nervous now.