International football club

By Soccernet staff

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti remains confident Jose Mourinho will not leave the club this summer despite the coach admitting this week he does not like Italian football.
• Mourinho unhappy in Italy
Prior to Inter's 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, Mourinho said: "My situation is clear. I am very happy at Inter but not in Italian football. I don't like it and it doesn't like me, simple."
Mourinho's comments were interpreted as a clear sign to his many English suitors. The former Chelsea manager has struggled to settle in Serie A, becoming embroiled in public rows with rival managers and sections of the Italian media.
But Moratti is unperturbed by Mourinho's reservations regarding Italy and is confident that the man who took Inter to the Serie A title last season, and has one foot in the Champions League semi-finals, will remain with the Nerazzurri.
"He's been saying that he misses England since the first day," Moratti told Gazzetta dello Sport. "But he has a contract with Inter for two more years and maybe (it will be) even longer.
"Everyone makes their own choices, but I'm not scared and I don't fear his nostalgia."
Ref:http://soccernet.espn.go.com/

By Soccernet staff

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Wayne Rooney will be sidelined for two to three weeks as a

result of the minor ankle ligament damage sustained in Tuesday's Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
• Forum: A title decider?
• United vs Chelsea preview
Rooney's condition has been cause for real concern in recent days after he turned over on his right ankle in Munich and had to be helped off the pitch. He then left the Allianz Arena on crutches and with a protective boot in place.
Initial reports suggested Rooney would be out of action for between two and four weeks, although more pessimistic sources suggested a six-week lay-off was possible for the striker who has scored 34 goals in all competitions for United this season.
The club revealed on Thursday that Rooney had not suffered a break, only "minor ligament damage", and Ferguson now expects his star performer to be absent for three weeks at the most.
Ferguson said on Friday: "(There is) no bone damage or serious ligament damage. The nation can stop praying."
"It was panic. We are relieved. When we saw him hobble off, you are hoping when you send him for a scan, you get some good news and it could have been worse given the way he hobbled off.
"But it's out of the way, we can put it to one side and get on with our job on the pitch."
While he will miss Saturday's crucial game against Chelsea and the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern, Rooney could in theory be available when United face rivals Manchester City at Eastlands on April 17.
If United do overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg against Bayern then Rooney will in all likelihood be available for a semi-final tie against either Lyon or Bordeaux.
Ferguson has also confirmed that long-term injury victims Owen Hargreaves and John O'Shea have both been training well and that one of the pair could even make the bench for Saturday's game against Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Severe knee problems have prevented Hargreaves from representing the club since September 2008, while O'Shea has not played since Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off defeat at the hands of France in November due to a blood clot in his leg.
"John O'Shea and Owen Hargreaves have trained very well with the first team,'' said Ferguson. "They are not far away and I may use one of them as substitute tomorrow [Saturday] and the other on Wednesday.
"John O'Shea in particular has done a lot of work. The boy has come on terrifically well in the last two or three weeks. If I include one tomorrow and one on Wednesday it will give them the confidence that they are back. That is what they need.''
As Hargreaves is not eligible for the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, Ferguson's comments suggest the midfielder will be named on the bench against Chelsea.
 Ref:http://soccernet.espn.go.com