Milan in the World Club Cup

[lionel]

Originally Posted by Jager

And when you take into account that Milan is playing like crap in Italy, is far away from home...really far away, this Japanese team is FAR below them in class. That is why I consider this an exhibition.

The real test is South American teams. They have the pace, they will trouble Milan.

But this is not how you want to play them. Give them the ball and sit back..that is a recipe for disaster, as Milan love to hold on to it, and pass around midfield and defense, and wait to strike.

the only okay thing in this team is thier goalkeeper...

50': 0-0.

[lionel]

I think its time to bring pippo in. milan are doing everything great but can't finish. they must score early or the japanese might surprise with a late goal.

[lionel]

GOOOALLLL!!!!

70': 1-0 Milan!

Kaka assists, Seedorf scores.

[lionel]

FT: AC Milan 1 | 0 Urawa Reds

sunday: Boca Juniors vs. AC Milan......................

[D-Kin]

Milan outshine Diamonds Thursday 13 December, 2007

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Milan have booked a date with Boca Juniors in the Club World Cup Final after beating Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 at Yokohama International Stadium.

The pressure was on Carlo Ancelotti’s men to deliver and take the Press attention away from the absent Ronaldo.

It was mission accomplished for the European champions as they dominated from start to finish and could easily have won by a greater margin as Kaka and Clarence Seedorf shone.

The only goal came courtesy of Seedorf after 68 minutes when Kaka found the ex-Inter star after an impressive run and he slotted home.

Milan had controlled a one-sided first period with an Andrea Pirlo free-kick tipped over the bar by Urawa ‘keeper Tsuzuki and Massimo Ambrosini grazing the bar with a header from the resulting corner.

The Japanese outfit had no answer to Kaka and Seedorf and the latter saw two shots saved and blasted into the side-netting from 10 yards out.

Marek Jankulovski grazed the post and Alberto Gilardino was denied by Tsuzuki before being replaced by Pippo Inzaghi.

Urawa rarely called Nelson Dida into action, but Abe had a goal-bound effort cleared by Alessandro Nesta.

Milan kept pushing for a second goal in the latter stages and Pirlo came close with an 84th minute free-kick and a deflected effort a minute later.

The 1-0 score-line didn’t reflect Milan’s supremacy and Ancelotti’s side will face Boca Juniors with confidence.

Scorer: Seedorf 68

Urawa Red Diamonds: Tsuzuki; Tsuboi, Tulio (Yamada 76), Nene; Hosogai, Suzuki, Abe, Soma (Hirakawa 81); Hasebe, Nagai, Washington

Milan: Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Maldini 80); Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Kaka, Seedorf (Brocchi 90); Gilardino (Inzaghi 63)

Ref: Larrionda (Uru)

channel4.com - Football Italia

[D-Kin]

Galliani’s Japanese delight Thursday 13 December, 2007

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Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani was delighted by today’s victory over Urawa Red Diamonds and has spoken about Ronaldo’s future.

The Rossoneri have set up a Club World Cup Final against Boca Juniors on Sunday after dominating proceedings in Yokohama.

Kaka and Clarence Seedorf were the stars of the show as Carlo Ancelotti’s men put in an impressive performance.

“Kaka had an extraordinary game, despite having a broken toe nail. He’s the best in the world,” Vice-President Adriano Galliani beamed after the final whistle.

“I spoke to President Silvio Berlusconi and he was very happy with the result and the way the side played.

“The players said that this was a very tough game against a home side playing the game of their lives.

“Now we face Boca and we are hoping that it will be just like when we met Liverpool in the Champions League Final last year after they had beaten us in 2005.”

There had been whispers that Ronaldo may leave Japan early and quit the club after his latest injury woes, but Galliani poured cold water on the suggestion.

“Ronaldo is very disciplined,” he explained. “He is devastated by what has happened, but he will stay here and stay with Milan.

“He’s going back to Milan and then to Brazil for a holiday and he will return to train with the team.

“Next year, we will have two great strikers in Alexandre Pato and Ronaldo and we have faith and respect for the two.”

channel4.com - Football Italia

[lionel]

Seedorf: It Was A Tough Game

Milan goal-hero Clarence Seedorf says that today’s Club World Cup semi-final victory over Urawa Red Diamonds was a tough match.


Many people expected the Rossoneri to breeze through to Sunday’s final against Boca Juniors with a comfortable win at Yokohama International Stadium, however they were made to work until the last minute by their opponents.



“It was a tough game as we expected,” Seedorf told Sky Sports News.



“We had some good chances and I had some good chances that I didn’t really finish well.



“But in the second half I scored the goal and we managed to win so it was very good.”

Ancelotti Happy To Be In The Final

Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti was happy to have reached the final of the Club World Cup following the victory over Urawa Reds.


Clarence Seedorf scored the only goal of the game with just over 20 minutes remaining, getting onto the end of a Kaka pass to fire past the ‘keeper.

“The objective of everyone was the final. With the game tonight we have reached it and now we must do everything to obtain the maximum,” said Ancelotti.

“Now let’s think to prepare for it in the best possible way and win it. We have prepared today’s game well, in a particular way. We are a little tired, but we shall bring out the necessary energies.”

Milan created a number of excellent chances in the game with Seedorf going close on a number of other occasions, and Andrea Pirlo hitting the crossbar with a free-kick, however Urawa Reds also crafted a few promising openings.

“It wasn’t an easy game because they tried to bring out their qualities. I expected that they could play like this, with drive, solid and trying to take advantage of the counter attack,” Carletto added.

“We tired them out, we waited for them to decrease their rhythm, then in the second half Kaka found the right space.”

Milan will meet Boca Juniors in Sunday’s final and Ancelotti is wary of their ability.

"It’s a very young team, but capable of great qualities, which have been masked in the first game, playing at low rhythms and without great accelerations," he concluded.

Galliani Hails Kaka After Diamonds Win

Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani has hailed Kaka as the “best in the world” after today’s clash with Urawa Red Diamonds.


The Rossoneri were made to work hard for their 1-0 victory and in the process booked their place in Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup final against Boca Juniors.



Clarence Seedorf scored the only goal of the game after 68 minutes, with the outstanding Kaka providing the assist with a beautiful pass.



“Kaka had an extraordinary game, despite having a broken toe nail. He’s the best in the world,” Galliani beamed after the final whistle.

“I spoke to President Silvio Berlusconi and he was very happy with the result and the way the side played.”



Milan created a number of chances throughout the game, and Andrea Pirlo hit the bar with a free-kick, however their Japanese J-League opponents also had their moments.

“The players said that this was a very tough game against a home side playing the game of their lives,” Galliani continued.

“Now we face Boca and we are hoping that it will be just like when we met Liverpool in the Champions League Final last season after they had beaten us in 2005.”



Galliani was referring to the 2003 clash between the sides when Boca became club champions of the world by beating the Rossoneri on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Goal.com

[Jager]

Damn, I wanted to see that Milan/Boca game....we'll have to make a seperate game thread for it.

[Aladino]

I am so stoked we are in the final, and it is great to have Seedorf score again. Now for Pippo and Gila and we are all set!

Sunday's game shoudl be good, time to get revenge...

Anyway, here is the post match interviews with the players

I OBEYED THE COACH!

CLARENCE SEEDORF

"I have to thank the team for playing such a good match, I missed a few goalscoring chances at the beginning and I got angry at myself. On the second chance I had, they did well to defend it and on the third occasion I touched the ball with my chin and lost my coordination. Unfortunately at the end the goal did come!
Before the match, the coach asked me how I was doing and whether I was going to score a goal for him, and indeed I did! Perhaps I should have scored two, but it's OK like this.
This new ball is a little difficult to control, but when you hit it well it's even more difficult for the keeper to grab it."



ALBERTO GILARDINO

"Unfortunately I did not convert two chances I had. On the first one, I was too close to the goal when Oddo played the ball in, and it was grabbed by the keeper, then later Ambrosini sent in a good cross, but I was not well balanced. I'm still happy because it was not an easy game like some people expected. Urawa have some quality players, very well prepared tactically. In the first half we did not manage to score, then fortunately came Clarence's goal which allowed us to break the deadlock. In any case they showed tactical strength, they knew us and that's why they marked Clarence and Ricky very well. It's great to have reached this final without having wasted too much energy, and that will certainly help us on Sunday against Boca Juniors."

FILIPPO INZAGHI

"Even though I did not manage to score, this evening I'm very happy because the most important thing was getting into the final which allows us to bring home this Cup.
On the move of the goal I managed to go to the near post, bringing along a few defenders to free up Clarence who had no problems scoring. The match wasn't easy and we knew it, it became a bit difficult in the first half, but in the second half we did well to maintain our concentration.
I was happy to see this great affection shown towards me, it would be nice to lift this cup in front of the Japanese crowd which always shows me a lot of respect."

PAOLO MALDINI

"Just before the match Clarence told me it was a match we needed to win at all costs, and after he scored he ran straight to me, but at the time I was warming up on the sidelines with my back to the goal.
Seedorf did brilliantly today, he was the most dangerous man on the pitch.
I'm happy for him, and I'm happy we will be playing this Cup final against Boca Juniors. We had the chance to prepare well for these two games, it doesn't happen a lot that a team gets so much time to prepare for a mini-tournament like this, and it certainly helped us.
I think that on Sunday Boca will try to slow the game down with their ball possession, we'll have to avoid falling into this trap. I think the start of the game will be crucial."

KAKHA KALADZE

"It will be Milan-Boca, I really expect a lot from this match. Against Urawa it was tough, but I wasn't surprised. We created a lot of chances, but we couldn't find a goal for a long time.
Boca Juniors are a good side, they have technically skilled players but I'm convinced that if we play like Milan can we will win."

MASSIMO ODDO


'I'm very happy. Today we obtained another important result, I hoped to play and eventually win the Champions League when I came here, now I've done that and also won the European Supercup, and now we have this World Cup final. It's the best for me, the team, for this group.
Today we did really well, it wasn't easy, it was as if we were playing an away game, considering we were playing against a Japanese team. We were very concentrated throughout the game, and in the end we got the result we wanted. In the first half we had some difficulties, in the second half we were consistent and we were more dangerous with our strikers and midfielders.'

RICKY KAKA'

'Today, as always, I tried to give my best for the team, even though my foot hurt. It wasn't easy today, on the contrary, but we did well, very well. In the first half I played in a more withdrawn role, while in the second half I acted more as a second striker.
I'm truly very happy: this year everything was different compared to 2003. I came here as a Golden Ball winner, we met many fans, there was a party atmosphere at the stadium, as always happens when there's a European team coming to play in Europe. Until now it's been a very positive experience. Now we have to confirm ourselves on Sunday, we want this trophy. Next Monday there's also the verdict on the Fifa World Player, but before that we have the Final on Sunday. It's a special match, a true World final.'

MASSIMO AMBROSINI

'It's incredible that we will face Boca and that to get there we had to beat Liverpool. It's a nice coincidence, perhaps unique. It's certainly a chance we shouldn't miss. We are lucky, because we have the opportunity of playing for such an important trophy, against the team that took it away from us four years ago, just like we did in the Champions League final last May.
Today's match wasn't easy, it was a difficult match for many reasons, we did well. We kept the game under control, playing well in certain parts of the match and not so well in others, but it's good like this.
Boca? We saw them play the other day, they seemed like a talented team and therefore they are unpredictable. They also have some problems beating the Tunisian team. We'll certainly need to be concentrated.'