AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has decided who will partner Kaka in attack for today's Champions League final against Liverpool, but refused to say whether the experience of Fillipo Inzaghi has been preferred to the youth of Alberto Gilardino.
"I've decided who's going to play, but I haven't told the players yet," Ancelotti said ahead of the two sides' first meeting since the 2005 final, which Liverpool won on penalties.
"Everyone deserves to play, not only the 11 who start the match. I can say that the squad is in good shape. We have worked well, and we are ready for Wednesday," he said.
PHOTO: EPA
Kaka has been Milan's driving force in Europe this season with 10 goals in the competition so far, and Liverpool will try to shackle the creative Brazilian whose three strikes in the semi-finals helped put Manchester United out.
Therefore the choice of Milan's second striker is an important one, with Italian media reports suggesting Inzaghi has been given the nod.
Inzaghi is 33, nine years older than Gilardino, but his goal instincts have proved invaluable to Milan in the past, especially in European competition.
But while Inzaghi is an out-and-out goal scorer who just concerns himself with being in the right place at the right time, Gilardino is quick and links up well with Milan's midfield.
Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister who is never afraid to voice his views about team selection, believes Gilardino, scorer of 16 goals this season, should start.
"I would play Gilardino from the start and put on Inzaghi when the opposition are tiring," Berlusconi said.
Milan captain Paolo Maldini said last week that he expected to be fit to face Liverpool, but doubts linger as to whether his troublesome left knee will stand up to such a challenge.
Assuming he has proved his fitness, Maldini will partner Alessandro Nesta at the heart of Milan's defense, flanked by Marek Jankulovski on the left and Massimo Oddo on the right.
The midfield quartet will comprise Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Massimo Ambrosini.
Seedorf will be given license to get forward as often as he can.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS