Hector Cuper has urged his team to ignore the Ronaldo saga ahead of tonight's decisive Champions' League qualifier with Sporting Lisbon.
The Nerazzurri have banned the press from mentioning the striker so as not to disrupt the squad’s concentration in the lead-up to such a delicate encounter.
“We won’t talk about Ronaldo,” warned the Coach, “and will not answer questions about him because at this moment in time he is of no interest.”
The tie is finely balanced following a 0-0 first leg draw in Portugal, so Inter must win at the San Siro tonight in order to qualify.
“The priority is this match. The club made this decision as qualification into European competition is the most important thing.”
Ronaldo will probably not be at the Stadium for this encounter and is currently training alone.
Cuper looked forward to the Sporting Lisbon match in a brief press conference at the Appiano Gentile training complex just outside Milan.
“Christian Vieri is fine, in fact he’s in great shape,” assured the tactician following a recent thigh problem.
“Fabio Cannavaro is also ready now that he has had 15 training sessions with his new teammates. He is ready to play.”
The former Parma defender has already made his debut in friendly encounters, but is yet to feature in an official match with the Nerazzurri shirt. His presence will be all-important due to the absence of the injured Marco Materazzi.
“We tested out the three-man defence,” revealed Cuper, “but I don’t think the lads have assimilated it into their system yet, so we may well stick with the four at the back for now.”
One of the most worrying aspects of the first leg was Sporting’s dominance of the left flank, often a problem area for Inter.
“We sorted that out in the second half, but in any case if the team does what it is capable of doing then that won’t be an issue.”
One particularly impressive change pre-season is the introduction of Stephan Dalmat in central midfield.
“Having an attacking player like Dalmat in the middle can really make a difference to the whole team,” claimed Cuper.”
The last time the Nerazzurri entered the preliminary round of the Champions’ League they faced a humiliating elimination at the hands of Helsingborgs.
For a team that threw away the title on the last day of the season, the psychological strength of the side remains a risk.
“What happened on May 5 must not affect us,” assured the Argentine, “unless it involves teaching us a lesson.”
“I can’t say how the boys will react once they are out on the field, but if I were there I’d eat up the whole pitch. I see they are also hungry for success.”
Probable line-ups:
Inter: 1 Toldo; 4 J Zanetti, 13 Cannavaro, 2 Cordoba, 77 Coco; 11 Guly, 14 Di Biagio, 18 Dalmat, 10 Morfeo; 20 Recoba, 32 Vieri
Sporting Lisbon: 12 Tiago; 5 Cesar Prates, 4 Quiroga, 15 Contreras, 22 Beto; 3 Rui Bento, 14 Ricardo Fernandes, 8 Pedro Barbosa, 18 Luis Filipe, 20 Quaresma; 7 Niculae