Emirates Cup 2010 : AC milan 1 Arsenal 1

Arsenal: Fabianski; Gibbs (Clichy 46), Koscielny, Vermaelen, Ebouè (Sagna 46); Rosicky (Walcott 46), Frimpong (Djourou 69), Wilshere, Nasri; Arshavin (Vela 62), Chamakh (Randall 72)

Milan: Abbiati; Papastathopoulos (Zambrotta 65), Nesta, Yepes, Antonini; Gattuso (Merkel 62), Seedorf, Flamini (Strasser 77); Abate (Verdi 81), Borriello (Baretta 69), Pato (Oddo 82)

Milan came away with a well-deserved 1-1 with Arsenal in their first game of the Emirates Cup in London. Coach Massimiliano Allegri saw plenty of positive performances throughout the team but particular from Abbiati and Flamini while Pato confirmed what a dangerous striker he is.

The Rossoneri were under pressure early on but Pato sprinted into the area but closed down as the Brazilian tried to square the ball back along the six-yard area. The same player then dipped a header wide from a Seedorf corner.

Flamini had an effort deflected off Koscielny and onto the woodwork after a long ball from Yepes was knocked down into his path on 21 minutes.

Arsenal opened the scoring on 36 minutes when Marouane Chamakh slotted home from inside the area after collecting a through ball from Arshavin.

Rodisky then shot straight at Abbiati but it was Milan who looked lively going forward in the closing stages of the first-half as Borriello almost raced on to a long ball after Pato had cut inside to go close with a shot which just went over the bar.

On 51 minutes, Flamini forced Fabianski into a smart save at his near post. At the other end, there was good Rossoneri defending to keep Wiltshire out as the game opened up.

Just after the hour-mark Rino Gattuso made way for Under-19 German international Alexander Merkel and soon after Papastathopoulos made way for Zambrotta. Berretta came on for Borriello on 69 minutes as Allegri continued to ring the changes.

Milan found the equaliser on 77 minutes when Pato glanced a downward header home from close range following a curling free-kick from Seedorf from the left.

Abbiati then made a double save from Randall as Allegri rang more chances, with Strasser on for Flamini, Verdi for Abate and Oddo replacing Pato.

Four minutes from full-time Zambrotta hit the bar with a stunning effort in what was certainly positive afternoon for Allegri's men.

Emirates Cup 2010 : AC milan Squad

The Emirates Cup is an annual two-day pre-season football tournament hosted by the English Premier League club Arsenal and held at the Emirates Stadium, the club's home ground. It is similar in style to the Amsterdam Tournament held by AFC Ajax,

Arsenal are the current holders of the trophy; they won the tournament in both 2007 and 2009.

Much like the Amsterdam Tournament, each team plays two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for every goal scored. From the 2009 edition, if teams are tied on points, goal difference and goals scored, they are ranked by the total shots on target during the tournament.

The 2010 edition of the Emirates Cup will take place on the weekend of 31 July and 1 August with AC Milan, Celtic and Lyon joining hosts Arsenal

The Emirates Cup will kick off on Saturday with the match between Arsenal F.C. and AC Milan. The official site of Arsenal has today released the squads of Milan, Lyon and Celtic, who will take part in the tournament along with the Gunners.

Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has picked 25 players, including some Primavera stars because few first team players haven’t returned from their post-World Cup vacations.

This is the squad that is flying to London tomorrow:

Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia, Christian Abbiati, Flavio Roma; Defenders: Kakha Kaladze, Alessandro Nesta, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Massimo Oddo, Marek Jankulovski, Gianluca Zambrotta, Daniele Bonera, Mario Yepes, Luca Antonini; Midfielders: Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Rodney Strasser, Mathieu Flamini, Ignazio Abate, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini; Forwards: Alexandre Pato, Filippo Inzaghi, Marco Borriello, Giacomo Beretta, Simone Verdi, Ronaldinho.

Against Arsenal, the Rossoneri will wear Black shirts, Black shorts, Black socks.
Against Lyon, the Rossoneri will wear Red/Black shirts, White shorts, Black socks.

AC Milan fixtures : Seri A 2010/2011

The new season will officially kick off on August 28 and will end on May 22. The fixtures for the new season have been drawn up on Wednesday night.

Italy Champions Inter Milan will start the new term with new coach Rafael Benitez away at Bologna while Juventus will kick off with Luigi Del Neri away at San Nicola against A.S. Bari. Roma will meanwhile start against newly promoted Cesena.

Week 1 (26/8/10 and 16/1/11) – AC Milan-Leece
Week 2 (12/9/10 and 23/1/11) – Cesena-AC Milan
Week 3 (19/9/10 and 30/1/11) – AC Milan-Catania
Week 4 (22/9/10 and 2/2/11) – Lazio-AC Milan
Week 5 (26/9/10 and 6/2/11) – AC Milan-Genoa
Week 6 (3/10/10 and 13/2/11) – Parma-AC Milan
Week 7 (17/10/10 and 20/2/11) – AC Milan-Chievo
Week 8 (24/10/10 and 27/2/11) – Napoli-AC Milan
Week 9 (31/10/10 and 6/3/11) – AC Milan-Juventus
Week 10 (7/11/10 and 13/3/11) – Bari-AC Milan
Week 11 (10/11/10 and 20/3/11) – AC Milan-Palermo
Week 12 (14/11/10 and 3/4/11) – Inter-AC Milan
Week 13 (21/11/10 and 10/4/11) – AC Milan-Fiorentina
Week 14 (28/11/10 and 17/4/11) - Sampdoria-AC Milan
Week 15 (5/12/10 and 23/4/11) – AC Milan-Brescia
Week 16 (12/12/10 and 1/5/11) – Bologna-AC Milan
Week 17 (19/12/10 and 8/5/11) – AC Milan-Roma
Week 18 (6/1/11 and 15/5/11) – Cagliari-AC Milan
Week 19 (9/1/11 and 22/5/11) – AC Milan-Udinese

AC Milan Photos: First training of the new season 2010/2011

AC Milan have takentheir first training session of the season. The session was managed by new coach Max Allegri. After training today, Allegri will also take his first press conference.

Here are some photos from yesterday’s training, which did not include the players who played in the World Cup, as they are currently on vacation. The training also included some Primavera players.

THREE Inter youngsters join the Rossoneri.

Cristian Daminuţă, 20, Attila Filkor, 22 and Marco Ezio Fossati have all completed the move to Milan after spells in Inter Milan’s youth system, as an official statement on Inter website reveals.

It reads: “Three of FC Internazionale’s academy players have completed permanent moves to AC Milan.

“Hungarian midfielder Attila Filkor, 22, joins the Rossoneri after two seasons in Serie B with Sassuolo (15 appearances) and Gallipoli (6 appearances) from January 2010.

“Joining Filkor at AC Milan are Romanian youth international defender Cristian Daminuta, 20, who spent the last six months of 2009/10 on loan at Dynamo Bucharest (2 appearances).

“And Italian midfielder Marco Ezio Fossati, 17, who played for Inter’s Allievi Nazionali and Primavera teams in two seasons with the Nerazzurri. He has been capped at Under-17 and Under-19 level.“

MARCO EZIO FOSSATI is happy with Milan switch.

The 17-year-old midfielder has signed a pro-Milan contract yesterday and today he has given his first words as a Rossonero.

“I am very happy with this transfer and I enjoyed signing on the contract,” Fossati said in an interview with Milannews.it. “I hope I can improve and acquire more and more experience.”

Profile : Massimiliano Allegri , New AC Milan Manager

Massimiliano Allegri
Born: August 11, 1967 Birthplace: Livorno, Italy Previous Clubs: Aglianese; Grosseto; Sassuolo; Cagliari Honours: Italian Serie C1/A league title: 2008

A surprise choice to succeed Leonardo in the AC Milan hotseat, Allegri was given the role after impressing during two seasons at Cagliari.

As a player he was something of a journeyman and played in the lower leagues, including for his hometown club Livorno, before joining Pescara in 1991. Helping the side to win promotion to Serie A, the attacking midfielder moved on to Cagliari and then Perugia and Napoli before returning to Pescara. He retired from football in 2003, and as he ended his player career with Aglianese, so he began his coaching life.

His experience in Serie C2 gave him the springboard to continue his career and he moved up a division with Grosseto. However, he was sacked in 2006 with the side failing to live up to expectations and he found himself another job with Sassuolo.

Indeed, he led them to promotion to Serie B in 2008 and was soon snapped up as coach of top-flight Cagliari. Despite a disappointing start, he managed to lead the side to a top-half finish in 2009 (9th), playing an attacking style of football, and he was named Serie A coach of the year.

Three of his unheralded players received Italy call-ups during his tenure and his success continued the following season when he led the side to 12th. However, Allegri was surprisingly sacked in April for allegedly talking to other clubs about jobs. The rumours proved true as Milan made their move, but as one of the least heralded appointments in the Italian game, he has a lot to prove.

Strengths: Plenty of enthusiasm and hope for the future, he has the ability to make his players play with freedom. Carrying an element of the unknown could work in his favour.

Weaknesses: A lack of big-match experience and the pressure of a huge job could overcome him.

Career high: Getting the AC Milan job in the summer was a real achievement for a manager who had only been on the scene for a few years.

Career low: Sacked by Serie C1 side Grosseto in 2006.

Tactics: He likes his sides to play attacking football and says that his new team with play either a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-3-3. They're both different variations to the same style of football in his eyes and he wants his AC Milan teams to follow the example of those of Sacchi and Capello.

Quotes: ''If I was worried I wouldn't have taken this position. When you're a professional you dream of reaching the top. Do you know how many of my friends and colleagues want this job?'' Massimiliano Allegri when asked if he was worried about his new role.

Trivia: When he joined Cagliari he began his top flight career with five losses in the first five league matches.

AC Milan set to sign Sokratis "Papa" Papastathopoulos.

Milan have practically tied up a deal with Genoa to sign Greece international defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Earlier this week there were reports that the transfer would be a simple exchange with Marek Jankulovski or Kakha Kaladze moving the other way.

However, the need to do a deal quickly without complications has led Milan and Genoa to agree to a season-long loan.

That way, Milan's new Coach Massimiliano Allegri will have Papastathopoulos available for training camp in five days' time.

Papastathopoulos will become Milan's fourth signing of the summer and their third at practically no cost after Mario Yepes joined as a free agent and Marco Amelia arrived on loan also from Genoa.

Milan's biggest piece of transfer business this summer involved Crotone defender Elia Legati who cost £360,000.

Ronaldinho to flamego ?

Ronaldinho's agent has denied suggestions the player is set to quit AC Milan for Flamengo this summer.

Ronaldinho has regularly been linked with a return to Brazil

Rumours in Italy have suggested Ronaldinho could be set to leave San Siro, and it was reported in Brazil that he had reached an agreement with Flamengo.

However, his agent and brother, Roberto de Assis, has now dismissed the speculation and revealed he could yet extend his current deal.

"Ronaldinho has never expressed a wish to leave Milan," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "In fact we have an agreement with Milan to review his contract in the autumn."


Reports in Brazil claim Ronaldinho has verbally accepted a contract offer from Flamengo, meaning the two clubs must now agree terms if the former World Player of the Year is to return to his home country.


Ronaldinho could be leaving the San Siro

Ronaldinho has another year left on his contract in Italy but according to globoesporte.com is determined to leave the Rossoneri and return to his home country.

Though Ronaldinho enjoyed a renaissance of sorts when scoring 12 goals and claiming 14 assists in Serie A last season, his campaign ended with disappointment when Milan failed to maintain their title challenge and Dunga refused to name him in Brazil's World Cup squad.

Milan may welcome the chance to lift Ronaldinho off their wage bill as they plan to restructure their squad this summer, with Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic repeatedly cited as a possible target for the Rossoneri.

If Milan and Flamengo cannot reach an agreement, then it is reported that Ronaldinho has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave the San Siro for free in the January transfer window - a scenario that plays into Flamengo's hands, particularly as they have already agreed terms with the player.

If he does move to Flamengo then Ronaldinho will reunite with midfielder Kleberson who was a fellow member of Brazil's World Cup winning side from 2002. However Adriano, another quarter of the famous 'magic square' from 2006, has left the club to join Roma.