Latest news with #JavierZanetti
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Inter Milan Vice-President Hails ‘Huge History' Of River Plate – Expects FIFA Club World Cup Clash ‘Will Be Great For All Football Lovers'v
Inter Milan Vice-President Hails 'Huge History' Of River Plate – Expects FIFA Club World Cup Clash 'Will Be Great For All Football Lovers'v Javier Zanetti feels that the final Club World Cup group stage match between River Plate and Inter Milan will be 'great for all football loves.' The Nerazzurri Vice-President gave his thoughts to Fox Sports Argentina, via FCInterNews. He hailed the 'huge history' of his team's final group stage opponents at the tournament. Advertisement Inter Milan take on River Plate in the Club World Cup group stage next week. Most likely, it will be a decisive match for the group. It could determine which of the two teams finishes top of the group – or even which teams go through or don't. Inter drew 1-1 against Mexican side Monterrey in their group stage opener. Meanwhile, River Plate beat Urawa Red Diamonds, from Japan, 3-1 to kick off their group stage campaign. Zanetti: 'River Plate Vs Inter Will Be Great For All Football Lovers' VERONA, ITALY – MAY 18: Javier Zanetti of Internazionale Milano gestures during the Serie A match between AC Chievo Verona and FC Internazionale Milano at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi on May 18, 2014 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by) Inter and River are among the most high profile teams in European and South American football respectively. Therefore, the rare occasions where the two teams meet are always going to carry a sense of occasion. Advertisement And that will be all the more the case considering everything that's at stake in the group. Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti, himself a former Argentine international commented that 'River Plate are a great club.' 'They have a huge history,' he continued. 'They have great players and a great coach,' Zanetti said of River Plate. 'I think that their match against Inter will be great for all football lovers.' Then, Javier Zanetti also commented on River's Superclasico rivals Boca Juniors. They are also at the Club World Cup this summer. 'Boca also came into it with big expectations,' said the Inter Vice-President. 'And they'll have tough matches to face.' 'But Boca are Boca. They'll represent Argentine football well like River will.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Inter Milan Vice-President Confident The New Manager 'Will Do A Great Job'
Inter Milan Vice-President Confident The New Manager 'Will Do A Great Job' Inter Milan vice-president Javier Zanetti has no doubt regarding the club's decision to appoint Cristian Chivu as the new manager. Speaking to Spanish outlet AS via FCInterNews, the former Nerazzurri captain reiterated his trust in the 44-year-old. Advertisement Inter had to act swiftly after Simone Inzaghi decided to leave the club in favor of petrodollars in Saudi Arabia. The 49-year-old's sudden decision to join Al-Hilal left the San Siro powerhouse in time limbo. With the FIFA Club World Cup fast approaching, Beppe Marotta couldn't afford to waste time searching for a high-profile replacement. Indeed, Como coach Cesc Fabregas was Inter's first option. However, the Spaniard turned down a move to stay at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. Therefore, the Nerazzurri turned to a familiar face to fill the vacancy. Inter Milan Vice-President Javier Zanetti Highlights Club Trust in Cristian Chivu PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 17: Cristian Chivu, Head Coach of FC Internazionale Milano, reacts following the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group E match between CF Monterrey and FC Internazionale Milano at Rose Bowl Stadium on June 17, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by) Shortly after Fabregas' rejection, Inter unveiled Cristian Chivu as their new head coach. Advertisement Given his past ties with the club, the Romanian has an understanding of the weight of this shirt. As such, this 'Hail Mary' attempt could prove a major coup for the Nerazzurri. 'The Champions League final marked the end of a chapter, and now a new one begins,' Zanetti said. 'That's football – constant perseverance, belief in hard work and a project. 'And we're on that path now. We have great confidence in what Cristian Chivu can bring. 'I know him personally – we were teammates – and I can say he's a wonderful person. 'We know he'll do a great job here. This Club World Cup is a great test for all of us.' Advertisement However, Chivu could only manage a 1-1 draw against CF Monterrey on his touchline debut. Meanwhile, Zanetti sees other European heavyweights as the leading contenders to the Club World Cup throne. 'At the moment, I see PSG and Real Madrid ahead of everyony,' Zanetti admitted. 'They're doing very well.' But he believes in his team. 'A final between Inter and Real would be great.' Finally, he confessed he never tried to pursue a coaching career. 'No, because I've never really felt the urge to coach,' he added. 'But you never know. I never close the door completely.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Javier Zanetti Hails Argentina Superstar As 'One Of The Most Important Players In Inter History'
Javier Zanetti Hails Argentina Superstar As 'One Of The Most Important Players In Inter History' Inter Milan vice-president Javier Zanetti waxed lyrical about long-serving Nerazzurri stalwart Lautaro Martinez during his latest interview. Speaking to the official FIFA channel via FCInterNews, Zanetti labeled his compatriot 'one of the most important players in Inter history.' Advertisement Lautaro Martinez has devoted the best part of his senior playing career to defending the Nerazzurri colors. Indeed, the 27-year-old has been Inter's faithful servant since joining the club from Racing in 2018. During his trophy-laden stint at the San Siro, Lautaro has won multiple titles, including two Serie A trophies. Furthermore, he contested two Champions League finals, albeit without success. Nonetheless, he has been the leader of this Inter generation on and off the field. The Argentine center-forward has set numerous club records en route to becoming a fan favorite. More importantly, he has always reiterated his love for this shirt, proving a true leader and a symbol of Inter's identity. Javier Zanetti Heaps Praise on Inter Milan Superstar Lautaro Martinez MILAN, ITALY – MAY 06: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Semi Final Second Leg match between FC Internazionale Milano and FC Barcelona at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on May 06, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) If there's anyone competent to talk about loyalty, it's Javier Zanetti. Advertisement Indeed, the former Inter captain spent nearly two decades at the San Siro before calling time on his career in 2014. Moreover, the 51-year-old had the opportunity to share the dressing room with Lionel Messi. Arguably the greatest player in football history could represent Argentina for one last time at the 2026 World Cup. 'We're talking about the best player in the world,' Zanetti said about La Pulga. 'Seeing him still on the pitch and being able to enjoy his game is definitely a great experience. 'He must continue doing what he has always done. He's a great point of reference, he's the captain. 'The way he represents us in every corner of the world is something that deserves only praise.' Advertisement Messi is Argentina's talisman, but football is a team sport, and he needs support. And that's where Lautaro comes into play. In addition to his sterling career at Inter, El Toro has been magnificent for his country. 'Lautaro is our point of reference, the captain. He's one of the most important players in Inter's history,' Zanetti stated.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Messi drink launch affirms Spanish as new lingua franca at Club World Cup
Javier Zanetti looked suitably awed as he read aloud from the label of a Limon Lime Mas by Messi drink, up on stage at the Chase Stadium VIP reception suite, dressed entirely in silky black tailoring, and looking like an elite hired assassin on his way to the opera, albeit one whose speciality is downing his victims in an ice bucket of the Future Of Hydration. To be fair, Zanetti didn't have many options when it came to striking a tone. A few moments earlier he'd been introduced by a marketing manager who spoke about Lionel Messi's new energy drink in tones of high-performance evangelism, gazing with doe-eyed wonder at the small plastic bottle in his hand and predicting that the 'official hydration partner of the Argentine FA' (water: you're out) would go on not just to make you less thirsty or become a popular choice in petrol stations, but to 'inspire generations'. Here was a guy who has really drunk the Mas. And why not? The Mas by Messi launch was an intoxicating event. Beautiful fragrant people drifted about enjoying the Mas vibes, the Mas buzz, the bottomless Mas shots at the bar ('Try the Berry Mix, sir?'). Reporters and TV crews, the Mas Media, lurked at the fringes. Even the World Cup was here, lending its gravity from behind its bulletproof plinth. Mas does seem a fitting edition to the energy drink pantheon, in that it also tastes like someone has washed a packet of Skittles with sea water and collected it in a plastic skip. But perhaps the most striking thing, all the more so the morning after a distinctly framed Club World Cup opening night, is that it has an excellent name. Mas means more, as in more gas, ever deeper energy levels, and to be fair after spending the first 20 minutes like a man looking for his keys on the beach, Messi did get notably stronger as the night went on. Mas is also the name of the wealthy and useful owners of Inter Miami, Jorge and Jose. It captures in one word Fifa's vision for football, which is basically gluttony, endless growth, the world is not enough. But above all of these things it's good, current and culturally on point because it's Spanish. And the one lesson so far of being around this roided-up Club World Cup is that Spanish is very clearly the lingua franca of this tournament, the language of football in America, and the language of elite football, as we say here, period. This is overwhelmingly a Hispano-Latin-Iberian tournament. And not just because it is based in South Florida, but structurally, economically and demographically. From the US the furore over Trent Alexander-Arnold speaking a few words of Spanish seems doubly parochial. Not just because he now lives in Madrid and works for a Spanish employer. But because that elite tier of football, from players, to coaches to powerbrokers, is also speaking Spanish. The opening game was a massively Spanish/Hispanic/Central-South American affair, not just because 70% of the crowd were in Messi shirts, worn with the kind of event-zeal Americans bring to Halloween costumes or wearing a Pitbull scalp cap to a Pitbull show. The show was Spano-phile. the hype music was Latino club tune. Two days earlier the King of Football himself had delivered a rare video address at the Coral Gables golf club. And of course Gianni Infantino, for whom this was all, naturally, muy importante, spoke in spnissh. This applies just on the numbers. More than 300 South American players are here, a third of those taking part. A startling 105 Argentinian players are involved, 47 of them based outside Argentina. It feels like a moment of coronation for Argentina as the current chief single export power at this level of football. Guardiola‑ism remains, 20 years on, the tactical template for basically all football everywhere, to the extent the language of, even in English, is now Spanish-inflected, managers like Graham Potter and Enzo Maresca indefinably Spanish-styled. Club dressing rooms have long reflected this. Part of Luis Enrique's transformation at Paris Saint-Germain has been to defeat 'the divide', the line between a previous Spanish-speaking mega-cartel and other parts of the squad. Asked to assess Kylian Mbappé's suitability before his move to the French champions Messi himself commented at the time that Mbappé would be fine in Paris because 'he speaks perfect Spanish'. Kalvin Phillips noted that one of the problems he found settling at Manchester City was the fact he didn't speak Spanish, which sounds bizarre until you remember City have seven Spanish-speaking coaches, that John Stones had Spanish lessons to help him forge an understanding in defence, that Erling Haaland taking Spanish lessons even before he joined City was held up an example of his meticulous prep. Learning Spanish is probably the most obvious controllable element for anyone who wishes to make it in elite football now. José Mourinho, the translator, owes his career to his language facility. Infantino carries his mega-fluency like a weapon. There is a note of potential power shift here. Europe's clubs will still dominate this Club World Cup, will scoop most of its $1bn prize pot, taking it back to the Uefa heartlands. The Premier League, which is only really an English entity in its geography, is the master of this process of talent outsourcing, a league so powerful it has in effect contracted out the production of talent and expertise. The Club World Cup may be driven by greed and the lust for power. It does, though, have a grain of a point when Fifa states that it might also become a redistributor of wealth. South America is keen on this tournament because it is a chance to take its own slice of the pie, perhaps even to reverse just a little its status as the production arm of European football, to halt that drift, the talent drain, to retain and develop more, to say, after many years as the colonial talent pool, No Mas.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Messi drink launch affirms Spanish as new lingua franca at Club World Cup
Javier Zanetti looked suitably awed as he read aloud from the label of a Limon Lime Mas by Messi drink, up on stage at the Chase Stadium VIP reception suite, dressed entirely in silky black tailoring, and looking like an elite hired assassin on his way to the opera, albeit one whose speciality is downing his victims in an ice bucket of the Future Of Hydration. To be fair, Zanetti didn't have many options when it came to striking a tone. A few moments earlier he'd been introduced by a marketing manager who spoke about Lionel Messi's new energy drink in tones of high-performance evangelism, gazing with doe-eyed wonder at the small plastic bottle in his hand and predicting that the 'official hydration partner of the Argentine FA' (water: you're out) would go on not just to make you less thirsty or become a popular choice in petrol stations, but to 'inspire generations'. Here was a guy who has really drunk the Mas. Advertisement Related: Messi shows glimpses of his genius on Fifa's stage of fakery as Club World Cup begins And why not? The Mas by Messi launch was an intoxicating event. Beautiful fragrant people drifted about enjoying the Mas vibes, the Mas buzz, the bottomless Mas shots at the bar ('Try the Berry Mix, sir?'). Reporters and TV crews, the Mas Media, lurked at the fringes. Even the World Cup was here, lending its gravity from behind its bulletproof plinth. Mas does seem a fitting edition to the energy drink pantheon, in that it also tastes like someone has washed a packet of Skittles with sea water and collected it in a plastic skip. But perhaps the most striking thing, all the more so the morning after a distinctly framed Club World Cup opening night, is that it has an excellent name. Mas means more, as in more gas, ever deeper energy levels, and to be fair after spending the first 20 minutes like a man looking for his keys on the beach, Messi did get notably stronger as the night went on. Mas is also the name of the wealthy and useful owners of Inter Miami, Jorge and Jose. It captures in one word Fifa's vision for football, which is basically gluttony, endless growth, the world is not enough. Advertisement But above all of these things it's good, current and culturally on point because it's Spanish. And the one lesson so far of being around this roided-up Club World Cup is that Spanish is very clearly the lingua franca of this tournament, the language of football in America, and the language of elite football, as we say here, period. This is overwhelmingly a Hispano-Latin-Iberian tournament. And not just because it is based in South Florida, but structurally, economically and demographically. From the US the furore over Trent Alexander-Arnold speaking a few words of Spanish seems doubly parochial. Not just because he now lives in Madrid and works for a Spanish employer. But because that elite tier of football, from players, to coaches to powerbrokers, is also speaking Spanish. The opening game was a massively Spanish/Hispanic/Central-South American affair, not just because 70% of the crowd were in Messi shirts, worn with the kind of event-zeal Americans bring to Halloween costumes or wearing a Pitbull scalp cap to a Pitbull show. The show was Spano-phile. the hype music was Latino club tune. Two days earlier the King of Football himself had delivered a rare video address at the Coral Gables golf club. And of course Gianni Infantino, for whom this was all, naturally, muy importante, spoke in spnissh. Advertisement This applies just on the numbers. More than 300 South American players are here, a third of those taking part. A startling 105 Argentinian players are involved, 47 of them based outside Argentina. It feels like a moment of coronation for Argentina as the current chief single export power at this level of football. Guardiola‑ism remains, 20 years on, the tactical template for basically all football everywhere, to the extent the language of, even in English, is now Spanish-inflected, managers like Graham Potter and Enzo Maresca indefinably Spanish-styled. Club dressing rooms have long reflected this. Part of Luis Enrique's transformation at Paris Saint-Germain has been to defeat 'the divide', the line between a previous Spanish-speaking mega-cartel and other parts of the squad. Asked to assess Kylian Mbappé's suitability before his move to the French champions Messi himself commented at the time that Mbappé would be fine in Paris because 'he speaks perfect Spanish'. Kalvin Phillips noted that one of the problems he found settling at Manchester City was the fact he didn't speak Spanish, which sounds bizarre until you remember City have seven Spanish-speaking coaches, that John Stones had Spanish lessons to help him forge an understanding in defence, that Erling Haaland taking Spanish lessons even before he joined City was held up an example of his meticulous prep. Learning Spanish is probably the most obvious controllable element for anyone who wishes to make it in elite football now. José Mourinho, the translator, owes his career to his language facility. Infantino carries his mega-fluency like a weapon. There is a note of potential power shift here. Europe's clubs will still dominate this Club World Cup, will scoop most of its $1bn prize pot, taking it back to the Uefa heartlands. The Premier League, which is only really an English entity in its geography, is the master of this process of talent outsourcing, a league so powerful it has in effect contracted out the production of talent and expertise. The Club World Cup may be driven by greed and the lust for power. It does, though, have a grain of a point when Fifa states that it might also become a redistributor of wealth. South America is keen on this tournament because it is a chance to take its own slice of the pie, perhaps even to reverse just a little its status as the production arm of European football, to halt that drift, the talent drain, to retain and develop more, to say, after many years as the colonial talent pool, No Mas.
