[FM13] Giuseppe Bergomi - The King of Calcio

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Muriel Suffers Broken Leg

Away to Atalanta, 12 minutes into the match, striker Luis Muriel was subject to a horrific challenge and was stretchered off the pitch. It was easily identified by the physios as a badly broken leg, and Muriel has been ruled out for at least 5-6 months.

The 'Colombian Ronaldo' as he is known had finally hit a purple patch in the season despite a barren start, and had 9 goals going into the match, joint second with Ademilson. However, the Nerazzurri will now have to shoulder on the rest of the campaign with only 2 first team strikers in Mattia Destro and Ademilson, witht their backup being U20 striker Marco Livaja.

"It was a terrible challenge, I can't believe nothing was called, and now we've lost a player for 6 months," said Inter manager Bergomi. "Marco [Livaja]'s been playing well, though, so hopefully he can continue to grow with this chance in the first team."

The timing of the injury is the worst part, cutting off not only Muriel's excellent run of form, but also leaving Inter's front line short handed only 2 weeks after they could have signed a potential replacement to help keep competition for places high and keep all the players fit with rotation.

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Inter Stricken with Goalkeeping Crises

Inter Milan boss Giuseppe Bergomi has yet another injury problem on his hands, this time more pressing than before. Both starting goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and young backup Francesco Bardi are out injured for an extended period of time, just a month after top quality goalkeeper David Ospina was sold after he complained about being second fiddle to Handanovic.

The Serbian shot stopper will be out for 6 weeks with strained knee ligaments. The injury becomes even more untimely in that it falls directly in the middle of second string Francesco Bardi's double hernia which has left him out for many weeks now. Bardi is expected to be out for another 3 weeks, and will likely take the goalkeeping spot when he returns until Handanovic returns.

Until then, third string goalkeeper Vid Belec will start and U20 goalkeeper Giovanni Ranieri will sit the bench in case this goalkeeping crises becomes any worse and Belec must be replaced. Both goalkeepers are vastly inexperienced, with Belec to make his first ever Inter appearance despite being 24 years of age and having spent 9 seasons at the club, 2.5 of which on loan.

"It is very unfortunate," said Bergomi. "Handanovic is a top, top quality goalkeeper, but to miss also Francesco [Bardi] who has been showing so much potential is unfortunate. I have full faith in Vid Belec, however, and I am pleased to be able to give him his Inter debut."


Vid Belec playing for the reserve side.

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Denmark Ranked 4th in World

Danish players celebrating William Kvist's goal against Slovakia.

In a surprising but perhaps deserved move, the Danish national side has risen 2 spots to 4th in the latest rankings, the Danes' first venture into the top 5 in the world for many years. Since Italian manager Giuseppe Bergomi, who also manages club side Internazionale Milano, took over Denmark, they have won all 6 of their games, including 3 games in Euro 2016 Qualifying.

"It shows the progress we are making as a nation to now be considered on of the very best in the world," said Bergomi. "We are not yet at the days of the Laudrup brothers, but in time when players like Christian [Eriksen] and Lucas [Anderson] have matured we will be the top team in the world."

The Danes currently lead their qualifying group, Group D, for the European Championship in 2016, 3-0-0 so far. Finland is a distant 5 points in second already, but the Finns have a game in hand to cut into the lead. Many expect Denmark to continue to ease through their group and do very well at the Euros, with some people even saying the 'dark horse' team could win the tournament.

Bergomi was quick to refute these claims, however, saying, "Right now we are focused on qualifying [for the Euros] and nothing else. After we have accomplished this we can start to think about what comes next."

Holland holds on to their first place spot after their World Cup win, with Argentina and Brazil in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Danes, of course, occupy 4th, and rounding out the top 5 is Croatia, who drop a spot from last time. Germany sits 8th, Spain 9th, Italy 10th, Portugal 14th, and England 15h, further demonstrating the 'big nations' recent fall from power.