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| | Friendly: Jose's winning start |
Thursday 24 July, 2008 |
| Jose Mourinho got off to a winning start on the Inter bench with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal.
After a week of training under their new boss, the Nerazzurri ran out to face little known opposition at the Riscone Sports Centre in Brunico.
Mourinho had made it clear that he would play different teams for the first and second periods.
Adriano, who spent last season on loan to Sao Paulo, started as part of an attacking trident with Luis Figo and Mario Balotelli.
Youngsters Davide Santon and Francesco Bolzoni were given a rare chance to shine alongside Argentine Nicolas Burdisso in defence.
French striker Jonathan Biabiany, who was at Serie B outfit Modena last term, replaced Bolzoni during the first period.
Inter struggled to find their fluency on a sunny afternoon and were shocked by some crunching tackles from their visitors.
Adriano looked especially uncertain of his position as the Beneamata failed to pose any great threat in the opening stages.
But Mourinho’s men went ahead on the stroke of half-time courtesy of an old face in Burdisso.
The former Boca Juniors man rose to head home a Balotelli free-kick and ease the tension and accumulated frustration.
Amantino Mancini made his debut after the break and played as a trident alongside Julio Cruz and Hernan Crespo.
Crespo put the ball in the net from a Douglas Maicon cross, but he saw his effort chalked off.
Mancini and Luis Jimenez added some much-needed vitality to Inter’s ranks, but the pace of the game slowed as both sides accepted the 1-0 score-line.
Inter 1-0 Al Hilal
Scorer: Burdisso 45
Inter: (First half): Julio Cesar; Santon, Burdisso, Pelè, Bolzoni (Biabiany); Vieira, Cambiasso, Zanetti: Figo, Adriano, Balotelli
(Second half): Toldo; Maicon, Mei, Materazzi, Maxwell; Dacourt, Stankovic, Jimenez; Mancini, Cruz, Crespo
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