[han2503]

Oliveira wins Altafini approval

Former Milan striker Jose Altafini was left impressed by Ricardo Oliveira’s debut with the Rossoneri when Andriy Shevchenko’s replacement scored the winner against Lazio.

The Italian giants started to wipe out their eight-point deficit defeating Lazio 2-1 in their opening match at San Siro, with Oliveira netting just 10 minutes after being sent on to the pitch as a substitute.

“He is a fast player, very dynamic in his movements and he sometimes reminds me of Antonio Careca,” said Altafini, who wore the Milan jersey between 1958 and 1965 by netting 120 goals in 250 matches.

“I had seen him play with Santos where he had impressed me and yesterday he played a very good match,” continued the former Italian international.

“As all Brazilians, he went on to the pitch with no fear and behaved as if he had been a Milan player for a long time.

“I knew he would immediately adapt to playing with Kaka and Clarence Seedorf.”

Oliveira signed a five-year deal with Milan after Real Betis accepted £12m plus midfielder Johann Vogel in return, but was considered an unknown object until his weekend unveiling.

“He has all the characteristics to become a very good player,” continued Altafini. “Once you find the goal you never forget it, but we now don’t have to put too much pressure on the player.

“We must remember that Milan are not yet on top form. When a team plays well it also help all its players to give their best and Oliveira can still improve a lot.”

Football Italia

[Portman]

If I was Oliveira, I did not accept the #7. I'll go for #24 or #33. That's just because I think all this talk about "he's the new Sheva", "he's not yet the new Sheva"... it's ridiculous. Please, he's ANOTHER PLAYER. Not Shevchenko...

And good to see Altafini likes him. Oli needs to score more to gain more confidence. Needs 90min over 90min. (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)