Carlo Ancelotti has named his 23-man squad for the Club World Cup in Japan, including the injured Ronaldo and Marek Jankulovski.

Milan are participating champions of Europe in the tournament that runs from December 7 to 16.

Although Ronaldo and full-back Jankulovski are currently out of action, the Coach hopes to have them both back in time to play in Japan.

Il Fenomeno has been ruled out of Saturday’s Serie A match with Juventus and most likely the Champions League decider with Celtic on Tuesday evening due to a recurring calf problem.

Under FIFA rules Milan can bring 23 players, but Alexandre Pato cannot take part, as the 18-year-old’s registration can only be made official from January 2008.

The Rossoneri only enter the competition from the semi-finals on December 13, where they will face one of Sepahan, Waitakere United and Urawa Red Diamonds.

Boca Juniors enter from the other semi-final and the trophy will be assigned in Yokohama on December 16.

Meanwhile, Boca Juniors have been told they cannot use new signing Juan Roman Riquelme in the Club World Cup.

The Argentine just completed his move from Villarreal, but is not eligible because he missed the “strict deadline of Friday November 23 2007 for submitting a final list of players,” explained FIFA.

Riquelme was not on the preliminary list handed in last week.

Milan squad: Dida, Kalac, Fiori; Cafù, Maldini, Kaladze, Nesta, Simic, Jankulovski, Bonera, Serginho, Oddo; Emerson, Gattuso, Seedorf, Gourcuff, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Brocchi; Inzaghi, Gilardino, Kakà, Ronaldo.


Channel4

I know this cup is a priority for us but don't you think Darmian and Aubameyang should be given a chance?

Since we only have two matches to play maximum,both knockout; I don't think Darmian and Willy will be given much of a chance.

They're not even a squad list --> No chance.

Yah I know that, but don't you think they should?
I mean we're never going to see the young players blossom if they don't play ...

Well if they're not playing much in Serie A, I doubt, they'll play them in the CWC.

Ideally I'd like us to take Darmian, Willy and Gourcuff out of the team, and put them through the same kind of specialised coaching programme that we're giving Pato.

Then put them out one at a time.

I did expected to see Ba, Darmian or Willy play even for a few minutes.

Well there is nothing new about that list, it's our roster anyways

For lack of anywhere better to stick this, I'm adding here a brief note on today's training in Yokohama.

Seedorf, Ronaldo, and Serginho didn't train.

The rest of the team, including Jankulovski , did train.

link

Ronaldo..ok...but Clarence??!!!

Jack, our beloved Turtle may well need the gym. He was hurt before the Benfica game (I think during the Cagliari game?) and wasn't 100% in Lisbon. He didn't look great against the Zebras either, and then he took a couple of nasty hits from Celtic in the CL game.

In any event, today's training was open to the public. There were a lot of fans out to watch, it seems. After a warmup, there was what was essentially a practice game and the crowd went into raptures when Pippo scored during the practice game. Today, the following players trained in the gym/pool at the hotel where Milan are staying: Dida, Seedorf, Simic, Serginho, and Ronaldo. link

In the first game of the CWC (being shown live at dead o'clock on the Fox Soccer Channel), Sepahan defeated Waitakere 3-1.

And...the sky is falling. Here's a headline quote from today's Gazzetta: 'Tifo per il Milan, sono italiano' [I'm supporting Milan, I'm Italian.] The speaker? A Milanese businessman named Massimo Moratti. link

unbelievable!!

Can you imagine Silvio saying something like that? Milan fan would never say that about Inter.

Thats cause Inter is hardly Italian. Second keeper Toldo , thats about it ... Oh , i forgot about the great defender Matrix

^^^^

Nova, no one can tell you what the Matrix is, you have to see it to experience it. Ask kurt, he is The One!!

True, true ..

I lived the dream when I saw him play, my life is nearly complete.

hehe matrix did get the most important goal a defender has ever scored.

Prior to today's training, Milan ran a mini-camp for a bunch of Japanese kids. After the mini-camp, the kids got to meet Favalli, Nesta, and Kaka.

There was another practice game today during training, and according to the website, the wingbacks (Cafu, Oddo, and Janku) did very well as did Gila. And Pippo scored another goal.

Our beloved Turtle trained with the team. He said in an interview that he hadn't trained the last two days because of swelling picked up after the nasty hit he took during the Celtic game and that his ankle was just fine.

Simic and Dida trained, but did so separately. (The tone when discussing them indicated that they're expected to rejoin the group).

Ronaldo and Serginho didn't train. The acmilan.com articles said only that, but there's speculation in the Italian press that Ronie won't be available for the CWC at all and that Milan are moving back his return to the derby on Dec. 23.

(source: various articles on acmilan.com's Italian page + a quick look at the Italian papers)

Thanks for the update Tennie.

Last night, after training, a bunch of the players went out to see some kickboxing.

The Milan WAGs have arrived.

Oddo gave an interview. He said that he knows he's been underperforming recently. He attributes it to coming back too quickly after an injury. He states he's now back to 100% and is eager to play and win.

Pippo gave a long interview; the English version on acmilan.com mangles the original but is mostly accurate. He's still hungry at 34 and is still having fun. He also said that it was important to leave Pato in peace and give him space.

Billy Costacurta is going to scout the Urawa-Sepahan game.

In what's a big surprise on this continent, Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel beat Mexico's Pachuca in the quarterfinal game. Sahel will face Boca in the other semi.

There were a lot of drills in today's training, which was open to the public and attended by 2-3K fans. Ronaldo did NOT train.

(source: various articles on acmilan.com)

Thanx again Tennie


Keep them coming



On a side note ... What is going on with Ronaldo ?!! I hope tis doesn't turn into a Pippo incident

All they said on acmilan.com was that Ronie didn't train. the Italian press is speculating that the calf injury he picked up while warming up in Lisbon is still bothering him. No clue if there's anything more to it.

One addendum (after rereading the Italian after I've had my morning coffee): Dida left the training partway through today, with lower back pain.

Yeah, its speculated that Kalac will play in the semi final

Urawa are very European in play, but they have a few Brazillians. Good technically, but not the best finishers. On their best day I think they're as good as Celtic.

Sepahan are I think an Iranian team not sure. Their reputation lies in their rather mean defence.

Yes they are an Iranian team .. pronounced "asfahan" ... Their team is not really that good, when compared to Boca, they look mediocre. But against Urwa reds .. Who knows, they might just win

They might...but my money is on the Japanese pulling through. Home advantage and all. But I hear the Reds are really fatigued, and have some injury bothers as well.

Will depend a lot on Shinji Ono, I think.

There's a brief interview with Marek Jankulovski on acmilan.com's Italian page. He says that he feels good and that he's happy to be back training with the team. He adds that while he may be physically behind some of his teammates (ie, he's not necessarily match-fit), he's ready to play.

One of Japan's famous sumo wrestlers is a Kaka fan.

Ambro gave an interview in which he said he's in the form of his life; he thanked Carletto for the confidence the coach has showed in him. He also said that the more Italian players talked about France coach Raymond Domenech, the more satisfaction it gave Domenech.

A New Milan Point shop has been opened in one of the Yokohama shopping malls. According to a Japanese newspaper, it's been ten times more successful than the Barca shop was last year. They've sold 10,000 Kaka jerseys already.

Galliani gave an interview in which he stated that national federations should compensate clubs for the NT duty of club players. He also said Platini was doing a good job. Galliani also stated that Pato's transfer (and the associated work permits, etc etc) should be done and Pato should be an official Milan player available for selection by January 9 or 10. Pato will miss the winter training session in Dubai (from Jan 2-10) and the exhibition game against the UAE national team.

Today's morning training session was mostly drills. There wasn't a practice game in the morning session, though there were a couple of games of football-tennis (? that's how it translates. hope it makes sense). Emerson and Serginho beat Jankulovski and Gilardino in one of them. Serginho has fully recovered and is training with the team. Simic is doing individualized training still. Dida didn't train but is expected to be available. Ronie didn't train. There will also be an afternoon training session closed to the public.

EDIT: Milan will face Urawa Reds in the semi. Urawa defeated Sepahan 3-1.

(source: various articles on acmilan.com's italian page).

Carletto and Galliani spoke with Ronaldo, who doesn't feel himself well enough to play even on Sunday. His name will be removed from the list of players and substituted with Favalli so Carletto has a full roster of players at his disposal for the semi (and hopefully, for the final).

For tomorrow's game, Milan will be in their white kit.

Aside from Ronie, everyone else is back (including Dida, Janku, Simic, Emerson, etc).

Etoile-Boca is scoreless in the 21st. 3 yellows so far, 2 for Boca and 1 for Etoile. (and the Fox commentators are still dreadful)