Inter's unlikely 2009-10 Champions League success under Jose Mourinho could inspire Cameroon to a shock World Cup triumph in Qatar, according to the former Nerazzurri and Indomitable Lions striker Samuel Eto'o.
The Cameroon great was part of the Inter side that completed a stunning treble in 2009-10, winning a fifth consecutive Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and their first Champions League or European Cup title in 45 years.
Diego Milito's brace was enough to down Bayern Munich in the final of UEFA's elite club competition, with Eto'o assisting the Argentina international for his second goal to wrap up victory.
Inter overcame Chelsea and Barcelona either side of defeating of CSKA Moscow en route to the final, and Eto'o – who is now president of the Cameroonian Football Federation – optimistically believes his country can follow the Nerazzurri's example at Qatar 2022.
"I don't see why he can't win it," he told reporters in Milan, where the 41-year-old has returned to announce a charity friendly game in San Siro on May 23 that will include the likes of Francesco Totti and Lionel Messi.
"I believe that in order to win the World Cup you don't need to be monsters or aliens, you need good preparation, a strong mentality and a pinch of madness.
"I won a bit in my career and to do it I gave everything.
"I always take Inter as an example: no one at the beginning of the 2009-10 season thought we could win [the Champions League] and instead Mourinho did something crazy, with a group of men and warriors.
"I would like something like that for Cameroon too."
Cameroon's best performance at a World Cup saw them famously reach the 1990 quarter-finals, but they did not make it out of the group in any of their other six participations, failing to even register a point at either South Africa 2010 or Brazil 2014.
Having missed out on Russia 2018, Cameroon will have to overcome the world's number-one ranked side Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland in Group G later this year.
Goretzka 'will continue to be important' despite lack of playing time, Kompany insists
Vincent Kompany insists Leon Goretzka "will continue to be important" for Bayern Munich, despite his limited game time this season.
The Germany midfielder has fallen down the pecking order behind the likes of new signing Joao Palhinha, and played just 21 minutes this term.
Nine of those came on Tuesday, when he scored as a late substitute to complete his side's 9-2 rout of Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener.
Though the 29-year-old has found opportunities hard to come by, Kompany maintains he is an integral part of Bayern's squad.
"He's important for us and will continue to be," Kompany told DAZN. "The team loves him. I only have players who want to play and accept the competition for places.
"At Bayern, it's always easy to talk about individual players. But I want to talk about the team. That’s important to me.
"He is very important in this team. He's doing well, but so are the others."
Goretzka has made over 200 appearances for Bayern since joining from Schalke in 2018, including 42 across all competitions last season.
The midfielder has also won five Bundesliga titles during his time with the Bavarian giants, as well as the Champions League in 2019-20.
Inzaghi focused on revamped Champions League, not 2023 final 'rematch' with Man City
Simone Inzaghi is not treating Inter's Champions League opener at Manchester City on Wednesday as a rematch of last year's final.
The Scudetto winners were beaten 1-0 by Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final, as Rodri's finish in Istanbul proved the difference.
Inzaghi is adamant that changes to the Champions League format and the fact that there is much less riding on the result make it very different to their previous encounter.
"Tomorrow starts a new Champions League, that will be very different," the Inter head coach told a press conference on Tuesday.
"I re-watched [the final] a month ago when we were in training camp. I don't think it's a rematch because it's not a final, it's a group game in the new Champions League format."
Inzaghi was enthusiastic about the changes to the format, with clubs playing eight matches in a 36-team league phase instead of the previous group stage.
But he said he was also aware of the burden on players from the amount of games they will now play after Man City midfielder Rodri said players were on the verge of going on strike.
"We know that you play a lot and we coaches are aware of that. I can say that preparing these games for a coach is beautiful and exciting," Inzaghi added.
"I know there are problems, but we are counting on getting through. I will have to alternate as many players as possible, we are without [Federico] Dimarco and [Marko] Arnautovic, but we have been used to having a sometimes limited rotation for two years now."
Inzaghi added that he was pushing his team to be aggressive and determined despite City having not lost at home in the competition since 2018.
"We will need a lot of components to make a great match," he concluded.
Ronaldo's Al Nassr dismiss head coach Castro
Al Nassr are on the hunt for a new boss after dismissing head coach Luis Castro, the Saudi Pro League side confirmed on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. have struggled through an underwhelming start to the season, winning just one of their opening three league fixtures of the campaign.
The Riyadh club were also defeated in the Saudi Super Cup final 4-1 against champions Al Hilal last month.
Al Nassr have seen enough, swiftly moving to part ways with 63-year-old Castro, who previously took charge of Brazilian Serie A side Botafago.
"Everyone at AlNassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 14 months," the club said in a brief statement on social media.
Castro, a fellow Portugal compatriot to Ronaldo, led the club to lift the Arab Club Champions Cup last year, a competition contested by 37 teams from Asia and Africa.
However, Al Nassr finished second in the league last season, 14 points behind Jorge Jesus' Al Hilal, who were inspired by the goal-scoring exploits of Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Al Nassr drew 1-1 against Al Shorta of Iraq on Monday in the opening game of the AFC Champions League Elite, which proved to be Castro's final match at the helm.
Stefano Pioli, formerly of AC Milan, is one of Al Nassr's preferred replacements according to reports in local Saudi media.
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