Balotelli just isn’t very popular in Italy is he? Every time I look at Italian football he seems to be getting stick from one direction or the other. This particular assault from last week’s Italian Cup Final by Francesco Totti has been brewing since March 2009 when Balotelli scored a controversial penalty for Inter in their 3-3 draw with Roma.

Just in case you missed this at the weekend or even if you didn’t and you fancy watching it again. And again… It’s the Brazilian defender Maicon cracking a spectacular volley against Juventus to take Inter back to the top of Serie A. For a brief time anyway, until Roma’s win over Lazio on Sunday. Exciting times in Italy.

From the Tottenham Blog on the day Ossie Ardiles’ Benefit match brought exotic opposition in the shape of Internazionale of Milan, but of more interest to the Spurs crowd was the appearance of Diego Maradona in a Tottenham shirt….

His attendance ensured a sell-out crowd that put the kick-off back to allow everyone in and the game featured a feast of skill with Maradona and Hoddle linking up like they had played together all their lives.

“With Diego Maradona making a right mess of his tenure at the head coach of Argentina, there has been speculation that he will be replaced with the safe pair of managerial hands that belong to Ossie Ardiles (I know).

Once upon a time though, they were not rivals but teammates. Such was their bond that Maradona agreed to play in Ossie’s testimonial game at White Hart Lane, for Tottenham against Inter Milan back in 1986.

As you will see from the video, Maradona looked a fairly decent player in a Spurs shirt (at least as good as Mark Falco). I remember the following season there was talk of us launching a then ludicrous bid of £10m to steal Maradona away from Napoli. Seeing as Alan Sugar eventually ended up bailing us out, Irving Scholar must have regretted not going the extra inch to get Diego on the never, never.

The bit I like most about this video is Martin Tyler’s interview with Ossie and Maradona, in which he asks if Diego foresaw any trouble if England were to play Argentina in the 1986 World Cup. Sometimes with the power of hindsight, an obvious question can seem quite prophetic.”

Inter v Genoa on the 17th October 2009. Just before half-time Genoa keeper Marco Amelia makes a poor clearance which falls straight to Dejan Stankovic on the half way line… What else can he do but volley straight back in?

Stankovic said afterwards “I went a bit to my right as I thought he might miskick it. It was perfect”. In slow motion it looks even sweeter.

This was supposed to be Ronaldo’s big day after the Brazilian had signed from Barca for £17m and was making his debut for Inter debut against Brescia. Inter were trailing 1-0 and Ronaldo had hit the bar and had a goal disallowed. It was then that El Chino was introduced to the San Siro crowd where he proceeded to steal the limelight with two gold-plated goals in the last ten minutes. The first, a magnificent 40-yarder that flew past the keeper and then the  second, a beautifully flighted free kick straight into the top corner. Talk about upstaging the bride. Enjoy.

In the Uefa cup final ’98 (the real) Ronaldo produced two pieces of sheer magic to inspire Inter to a 3-0 demolition of Lazio. Look out for the slalom at 1.53 and the dribble at 2.38.

This is just ridiculous. One of the best passes ever.