Just days after signing Swedish ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona, AC Milan have announced the purchase of Brazilian star Roubinho from Manchester City for a reported 12 million Euro.

Meanwhile Milan have sold Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to German side Schalke while Marco Boriello has moved to Roma to make way for the new arrivals

Roubinho joins fellow Brazilian stars Pato and Ronaldinho as well as Zlatan in what looks like being a formidable forward line up for Milan – so we should expect plenty of goals from the Rossoneri this season .

FORZA MILAN!!!

AC Milan and new coach Allegri got off to a dream start in the Serie A by thrashing newly promoted Lecce 4-0 delighting the crowd of 47,000 at the San Siro.

It was a game in which Milan had 63 % possession and which they totally dominated.

Milan lined up as follows :

Abbiati, Nesta, Silva, Antonini, Boners, Pirlo, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Ronaldinho, Boriello, Inzaghi and Pato.

Subs made : Inzaghi for Boriello( 61 st minute) ,Gattuso for Ambrosini ( 71 st minute) and Boateng for Pato (76 th minute).

The scorers were Pato in the 16 th minute off a great ball from Ambrosini with a great right footed shot into hte corner in the 16 th minute,Silva in a goalmouth scramble after a great flick from Pato from a corner in the 23 rd minute,Pato in the 28th minute when he rounded the Lecce keeper in and slotted home from a great Ronaldinho through ball and Superpippo in the 90 th minute after some great work from Gattuso.

All highlights are on youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rzBUAUjPYA

In other great news for the rossoneri, it has been officially announced that Swedish striker Ibrahimovic has joined the best club in the world from F.C. Barcelona . Zlatan is on loan this season with Milan having the option to purchase him outright for € 24 million at the end of the 2010-2011 season. The Swedish international was presented to the San Siro crowd at half time of the Lecce game.

After huge applause from the crowd Ibra responded by saying : "I came here to win, this season we’ll win everything!” .

Let’s hope he’s right – FORZA MILAN

After being crowned Champions of the KDSA under 14’A division last week, the Narrabeen '96 boys playing for the North Sydney Bears won their gala day competition. This is the second year in a row that this squad has won its Championship and Gala day competition double – a truly wonderful achievement.

Our boys were drawn in a group of four with the other three teams being the Berowra under 15 B’s, the Kissing Point under 15 B’s and our arch-rivals the Mt.Colah under 14 A’s. The winner of the group would then play the Grand Final against the winner of the other group in our KDSA section.

Our '96 boys played Kissing Point under 15 B’s first up and won the game 2-0 fairly comfortably ,thanks to good goals from Alfie and Jack ,with both goals coming in the second half .

The boys undeservedly lost their next group game 1-0 against a Berowra under 15 team which typically relied on the long ball and their stronger physique to put us off our short passing Milan style game. Despite having the majority of possession and creating plenty of chances ,we were caught in a counterattack in the second half to lose this game.

This all meant that when we came to our third and final group game against our arch-rivals Mt.Colah ,we knew that we had to win by two goals to make the Grand Final. The game started off badly for us when after only two minutes we fell behind 1-0 after a defensive mix up. To their credit, our boys battled back straight away and drew level when Joe scored with a great shot after some very good work from Alfie on the left. We continued to play some excellent football and deservedly took the lead in the second half when Alfie got to the bye-line after a mazy run past three Mt. Colah defenders and fed the ball to Matt whose shot from the edge of the area was deviated into Jack’s path and our Jack made no mistake from close range ! The valuable third goal came when a long ball from Richard managed to somehow bounce over the usually reliable Mt.Colah goalkeeper to give us a 3-1 win.

With this win we qualified for the afternoon Grand Final where we would meet the Kissing Point under 15 A team. The Kissing Point team started the game in aggressive manner and used their speed and superior phsyical size to dominate the first half and our boys did well to end the first half at 0-0. In the second half our boys started off better with some good passing and we took the lead after Jack fed a wonderful through ball to Alfie who ran through and hit a first time low left foot shot past the onrushing goalkeeper. Kissing Point reacted straight away and despite dominating possession, some great defensive work from Eddie,Cooper,Anthony and Richard kept us in the lead. Our boys held on in a tough game to to win their second successive Gala Grand Final.

Congrats to the '96 squad and to the squad’s coach Gigliotti - as well as our AC Milan coaches Andrea icardi and Elio Garavaglia. The success today was a confidence booster ahead of our trip to Griffith for the Champion of Champions competition and the Gold Coast Cup in September. The squad continues to do well and with continued focus and diligence in training in the next few weeks could go far in both competitions.

FORZA I ROSSONERI – AC MILAN and the NORTH SYDNEY BEARS

The Narrabeen 1996 team who train in the Advanced Academy at the Milan Soccer School and playing for the North Sydney Bears under 14A’s in the KDSA, have been declared Champions of their division !

Following on from a great 2-0 victory against Mt.Colah at Mt.Colah two weeks ago, our boys followed this up with a 5-0 victory last weekend against Kissing Point.

This left us 3 points ahead of Mount Colah with a goal difference 9 goals better than Mt.Colah , before the last game of the season this morning between Mt.Colah and Kissing Point.

Mt.Colah did everything this morning to win their match by the required ten goal margin required to win the championship but despite winning by a convincing 6-2 margin this morning, it was not enough.

This leaves us as Champions of the under 14 A division – this is the second year in a row that the squad has won their Championship !!

This means that we have now qualified for the prestigious Champions of Champions tournament for the second year running – last year we lost 1-0 to the winners of the competition Illawarra in a very close game. This year we have been drawn to play our first game in Griffith in country NSW in September.

Well done to the '96 boys and congratulations and keep up the training – FORZA MILAN and the NORTH SYDNEY BEARS !!

The Narrabeen 1997 boys who train in the Milan Soccer School Academy and playing for the North Sydney Bears 13A’s in the KDSA ,finished their season sucessfully by convincingly beating Northside Monash 4-0 . With Northbridge beating Lindfield 4-1, it means that our boys finished runners up in their league, finishing a mere one point behind Northbridge .

This is a fantastic effort by the team. Our boys were unlucky to lose 1-0 to Northbridge two weeks ago in what turned out to be a championship decider.

In good news for the '97 boys ,it has been confirmed that they will participate in the Champion of Champions and will play in Griffith in September.

Well done to the '97 boys, keep up the good work – FORZA MILAN and the NORTH SYDNEY BEARS !!

Milan Academy welcomes Zeljko Kalac and his family back to their home town of Sydney after Zeljko’s hugely succesful career overseas as a professional football player. Zeljko’s career culminated in him winning the Champions League and the World Club championship with AC Milan in 2007. He is the only Australian player to have completed such a feat and one of the very few Australians to have ever played at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Zeljko has only recently retired as a professional football player from an amazing career which started at Sydney United in 1989 . Zeljko’s football career really took off when he joined Roda FC in Holland in 1998. After 4 years and over 100 games in the very tough Dutch League, Zeljko was transferred to Serie A team Perugia in 2002. After many dazzling displays for Perugia, he caught the eye of AC Milan who purchased him from Perugia in 2005.

Zeljko was a regular starter in the AC Milan side playing in over 50 top class games, although he had tough competition for the spot from Dida ,the Brazilian goalkeeper. Zeljko trained daily and played along the greats of Milan such as Kaka, Maldini,Seedorf,Gattuso,Pirlo and Shevchenko – many of whom remain his friends. During his time at AC Milan, Zeljko was trained by legendary ex AC Milan goalkeeper Villiam Vecchi, who is now a world class goalkeeping coach.

Zeljko’s was also a regular starter for the Socceroos and played over 50 games for Australia. He was part of the very succesful 2006 World Cup team in Germany.

Milan Australia welcomes Zeljko back to Australia and we look forward to having him visit our Academy in the near future and share some of his many experiences with us . Standing at over 2 metres tall, Zeljko is a giant in more ways than one !

FORZA MILAN

Milan Academy Australia is happy to announce the arrival in Sydney this week of Elio Garavaglia as a new coach at the Milan Academy for the month of August.

Elio is arriving today from Milan to assist our Coaching Director Andrea Icardi at our three locations in Sydney.

Elio came through the Milan youth system where he trained for six years as a junior. Elio then had a 13 year professional soccer career in Italy playing with teams like Monza . At the end of his playing career ,Elio became a youth coach and was assistant coach of the AC Milan youth squad to coaches such as Mauro Tassoti and Franco Baresi from 1987 to 2010.

Elio is scheduled to return to Milan at the beginning of September to coach the AC Milan youth team which had a very successful year in 2010.

We welcome Elio to Australia – this is his first visit here – and trust that all our boys enjoy and learn from the experience of being trained by a youth coach of Elio’s calibre and experience.

AC Milan continued its preparation for the new season with a 1-1 draw against French side Lyon in the second game of the Emirates Cup in London.

Milan named seven changes from the team that drew with Arsenal in the opening game as coach Allegri gave several youngsters, who have been promoted from the Primaverra squad this season, a place in the opening line up.

Milan lined up as follows : Amelia, Oddo, Papstathopoulos, Bonera, Zambrotta, Strasser, Seedorf, Flamini, Merkel, Borriello and Verdi

Several substitutions were made during the game : Gattuso for Flamini ( 46 th minute),Pato for Verdi ( 58 th minute),Yepes for Papstathopoulos ( 62nd minute),Antonini for Zambrotta( 68 th minute),Beretta for Boriello( 77 th minute) and Novinic for Merkel(80 th minute).

In an open and entertaining game, the first half ended goalless despite both sides having several opportunities to score. The deadlock was broken in the second half when Boriello scored in the 54 th minute after some very good work from Verdi.

Lyon then lauched wave after wave of attacks and came close on several occasions as Milan sat back on their lead. Lyon got just reward for the pressure exerted in the 78 th minute when Briand scored with a great flying header.

For all highlights go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENRvosQWBM0

In the other game in the Emirates Cup, hosts Arsenal beat Celtic 3-2 to be crowned the Emirates Cup champions.

The Milan squad now returns to Italy to continue its preparations and training for the Serie A season which begins on 29 August with the match against Lecce at the San Siro.

FORZA MILAN

The AC Milan squad is in London participating in the Emirates Cup in London. Milan travelled to London without Ronaldinho and Pirlo who are both recovering from injury.

Under new coach Allegri , Milan lined up with two new signings in defence :

Abbiati, Papastathopoulos, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini, Gattuso, Seedorf, Flamini, Abate, Borriello and Pato

Arsenal took the lead in the 35 th minute through new signing Marouane Chamakh who scored on his home debut with a neat finish after a great run and through ball from Arshavin.

Milan equalised in 76 th minute thanks to Brazilian star Pato who scored with a great header from a free kick on the edge of the area from Clarence Seedorf.

All highlights are available on You Tube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP4kGxzimbc

So a very credible result for new coach Allegri who was delighted with the result. Milan will now play Lyon in their next game at the Emirates.

FORZA MILAN

The following games are ON tomorrow

North Sydney Bears U14 A v Kissing Point – Check match info

These games have been CANCELLED

North Sydney Bears U11B v Mt Colah

North Sydney Bears U12A v Lindfield

North Sydney Bears U13A v Lindfield

North Sydney Bears U15A v West Pymble

The SYOP July soccer camp was closed today by Director of Coaching Andrea Icardi.
The whole week has been a great success with players making friends, playing great soccer and playing for each other.

Well Done to all the players!

See you next time!

It was another glorious day to play soccer at SYOP.
Our Guest coach Mauro Ardizzone came to visit. Players enjoyed asking questions and being part of his sessions.

With clear blue skies and strong winds the Milan Junior July camps went ahead in full swing.

The Residential Camp was officially closed this afternoon after 3 days of intense training. The Director of coaching and his staff were delighted on the approach of each player and claimed the camp a great success.

It was also the last day of the Daily camp at the Calabria Club. With 3 mornings of unique training Andrea Icardi closed the camp praising everyone’s efforts in the past few days on the way they played soccer in the true spirit of the game.

Well done to all players at the Northern Beaches Camps. We hope to see you on the field with us again soon!!

Across the City it was day 2 of the 4 day daily camp at SYOP. Today coaches advised that everything went according to plan and were very happy the way the players are pushing themselves.

The July SYOP camp was opened today by the director of coaching Andrea Icardi. The day was a great success with great soccer played by all ages.

It was day 2 in the residential and daily camp on the Northern beaches. Reports from the coaches are full of praise of the way players are pushing themselves and responding to the coaches sessions

The rain held off today as the July Milan Junior Camps opened in the Northern Beaches. With the coaches and players itching to play. The day was a great success seeing some fantastic soccer being played at both camps.

The Residential camp at Sydney Academy of Sport was led by our guest coach Mauro Ardizzone after being officially opened by the Director of Coaching Andrea Icardi. The players performed extremely well and the feedback from the coaches is very satisfying.

A few minutes down the road at the Calabria Club the Daily Milan Junior Camp was opened, led by the Director of Coaching Andrea Icardi. The day was a great success with the daily tournaments being a player favourite.

Milan Academy Australia is looking forward to welcoming Mauro Ardizzone as our visiting Italian Coach from Milan Headquarters. In addition to holding UEFA B License, Mauro has been working with AC Milan since 2003 in the capacity of Head Coach in many international Academies. We are proud to add Sydney to Mauro’s list which includes Miami, Greece, Luxemburg, Puerto Rico and many more.

View Ardizzone coach profile in Coaching Staff next to Andrea Icardi’s Letter

Narrabeen U.11 Vs St Michaels=2-1 (
Narrabeen U.12 Vs West Pymble=2-0 (Conor, Kian )
Narrabeen U.13 Vs Northbridge=2-0 ( , Kian )
Narrabeen U.14 Vs Lindfield =5-0 (Giuseppe 3 times,Jack, Eddie)
Narrabeen U.15 Vs Kissing Point=

As of Next week 5th July, Milan Academy is closed for the school Holidays and will re open on Monday 19th July.

Please note tonight’s training Fri 2nd July at SYOP is on!

Narrabeen U.9 Vs Monsman – 1-1 (Bronson)

Narrabeen U.11 Vs Kissing Point A – 3-2 (Ethan x2,Boughan)

Narrabeen U.12 Vs West Pymble = 1-0 (Kian)

Narrabeen U.13 Vs Bye

Narrabeen U.14 KDSA Tigers = 4-0

Narrabeen U.15 Vs Bannockburn = 2-10

Homebush U.11 Vs - Awaitng

Read “Player Stories” as John Munro reflects on the Milan Clinc.