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Balotelli pleased by Premier League interest

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Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli has revealed that he is flattered by the recent speculation which has linked him with Premier League rivals Manchester United (12/5 to win the Premier League) and City.

The 19-year-old has been out of favour at the San Siro despite club president Massimo Moratti stating that they would not want to lose the player.

City (5/1 to win the Premier League) look the most likely to sign the youngster as manager Roberto Mancini worked with the player when he coached at the Italian giants.

Balotelli has stated that he would only stay at Inter if he was guaranteed regular first-team football.

He said: “I expect an important year for my career. Now I’m on vacation, I am resting and recharging for a good start to the season. If you want to know more, ask my agent Mino Raiola.

“(President Massimo) Moratti? It is nice that the president considers me an important part of the club, but I need to play. I cannot be important and not play,” he added.

Balotelli has not had the easiest of times at Inter after having a turbulent relationship with former boss Jose Mourinho the player also has had mixed reactions from the club’s fans.

The Italian had positive things to say about both Manchester clubs and admitted that he is unsure where he will be playing football in the future.

He said: “Roberto Mancini? He’s a great coach, I debuted in Serie A with him because he is a great friend.

“If he and (Sir Alex) Ferguson want me, it means I’m not as bad as I thought.

“United is a great club. They have not seen the real Balotelli, for sure I need to learn and achieve more goals. I want to win the Golden Ball in 2011. As for the future, I always say I don’t know,” he added.

New Inter boss Rafa Benitez will be looking to continue the outstanding season the club had last season after winning the a domestic double and the coveted Champions League title.

The San Siro club are keen to keep hold of their key players with the likes of Wesley Sneijder being linked with a move away from the Serie A champions.

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Van Marwijk pleased with Dutch result

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Netherlands coach Bert van MarwijkNetherlands coach Bert van Marwijk was pleased with the result as Holland beat Japan 1-0, and was happy that his defence had performed well (Netherlands 7/1 Outright).

Van Marwijk, whose team have now progressed to the next phase of the World Cup, says he is not bothered if his team have to fall back on defensive steel.

“I would love to win playing beautiful football but you have to deal with a rival that also wants to win,” said Van Marwijk.

“I think we played a match that was perhaps not as attractive as our previous games but it’s not easy to play matches here and I think we deserved the win.

“Of course, we want to win playing great football but the important thing is that we learn to win ugly games.

“Japan were very confident heading into this match and I knew beforehand that this was going to be a hard game.”

He added: “We came here to win a prize, to become world champions, now that’s far from straightforward and easy.

“If we can continue to show stability, and if we maintain confidence in really winning something, we might get far. So the target is to go for the prize.”

Two wins from two matches delighted the coach, particularly with other fancied teams having struggled.

“At this level, you see that no match is straightforward as has also been the case for other teams like England and Spain.

“In the first half, we went for depth but we didn’t get the ball to our forwards.

“At half-time I told my players they had to be careful. We needed to speed up our game and be opportunistic.

“I believe we did that in the second half.”

Japan coach Takeshi Okada was pleased with his side’s efforts.

“We played against a strong team and we wanted to have taken at least a point in this game.

“But my players did the best they could and we feel sorry for our fans.

“During the first half we frustrated Holland and I told my players to be courageous and aggressive when we have the ball.

“That is what they did, but we weren’t able to deliver the finishing touch.”

Wesley Sneijder scored the only goal of the game, the playmaker slamming his shot into the net off the keeper.

“What you need is a bit of luck,” said Sneijder. “And we ended up at 1-0 and I think, at the end of the match, we should have ended up with 2-0 or 3-0.”

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