Italian Roundup

Lazio releases coach Mancini as Inter moves in

ROME (Reuters) -- Roberto Mancini moved a step closer to becoming coach of Inter Milan on Tuesday, when Serie A rivals Lazio released him from his contract.

The 39-year-old has been widely reported as being on the brink of taking charge at Inter ever since Alberto Zaccheroni's resignation last month.

Lazio's director general, Giuseppe De Mita, announced the decision to let Mancini go at the end of a shareholders meeting on Tuesday.

"We've resolved all our outstanding issues as regards Roberto Mancini. As far as we're concerned he's released (from his contract). Now he's Inter's problem," De Mita was quoted as saying en Goran Eriksson at Lazio, Mancini took over Fiorentina during the 2000-2001 season, leading them to the Italian Cup in his first season in charge.

He quit the following year as Fiorentina spiralled towards bankruptcy before rejoining Rome-based Lazio in August 2002.

Mancini again had to cope with serious financial problems that forced the departures of players Alessandro Nesta and Hernan Crespo, but guided the club to fourth place in Serie A and the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 2002-03 season.

Last season Lazio won the Italian Cup and finished sixth in Serie A.

At Inter, money is less of an issue, though the pressure of delivering the club's first Serie A title since 1989 has already claimed the jobs of a string of experienced coaches, including former Juve boss Marcello Lippi.

If appointed Inter coach, Mancini would become the 11th man to hold that position since Massimo Moratti bought the club in February 1995.

Lippi not surprised by Trapattoni's move

GENOA, Italy (AP) -- New Italian national team coach Marcello Lippi was not surprised that his predecessor, Giovanni Trapattoni, found a new job so quickly.

"Trapattoni is a coach on the global level, who can coach in any place at any latitude," Lippi said Tuesday of Trap's introduction as coach of Lisbon club Benfica.

Trapattoni's four-year stint as Italy's coach ended with a sub-par performance at the recently concluded European championships in Portugal, where the "Azzurri" were eliminated in the first round.

Lippi was hired immediately after the tournament to replace Trapattoni, whose club career has included highly successful stints with such powerhouses as Juventus, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

"It doesn't surprise me that Trap found a team right away; when he left Juve he immediately joined Bayern Munich. Now that he's left the national team he's arrived at Benfica," Lippi was quoted as saying by the news agency ANSA.

Trapattoni's defensive tactics in Portugal came under sharp criticism and many critics said the game had passed the 65-year-old coach by.

"The criticism he received for the Azzurri's showing in Portugal? In reality, the criticism came only from the press," Lippi said at a street-naming ceremony in Genoa to honor former Sampdoria president Paolo Mantovani.

Report: Davids agrees to play for Inter

MILAN, Italy (AP) -- Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids has agreed to a three-year deal to play for Inter Milan, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported Tuesday.

Davids' manager Robert Goerlings arranged a deal worth euro3.5 million (US$4.3 million) per season, the Gazzetta reported.

An Inter spokesman, Leo Picchi, said the team could not make any official comment on the deal because it had not been finalized yet.

Picchi said the club was also waiting to formally introduce Roberto Mancini as its new coach while Mancini worked out the formalities of his departure from financially struggling Lazio.

Inter already announced last month that it had hired Mancini.

Davids will likely become a key player in the middle of Mancini's midfield alongside Juan Sebastian Veron, who joined Inter on a one-year loan from Chelsea last month.

The 31-year-old Davids played for Juventus from 1997 to the middle of last season when he was loaned to Barcelona. In Spain, the Suriname-born midfielder helped turn around the Catalan club's season. Just recently, he helped the Netherlands reach the semifinals of the European championships.

Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.