If Inter Milan were intending their trip to Beijing for last week’s Italian Super Cup to be a China charm offensive, coach Jose Mourinho was obviously not kept in the loop.

The accepted form for European club officials on pre-season trips to China is to politely praise everything local and talk up the footballing potential of the world’s most populous nation.

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the traditional Italian season curtain-raiser between the Serie A champions and Cup winners, Mourinho departed from the script.

The post-match news conference got off to a bad start when the local interpreter expressed his delight at Lazio’s victory and invited Chinese media to ask Mourinho difficult questions.

Matters did not improve when Mourinho, who earlier in the week had described the Bird’s Nest stadium — China’s pride and joy — as “so-so”, arrived on the podium.

The first question from state broadcaster CCTV, suggesting he had been forced into letting new signing Samuel Eto’o play a full 90 minutes, was answered politely.

The second, from a local newspaper reporter, asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win.

“After the first two questions, I know why Chinese football is so rubbish and why China has won gold medals in so many sports but not football, because the journalists are so unprofessional,” the Portuguese replied.

Later, a reporter from state news agency Xinhua asked whether the match had further convinced Mourinho of the need to strengthen his midfield with a playmaker.

“After your questions it seems that my team played a horrible match,” said the former Porto and Chelsea boss. “The conclusion is that you don’t understand a thing, because all the questions are based on the result. This is not football. If we talk about the result, it was 2-1 to Lazio. If we are talking about the match, then we have to say one team played, the other was lucky. This is football.”

Mourinho, who got his break in management after working as a interpreter for English coach Bobby Robson, was unsurprisingly lambasted by the Chinese sports media.

Web portal qq.com was typical, listing “Mourinho’s seven sins in China”.

“1. Losing the match, 2. Being arrogant, 3. Insulting journalists, 4. Sneering at Chinese football, 5. Despising the Bird’s Nest, 6. Refusing to attend a charity dinner 7. Losing his temper at the Silk Market,” it said.

Mourinho would not be the first tourist to lose his cool at the Silk Market, the central Beijing shopping centre famous for its faked goods where scores of shop assistants aggressively vie for custom, but he denied accusations of an eighth sin.

A statement posted on Inter’s Chinese language website on Monday read: “Jose Mourinho today firmly denied the reports that he refused to meet China’s coach Gao Hongbo.

“After Inter’s training in the Olympic Sports Centre in the afternoon of Aug. 5, Gao met and talked to Mourinho … The two coaches agreed to meet again the next day but because of the preparations for the Super Cup, they did not meet in the National Stadium.”

The journalist who had asked the second question in the press conference was not impressed with Mourinho. “I don’t think he’s the special one,” she told me as we left the stadium.

 Picture by David Gray

The departure of Kaka from AC Milan to Real Madrid marks the end of the Italian era in European football. Not only can Italian clubs not attract the best players in the world to play in Serie A but now, when they unearth a talent like Kaka, they can’t stop them from leaving.

Italians used to describe their Serie A as ‘il campionato piu bello del mondo’ , the most beautiful championship in the world. It was not just because Italians love nothing more than talking themselves up — Serie A was the first league in the world to sign up top foreign stars, bringing in international talent at a time when the English league, for example, stretched no further than Scotland in search of players.

Beginning in the late 1950’s when the likes of Brazilian Jose Altafini (AC Milan) and Welshman John Charles (Juventus) were among the top performers, Serie A prided itself on being the league that had the money to bring in the best in the world.

After the 1966 World Cup, where Italy was humiliated by North Korea, foreigners were banned as part of an attempt to strengthen the domestic talent base and the national team, but when the rule was relaxed in 1980, the top clubs began importing talent again and before long Italy had become the first league to truly take on global status.

Frenchman Michel Platini at Juventus led the new wave and then the biggest name of all, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly led Napoli to titles in 1987 and 1990. The great Milan sides of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello were built around foreign stars — the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten helped transform Serie A from a league dominated by cautious and defensive teams into a showcase for the world’s best talent.

Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus and Andreas Brehme helped Inter to the title in 1989, and by the nineties, any player in the world who could be considered a match-winner was being snapped up by an Italian team.

Just ten years ago, the top teams in Serie A included players such as Ronaldo at Inter, George Weah and a young Andriy Shevchenko at Milan, Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina, Hernan Crespo, Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastian Veron (all at their peak) at Lazio and the best of his generation, Zinedine Zidane at Juventus. It was the departure of the latter to Real Madrid in 2001 that suggested Spain was beginning to replace Italy as the place where the world’s best could get paid best.

Since then though, England’s Premier League, flush with television cash, has begun gobbling up players that in the past would have headed to Serie A. In the 1990’s the likes of Fernando Torres, Michael Ballack, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba would have almost certainly been Serie A players. Real and Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany have also proven stronger in the transfer market that Italy’s top teams. It would have once been unthinkable that Italian World Cup hero such as Luca Toni would choose to play in the Bundesliga rather than in Milan or Turin.

A week after Milan captain Paolo Maldini, who played with or against all those great talents from the late eighties onwards, finally hung up his boots, Kaka leaves Milan for a fee of around 68 million euros and Adriano Galliani, who runs Milan on behalf of tycoon and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi conceded the golden era of Serie A was now over: “Ten years ago Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could have played in Italy but now no one even considers it,” he said.

That is the painful truth for Italian fans — it is not so much that Italian clubs cannot compete with Real’s occasional obscene bouts of cash-throwing that hurts but that Italian clubs are no longer even considered as likely destinations for the world’s best or most promising.

Berlusconi talked up Ronaldinho as the man who will now be the standard-bearer for Milan but the impression is that he moved to Italy after his best years, served with Barcelona, were over.

Money is the main reason for Italy’s relegation from Europe’s elite — Milan, Inter and Juventus no longer have the resources to compete with England and Spain’s top clubs. Italian clubs ignored marketing and merchandising as they presumed their wealthy owners — the Berlusconi, Moratti and Agnelli families — would take care of everything. Moratti still finds the cash but Milan and Juve now operate in the world of budgets rather than blockbuster transfer deals.

With the lack of foreign quality and top wages, Serie A has lost the sheen of glamour that once led fans from all over the world to tune in and watch. The days when Ronaldo and Zidane were face to face in an Inter-Juve match, with a supporting cast of quality Italians and exciting foreign players, is over. Does anyone watch Serie A on satellite or cable anymore?

The proof that this really is the end of an era is the way that the Italian media and fans have just shrugged their shoulders at the departure of Kaka. They know they cannot turn down offers of that size — offers their own teams used to make every summer.

KAKA: Kaka attends Brazilian training at Arruda stadium in Recife, northeastern Brazil, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

ZIDANE: Zinedine Zidane shows his Juventus shirt at a news conference announcing his move to Turin, July 3, 1996. REUTERS/Claudio Papi

The Champions League final is almost upon us and the views of the Roman locals are quite interesting.

As Paul Virgo explains above, AS Roma fans are rooting for Barcelona while Lazio supporters want Manchester United to win.

The Stadio Olimpico is eerily quiet but it will soon be buzzing on Wednesday when the hordes of fans descend on the venue for what many are calling a ‘dream final’.

Serie A clubs are understandably upset about English sides scooping up youngsters such as Federico Macheda from their academies.

Lazio President Claudio Lotito cried foul after the 17-year-old, a product of the Rome club’s youth system, scored a stunning winner for Manchester United against Aston Villa in his Premier League debut on Sunday.

He has a point. After doing the hard part of nurturing the players’ talents, wealthier foreign sides can step in and enjoy the benefits. It’s not the best way to encourage clubs to invest in their academies and FIFA and UEFA are looking at tightening the rules on the transfer of under-18s.

But Lotito’s annoyance is only justified to a certain degree as, if Macheda had stayed at Lazio, it seems unlikely that he would have got the chance United boss Alex Ferguson gave him to hit the headlines at such a tender age.

“I doubt an Italian team would have made the move Ferguson did,” respected Italian sports writer Italo Cucci told Rai television.

Indeed, while Serie A clubs are good at producing young players, they are frequently criticised in Italy for not giving them the chance to shine.

Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi, another player snapped up as a teen by United, was unable to find a Serie A side even after an impressive loan stint at Parma in 2007 and his skills are now on show in Spain at Villarreal.

It’s also worth remembering that Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry both joined Arsenal in the 1990s after failing to find space early in their careers at AC Milan and Juventus respectively.

The highly charged atmosphere of Serie A pressures coaches into preferring tried-and-tested options rather than risking players who inevitably make mistakes out of inexperience.

“The English definitely have more courage in giving youngsters a chance abroad,” former Juve and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli told Sky. “The difference there is that when they have an off match, they still let them play the next game.”

That said, Ferguson seemed to have acquired some of his Italian colleagues’ caution on Tuesday, with Macheda warming the bench in a disappointing 2-2 home draw with Porto in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Federico Macheda heads the ball during a training session at the club’s Carrington training complex in Manchester, northern England, April 6 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Most Manchester United fans had no idea who Federico Macheda was before the Italian netted a stunning stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa on Sunday.

The 17-year-old’s goal could ultimately be the one that sealed the Premier League title for United.

He has been scoring regularly for United’s youth and reserve teams since joining the club in September 2007 after developing through Lazio’s youth system. Born in Rome, he signed professional forms last August and is regarded as one of the most promising young prospects of Italian soccer.

what irks Italians is that he is plying his trade in England. AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has said it is a scandal that young Italian players can get hoovered up by big European clubs.

Remember Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi first appeared at United before finiding his way to Villarreal.

FIFA and UEFA want to do something to protect under-18 players and keep them at their local clubs. The trouble is that until they sign professional contracts, the ownership of young footballers is complicated.

It might be good for the clubs to hold on to good young players but what about the teenagers themselves?

Having scored on his debut for the European champions at Old Trafford, it’s doubtful Macheda wants to be anywhere else.

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Federico Macheda (L) shoots past Aston Villa’s Luke Young (R) to score during their English Premier League soccer match in Manchester, northern England April 5 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

The silly season has been packed with strange stories, none more so than the mafia trying to buy Lazio.

Italian authorities believe a bid by a consortium in 2006 was actually a front for the Casalesi, an organised crime gang within the Camorra - the Naples version of the mafia.

Corruption and scandal have been rife in the Italian game, as proved by the 2006 match-fixing affair and fresh allegations from last season, but nothing could have matched a Serie A club being secretly controlled by the mafia.

One can only wonder what would have happened if their audacious bid had been successful. Would they have made sure Lazio won every game? What would have happened to the coach if they failed?

One thing is sure…the players’ suits would have been extra smart at the cup final.

PHOTO: Lazio supporters cheer for their team during a Serie A match against AS Roma in Rome. March 19 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

On February 16 Inter Milan were 11 points clear at the top of Serie A. Since then, a lot has happened and by the time the champions visit Lazio on Saturday their lead could be down to just one point.

First they lost to Liverpool in their Champions League last 16 first leg when Marco Materazzi was harshly sent off and important centre back Ivan Cordoba was ruled out for the season with ligament damage.

Patchy form and defensive lapses followed, with Javier Zanetti grabbing a late equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with second-placed AS Roma, who went on to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League as their form generally picked up.

Inter were eliminated by Liverpool after losing 1-0 at home and 3-0 on aggregate, a hammer blow to their confidence, so much so that coach Roberto Mancini bizarrely announced after the game he would quit at the end of the season.

Mancini quickly appeared to change his mind, although the suspicion remains that he will leave in June with Italian newspapers packed with speculation of a fall out with club owner Massimo Moratti. Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez and Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli have all been linked should the job become available.

Quite what the players thought about Mancini’s outburst is unclear, but confidence has continued to be low and last weekend they lost their first home league game of the season against old rivals Juventus.

There are more specific reasons for Inter’s troubles. Luis Figo is well past his best at 35 and has struggled to regain form and fitness following a broken leg in November. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a knee problem and is gritting his teeth to play one game a week, but his goals have dried up.

Roma’s priority seemed to be the Champions League after their triumph over Real. Suddenly a surprise scudetto is on the cards if Inter do not get their house in order.

Mark Meadows, Milan

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Marco Materazzi dejectedly leaves the pitch after losing 2-1 at home to Juventus in Serie A, March 22. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini