Hope for young and old
AC Milan's teenage striker Alberto Paloschi could start Wednesday's Serie A game against Livorno while Ronaldo's career at the San Siro is far from over, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday.
Debutant Paloschi scored 18 seconds after coming on as a substitute to give Milan a 1-0 win over Siena on Sunday.
The 18-year-old youth team striker was in the squad only because of injuries to Kaka and Alexandre Pato and with the Brazilian duo again out of Wednesday's home match, Paloschi will start if Filippo Inzaghi does not recover from a knock.
"If Inzaghi has difficulty recovering, Paloschi will play from the start. Otherwise he will go on the bench and Inzaghi will play," Ancelotti told a news conference, adding that Gennaro Gattuso was also available after injury.
A win for Milan in the game in hand would send the European champions into fourth place having climbed up from midtable recently following a woeful first half of the season.
Brazilian forward Ronaldo has missed much of the campaign through injury and cut a sorry figure on Sunday where he managed just 45 minutes in his latest comeback.
His contract is up at the end of the season but Ancelotti said the 31-year-old will stay if he regains fitness.
"On Sunday he was not in the best form to play. If I had had other possibilities I would not have sent him onto the field. If Ronaldo finds his best condition, his contract will be renewed," Ancelotti said.
The Milan boss also defended rivals Inter after the league leaders benefitted from a number of recent refereeing decisions.
"Referees make mistakes because refereeing isn't easy. They have made mistakes with everyone. More errors in favour of Inter? It's just random," he said.
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