Serie A stages first game without an Italian player
Inter's 3-1 victory over Udinese at the San Siro was the first time in Serie A history that neither side had an Italian in the starting line-up.
Saturday’s match between Inter Milan and Udinese, which ended with a 3-1 victory for the Nerazzurri, was the first Serie A match in the history of the competition not to feature an Italian player in either starting line-up, national media reported.
At kick-off, the line-ups in San Siro featured six Brazilians, three French, two Colombians, and a single player from Argentina, Croatia, Ghana, Japan, Greece, Mali, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The only Italian on the pitch was the referee, Domenico Celi.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, it was the first time in Serie A history a match had started without a single Italian national.
The Premier League was the first competition to feature a match without a single player from the country in which it is staged in 2009, when Portsmouth played Arsenal.
Serie A rules were changed this season, with a new regulation stating that every club must have four players who were trained in the youth system and another four schooled in the academy of any Italian side.