New Inter Milan coach Chivu: Club World Cup is chance to shake 'disillusionment' from UCL final loss

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Cristian Chivu believes the current Inter Milan squad should be remembered for much more than its historically lopsided loss in the Champions League final.

The new manager also says the Club World Cup is an opportunity to alter the narrative of Inter's current campaign while he gets a head start on next season.

Chivu praised his new players Saturday during his introductory news conference with Inter Milan, which will begin Club World Cup play in Southern California on Tuesday. He also realizes that many of those players are still reeling from their 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain last month.

“Of course, there is disillusionment (over) what happened at the end of the season,” Chivu said. “The expectations were high. But what I try to tell them is that the road, the thing that they have done, it’s something special, it’s something amazing. Of course, the objective is important to be reached, but we don’t have to forget the journey, because the journey is very important.”

Inter's loss in Munich — the largest defeat in the 70-year history of major European finals — was followed three days later by coach Simone Inzaghi’s exit for a lucrative job at Saudi club Al-Hilal.

But Inter's season isn't over. The first 32-team Club World Cup provides an opportunity for the 44-year-old Chivu — the longtime Inter defender who then spent six years coaching the Nerazzurri's youth teams — to begin work several games early in the top job.

“It’s still the season – last season,” Chivu said with a grin. “It’s not a new season, so we are here to do our best. ... I think we need to honor this competition, because this is what a team should do when you can represent your team in this kind of competition. There are only 32 teams in the world represented here, and this is a proud moment for world soccer.”

Chivu spoke to the media at the team hotel for the first time since Inter’s brief coaching search brought him back to the club last Monday.

Inter begins Club World Cup play Tuesday against Mexico’s Monterrey at the historic Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena.

Inter chose Chivu despite his lack of managerial experience. He had never been a top-level coach until last February, when he left Inter's under-19 team and took over at Parma, which avoided relegation during his 13 matches in charge of the 16th-place club in Serie A.

Inter reportedly considered Como's Cesc Fabregas, Marseilles' Roberto De Zerbi and Genoa's Patric Vieira in its search, but team president Giuseppe Marotta said Chivu was a frontrunner in the race from the start.

“This wasn’t a fallback,” Marotta said through a translator in Los Angeles. “Despite what’s been said, there was no confusion. We made our choice quickly, within 24 hours. There were just some bureaucratic steps to complete.”

Chivu said he had to accept Inter's call when the job was offered to him after developing a deep bond with the club. He also knows the particulars of Inter's style well enough to coach the current team in the U.S. before making any possible changes for next season.

His 33-man roster for the Club World Cup includes most of the key players from the Champions League run, along with summer signings Luis Henrique and Petar Sucic, but without the likes of departing striker Marco Arnautovic.

“I know this club, and I’ve been here before, for many years,” Chivu said. “In the time I spent with the under-19s, I spent a lot of time with these guys, so I know them. I don’t know if it’s difficult for them to call me Mister, or to call me by my name. I know what kind of human quality I have inside this dressing room, and what I can give.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

Inter Milan's new coach Cristian Chivu speaks to the media at his introductory soccer news conference in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Inter Milan's new coach Cristian Chivu speaks to the media at his introductory soccer news conference in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Inter Milan's new coach Cristian Chivu speaks to the media at his introductory soccer news conference in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Inter Milan's new coach Cristian Chivu speaks to the media at his introductory soccer news conference in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Inter Milan's new coach Cristian Chivu team president Giuseppe Marotta shake hands after Chivu's formal introduction at a soccer news conference in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid and apparently snubbing U.S.-led peace efforts as the war approaches the four-year mark.

Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said. The daytime temperature in the capital was -12 C (around 10 F). The streets were covered with ice, and the city rumbled with the noise from generators.

Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.

On Monday, the United States accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting, when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.

Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in the freezing winter months over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”

In Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Russian attack also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.

In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid, to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.

Ukraine’s military said domestically-produced drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant carries out design, manufacturing and testing of Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.

It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.

Katie Marie Davies contributed to this report from Manchester, England.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)