Samba star Adriano was introduced as a half time substitute for Dejan Stankovic and his entry into the fray sprung the Serie A giants into life as the 22-year old had a number of chances, one of which proved decisive in the 69 minute as the three man Bolton defence tried to play the offside trap.
Inter coach and former Leicester City striker Roberto Mancini included the former Manchester United star Juan Sebastien Veron in the starting eleven and he was roundly booed by the home crowd each time he touched the ball. Dutch star Edgar Davids was introduced as one of many second half substitutes and he was to receive a huge wave of applause upon entering the field of play.
Despite the visitors having a bulk of the possession it was Bolton who had the best of the first half chances with Nigerian midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha testing Toldo in the Inter goal within the first couple of minutes. Spaniard Ivan Campo also had the Italian stopper at full stretch with a fine shot from distance and Okocha again was to keep the former Italian international on his toes. At the other end Recoba forced a fine save out of Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal after Milan had managed to unlock a steady Wanderers defensive line.
Euro 2004 star Andy Van Der Meyde then blazed over for the visitors following a good run down the left hand side despite having a number of teammates in better positions infield.
Jay-Jay Okocha cleverly chipped a free kick into the path of Kevin Davies but the former Southampton strikers cross was cut out before new boy Michael Bridges had the chance to get an attempt on goal.
The second half was played at a similar pace with Mancini altering his side on a number of occasions to keep his side fresh. Sam Allardyce was to give veteran Fernando Hierro his Bolton debut in place of the tiring Bridges whilst Ricky Shakes continued his run of pre-season games when replacing Ivan Campo midway through the second half.
Before his exit Campo had gone on a fine run but was unable to finish and teammate Ricardo Gardner had clipped the top of Toldo's crossbar with a fine effort. Toldo himself was later to be replaced by Jimmy Fontana but aquitted himself well against a number of finely struck Bolton efforts.
The afforementioned Adriano proved to be a thorn in the Trotters side as he went close on a number of occasions. Jaaskelainen was equal to one of the efforts whilst the other chance just lacked the cutting edge needed.
Michael Bridges worked hard in his first home appearance but the confidence building of the former Sunderland striker is still very much in its infancy. Julio Cesar proved to be a good attacking and defensive source down the left flank of the defence whilst Tunisian Radhi Jaidi proved to be as solid as his defensive partner Bruno N'Gotty when dealing with the attacking threat of the Italians. Welshman Gary Speed came more into the play in the second half with a responsive display in the middle of the park and Substitute Hierro distributed the ball well during his brief cameo role. All in all it was a very good workout and despite defeat Bolton can take a number of positives out of the display.