Soccer-D'Alessandro returns to River Plate on loan

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Former Argentina playmaker Andres D'Alessandro is returning to River Plate after agreeing a one-year loan from his Brazilian club Internacional, Argentine media reports said on Wednesday. "I'm very grateful to this club, they gave me everything," D'Alessandro, a fan's favourite at Inter where he has played since 2008, said in Argentine sports daily Ole on Wednesday. D'Alessandro, who spent five years in Europe with VfL Wolfsburg, Portsmouth and Real Zaragoza and also played for San Lorenzo in his home country, helped Inter win the Copa Libertadores in 2010. In his first spell with River, where he made his first division debut in 2000, he won the Argentine league title three times and played alongside the likes of Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Ariel Ortega and Colombian Juan Pablo Angel. The 34-year-old D'Alessandro was capped 28 times but never made it to a World Cup finals. The Argentine league championship starts on Friday. (Reporting by Luis Ampuero; Writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Martyn Herman)