Soccer Blogs Posts Tagged Italian football

Champions League Final 16 - Juventus Roma Inter And Then There Were Three

2008-11-27T17:59:27+00:00

Atop group A Roma have definitely turned the right corner with a renewed march toward this year's Champions League final again possible. After a terrible start their domestic season and of course that opening shocking loss to CFR Cluj all is forgiven by Romanista fans with Roma's reversal of the group opener beating Romanian side Cluj 3-1 Wednesday [.

Argentines Abroad - a very quick one

2008-11-26T10:30:38+00:00

It's a little bit late this week, on account of my having spent Monday night working on a piece for Soccernet, but there's one player who deserves mention on his own, so here's a very brief Argentines Abroad roundup from the week in which Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named the Most Valuable Player in the [.

Figueroa arrives, and the foreign contingent are named

2008-09-30T11:00:02+00:00

Two bits of news for Tuesday: Boca Juniors' quest to find a replacement for Martín Palermo during his long-term injury layoff has come to an end with the signing on loan (with a US$1.5 million fee should Boca wish to make the signing permanent) of former Central and River Plate striker Luciano Figueroa from Genoa.

Bring in compulsory history lessons for Italian footballers

2008-09-29T14:23:14+00:00

That is an overstatement obviously, but Italian football does seem to be hotbed of naive footballers with some extreme political views. I am not closely enough involved in Italian football to be able to prescribe a solution, but I can certainly detect a problem. AC Milan keeper Christian Abbiati is the latest player to declare himself [.

Argentines abroad: 27th & 28th September

2008-09-29T11:46:56+00:00

The new season is now a few weeks old in Europe, so I thought it was about time we had a look at the contributions of some of Argentina's foreign legion in the European leagues. So far Sergio Agüero and Gonzalo Higuaín have enjoyed great starts for the two Madrid sides in Spain, whilst in [...]

Arsenal blow as major Italian target fades

2008-09-28T17:52:29+00:00

Arsenal's hopes of signing the next big thing of Italian football have flown out of the window after Juventus confirmed they look set to bind star young player Sebastian Giovinco to the Turin club. All this summer, there have been rumours that the Gunners were eager to lure 21-year-old Giovinco ...

Serie A Match Day Three - Predictions

2008-09-20T00:22:45+00:00

Can Roma and AC Milan turn things around this week? I think Roma will and must as Mourinho and Inter already have that 3 point lead which cost Roma the title last season. AC Milan are having injury trouble already so Clarence Seedorf will have to fill the absence of Andrea Pirlo in the midfield and [.

Match Day Three - Serie A Italian Calcio

2008-09-19T22:16:10+00:00

Arrival of Match Day Three for Serie A fans will see several key players missing including, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso for Milan (both injured), Massimo Maccarone for Seina and Sulley Mutari for Inter (both suspended), forward David Trezeguet for Juventus and forward Ezequiel Lavezzi for Napoli (both also injured).

Mourinho running his yap again

2008-09-19T20:57:00+00:00

This time he's drawing headlines for calling Italian football inferior to the English game.

Yeah, I'm sure that's going over really well over there. Man this guy really is one of a kind.

Club Italia Offers Clean Sweep In UEFA Cup !

2008-09-18T23:47:40+00:00

It was an outstanding performance for Italian football in the first round of UEFA Cup action, as all four Serie A clubs registered first-leg victory. AC Milan adjusting to a non-Champions League season are full steam ahead winning 3 - 1 over FC Zürich. This triumph couldn't have come at a better time for Rossoneri manager [.

Video: De Rossi scorcher.. the best and the worst

2008-09-11T13:24:15+00:00

The first of two goals he was to score against Geogia.
That was the best thing that's happened in Italian football of late.Here's probably the worst thing that can also happen on a soccer field if you don't look where you are going.
Gattuso's freak injury.He backpedaled his way into a hole between two dugouts during a training game.

De Rossi leads Italy past Georgia

2008-09-10T21:43:12+00:00

(first, sorry for the lack of posts the last two days, we'll be back on scheduled programming starting now)

Daniele De Rossi scored his first ever "doppietta" (brace) in an Azzurri shirt to give Italy the 3 points vs. Georgia. Italy now have 6 points for the first two games and have made an excellent start to World Cup Qualfying, despite their mediocre play.

Spreading the Word: Serie A

2008-08-31T05:50:00+00:00

The Serie A kicked off yesterday with Inter, now featuring our old friend Jose Mourinho, being held to a 1-1 draw by Sampdoria. Italian football's reputation has taken something of a battering in recent years, but with five clubs all with reasonable hopes of winning the league, it is bound to be an exciting season.

Transfers To Serie A - They Just Keep On Coming!

2008-08-27T15:05:42+00:00

Stephen Appiah, one more to add to the list of top stars wanting to play in Italian football. The last 7 days have seen the return of Andriy Shevchenko to Milan, the confirmed loan move of Philippe Senderos also a Rossoneri, as well as the permanent signing of Rolando Bianchi from Manchester City to Torino.

A Post from our Correspondent in Japan

2008-08-12T09:39:00+00:00

Being down in the southern hemisphere, and being relatively isolated, I think we aussies get a skewed view of the world.

Non-football example: the illegal immigrant debate (our numbers pale in comparison to the # of people going into Europe or the US). The local papers made it sound so heavy, when it isn`t.

Inter Pay The Price For Fan Banner

2008-08-06T21:52:02+00:00

This story is quite surprising because as everyone knows, the Italian football fans love each other dearly and never ever argue. Last summer there were some issues at an Inter - Napoli game due to some banners which were floating around the San Siro insulting the Neapolitans in the crowd. One particular banner said (above) [.

A Humbling Weekend For Serie A Powers

2008-08-04T13:04:00+00:00

You saw it on Italian newsstands everywhere today under somber headlines; Chelsea 5 : AC Milan 0 , Hamburger SV 3 : Juventus 0. Never mind that these were meaningless preseason friendlies in which coaches experimented with new players and different lineups - Italian football had been shamed.
AC Milan took its lumps in the Railway Cup tournament held in Moscow on an astounding four-goal performance by Cheleas's Nicolas Anelka.

Dossena: No Catenaccio At Anfield

2008-07-26T10:05:00+00:00

Liverpool's new signing from Udinese, Andrea Dossena, has told the club's fans they needn't fear an outbreak of Italian-style catenaccio defence next season.

Italian football sets the benchmark by which defensive excellence is measured, with the catenaccio blanket-style defence perfected in the 1960s as the bedrock of the 1-0 win and forever associated with Serie A, even though things have evolved and been refined since then.

Carl Valeri to transfer

2008-07-24T23:39:00+00:00

My favourite Canberra Times journo Merryn Sherwood had the scoop on the movements of Carl Valeri. Read on in case you missed it.

Carl off to Serie A? Prefer he went to Celtic but Serie A would be a great move for him.

SOCCER
By Merryn Sherwood
Canberra's Carl Valeri has at least four Serie A Italian soccer clubs interested in signing him for next season, but the 5million euro transferprice that his Serie B club Grosseto is demanding is proving an obstacle.

The Surreal Season

2008-07-24T22:45:00+00:00

Ah, late July. The Euros are over. The Olympics haven't started. Europe is embroiled in goofy transfer crises. Liverpool is busy stacking its reserve team with Swiss defenders and French teenagers. All the big clubs are off playing Guangzhou or someone. West Ham is playing the MLS All-Stars while the Inter-City Firm takes the measure of the Columbus casuals.

Lazio almost bought by mob

2008-07-23T03:39:00+00:00

The Italian police unfortunately stopped Italian football club Lazio from gaining the owners they deserve. Current Lazio club president Giorgio Chinaglia has been the run from Italian cops in the U.S. since 2006 for some financial shenanigans. Now the Casalesi clan in the Camorra (an organized crime group, basically Naples' version of Sicily's Cosa Nostra) tried to buy Lazio with laundered money.

A leopard never changes its spots

2008-07-14T00:29:53+00:00

So the saying goes, and so it's proven this weekend. Germán Denis has moved clubs and continents, joining Ezequiel Lavezzi at Napoli, and is scoring as freely as ever in pre-season for his new side. He got a hat-trick in his first appearance (as did Lavezzi last year, funnily enough) and scored again on Sunday [.

A second home

2008-07-04T00:21:59+00:00

Mauro Zárate is the latest addition to Lazio's squad for the next season. The Roman club, who finished 12th in the 2007-2008 Serie A campaign, have signed former Vélez and Birmingham City striker Zárate on a season-long loan deal from the club who currently hold his registration, Qatari club Al-Sadd.

Ledesma on QPR and Gonoa ....QPR's Ex-QPR Paul Furlong Talks of His New Challenge...Awaiting Signings...General List of Transfers Completed

2008-07-03T06:41:00+00:00

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On QPR Italia Blog, QPR's new signing, Emmanuel Jorge Ledesma interviewed speaking about Genoa, Italian football and QPR: Intervista a Ledesma: "Al QPR col Genoa nel cuore" and a Web translation

PFA's Give Me Football/Mark Shail - Q&A WitH Paul Furlong
He may be turning 40 in October, but new Southend signing Paul Furlong says he still has the hunger and desire to be a success at Roots Hall.

Lippi Takes Over as Italy Coach Again

2008-07-01T19:45:00+00:00

ROME (AP) Marcello Lippi gave up a life of leisure to return as Italy's national team coach, less than two years after guiding the Azzurri to their fourth World Cup title.

"Naturally, I'm very happy to pick up where I left off. But picking up where I left off also means that the Euros didn't go so great, or I would still be on the beach in Viareggio," the well-tanned Lippi said at a news conference Tuesday, referring to his hometown on the Tuscan seaside.

Italian Serie A Team Of The Season 2007/2008

2008-06-28T23:28:00+00:00

Unfortunately for fans of the Azzurri, Italy´s EURO 2008 campaign is now little more than a distant and shabby memory. While the nation licks its wounds, our resident Italian football correspondant Henry N. consoles himself by taking one last look back at the 2007/2008 Serie A campaign and compiling his Team of the Season: GK: Sebastian FREY (Fiorentina)

Agnew & Balague speak to Soccerphile

2008-06-24T00:56:00+00:00

Following Spain's dramatic penalty victory over Italy yesterday, Soccerphile spoke to two of Europe's most respected football writers, respective experts on the countries in the Vienna quarter-final clash.

GUILLEM BALAGUE is a familiar face in the UK media. London correspondent for Spanish football daily AS and Sky Sports' regular Spanish football expert, Balague has written for a variety of publications and pens a weekly European football column in London's Metro.

Juve Set To Make Bid For Alonso

2008-06-23T15:20:00+00:00

Juventus are set to make their first official move for Xabi Alonso this week after the player hinted he fancied a move to Italy.

And Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hopeful that his £16million valuation will be matched as he continues his quest to maximise his assets to build more transfer funds.

Breaking The Jinx

2008-06-23T08:02:00+00:00

Everybody has their bogey team, and so it has been for Spain against Italy for almost ninety years. No competitive wins against them since 1920, and the massive feeling of injustice brought about by the 1994 World Cup. Of all the teams that they could possibly have been drawn against in the quarter-finals, Italy was the only one that could have given this resurgent Spanish team cause for serious psychological concern.

Xabi Alonso Fuels Speculation Of Move To Italy

2008-06-22T23:28:00+00:00

Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso has spoken of his "fascination" with Italian football as speculation over his mooted transfer to Juventus continues apace.

The Liverpool playmaker is part of the Spain squad preparing to face Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 on Sunday, a match during which Alonso could come face to face with a number of future team-mates at the Bianconeri.