Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard gave a frank assessment of his side's UEFA Champions League
performance after they were beaten 2-1 by Fiorentina at Anfield.
The Reds were already condemned to the obscurity of the Europa League prior to the match and were
guaranteed to finish third in Group E.
Fiorentina warmed up for their midweek Champions League trip to Anfield with a convincing 2-0 win
over Atalanta in Florence. Juan Vargas and Alberto Gilardino were the scorers for Cesare
Prandelli's men. Atalanta finished with ten men after the dismissal of Valdes. It was a timely
result for La Viola, who had suffered two consecutive [.
"Fourth place is the priority, it always is at this club. For financial reasons and because all the
top players want to play in the Champions League."
If those words had been said by Spurs skipper Robbie Keane, Aston Villa counterpart Stiliyan
Petrov, even Manchester City captain Kolo Toure, they would have been more than acceptable.
The big fear before the start of this game was that Liverpool, with nothing to gain, would take
this game lightly and in doing so give Fiorentina an opportunity to subject them to a trashing.
Despite the defeat, that didn't happen but Liverpool's lack of enthusiasm for this game was
mirrored by Yossi Benayoun's lack of celebration upon scoring his goal.
Two things you can always count on Fabio Cannavaro for:
1. His freaking eyebrows will freak you out until you're totally freaked, man;
2. He's ready, willing and more than able to strip off for any reason at all. It's Tuesday?
Strip off! Mercury is in retrograde? Time to get nakie!
Who should the US face in their group?
Purely on a motivational level, the best seeded team that the USA could draw would be Italy.
Again.
To go up against a team who has had its share of refereeing controversies and literally bad
blood that have helped it win is huge motivation.
italia en Sudáfrica 2010 Calendario x Fecha y hora lugar contra Primer juego Segundo juego Tercer
juego Las últimas tres participaciones de italia en mundiales Mundial Posición final Avanzo hasta
Eliminado por Compartió fase de grupos con: Francia 1998 5 Cuartos de final Francia Chile,
Austria, Camerún Corea Japón 2002 12 Octavos de final corea México, Croacia, ecuador Alemania
2006 1 final Ghana, república checa, usa Su mejor participación fue en:
varias, tiene cuatro campeonatos
Se le recuerda especialmente por:
el Catenaccio, el arte de defender
Jugadores sobresalientes Nombre posición Club Gianluigi Buffon portero Juventus Fabio Cannavaro
defensa Juventus Andrea Pirlo medio Milán Mauro Camoranesi medio Juventus Alberto Gilardino
delantero Fiorentina
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© hefebreo for Fútbol México, 2009.
Italy is another country that was very happy with todays draw as they got Paraguay, New Zealand
and Slovakia in their group. The Italians are famous for starting slowly in a tournament but that
should not be an issue here. Italy wins this group easily and Slovakia edges Paraguay for 2nd.
Group A Teams
ITALY
Manager: Marcelo Lippi
Key player: Andrea Pirlo
Best: Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
World ranking: 4
Italy sealed the chance to defend their world title in South Africa in dramatic fashion,
equalising in the last minute in Ireland to snatch a 2-2 draw and top spot in Group Eight.
Lots of nice goals scored this weekend in Serie A, and lots of goals scored with 32 altogether.
Antonio Di Natale scored again, so he still tops the top scorer chart with 11
goals, 2 away from Francesco Totti and Diego Milito. He's given
them a chance to catch up however, as he has been suspended for the next 2 games.
Liverpool's miserable Champions League campaign ended in defeat to Fiorentina on Wednesday
night.
The visitors grabbed a late winner through Alberto Gilardino in the second minute of added time to
clinch top spot in Group E.
Looking at the positives, Liverpool started with Alberto Aquilani at last - and Fernando Torres
returned from a groin injury for the final 25 minutes.
Rafael Benitez will put all thoughts of the Europa League on hold in a bid to reignite Liverpool's
stuttering Premier League form.
The Merseysiders completed a miserable Champions League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at home to
Fiorentina on Wednesday night - another late goal, this time from Alberto Gilardino, condemning
them to a third defeat in six Group E contests.
Following defeat to Fiorentina on Wednesday, Liverpool's supporters could at least take heart from
the performance of Alberto Aquilani in what was his first start for the club. But the player
himself has expressed worry about how smoothly he will integrate into the team, claiming their
current malaise has made it "difficult" for him to impress immediately.
All month I've been seeing these "Top _____ of the Decade" posts all over the Offside, so I
thought with 2010 just around the corner it's time to unveil the list of the top 20 Italian players
of the decade (2000-2009). For this list I considered any player that played a season from
2000-2009, but naturally they have to have made a big impact to be on this list.
The matches to watch after you realize Tiny Vampire Santa Saves Christmas will be released
worldwide next November.
Saturday
Fulham v Manchester United at Craven Cottage When these two last met at Craven Cottage,
Fulham won 2-0 and got Wayne Rooney to throw a little hissy fit (which, admittedly, isn't that
difficult).
