I don`t have to apologize I guess for not posting for soooo long. This season we suck. If you followed the team, you know what I mean. I came up with this piece while trying to summ up the first part of the season. Good read:
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My naivity might have gone as much as hoping for a champions league spot, or making a semi final in Europe League.

The North American Soccer League has evidently acquired the rights to NASL.com. Just last week the site was still owned by the North Alabama Soccer League which is youth club. As of Thursday evening, a Google search of NASL.com showed the #1 hit to be a site that stated, "North Alabama Soccer League The Best Link for Soccer in Alabama" However, going to the link you will find a splash page which you can see below.

The winter transfer market is here, and unlike years past, this may actually be an interesting one. There have already been some moves made, but we are just getting started and there should be plenty of rumors swirling around in the coming days and weeks. Here's a team by team guide of what you can expect each club will spend this month (if anything at all).

The Italian Serie A resumes from its winter break on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 with a full set of fixtures. Currently, defending champions Inter Milan (Internazionale) have a solid lead at the top of the table followed by AC Milan and Juventus. So, who will win each match on Wednesday and where can you watch them?

(0-1. Quagliarella)

Napoli went ahead through a Fabio Quagliarella cracker and went on to ease past Atalanta.

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La sconfitta con il Napoli, nella prima gara del 2010 in Serie A, ha fatto traboccare il vaso. Finisce, infatti, nel peggiore dei modi l'avventura di Antonio Conte sulla panchina dell'Atalanta. L'ex allenatore del Bari, subentrato a Gregucci il 21 settembre scorso, ha rassegnato le dimissioni, accolte dalla dirigenza bergamasca dopo la furiosa contestazione che ha seguito l'ennesimo ko rimediato contro gli azzurri di Mazzarri.

After 4 months in charge, Antonio Conte's first stint as a Serie A manager is already over. This morning the former Juventus and Italy midfielder handed in his resignation after a string of poor results, loads of protests from fans, and sitting second from bottom of the table with only 13 points.

Like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, Italian soccer has returned to our airwaves, and this week's matches saw the return of David Beckham, the goal of the year, and some good calcio as well. As reports roll in of players leaving Italy in transfers, the question is what moves will the contenders make in the next few weeks to boost their run at the scudetto or a European competition.

09/01/2010Roma - Chievo ore 18.00Inter - Siena ore 20.4510/01/2010Palermo - Atalanta ore 15.00Udinese - Lazio ore 15.00Napoli - Sampdoria ore 15.00Livorno - Parma ore 15.00Bologna - Cagliari ore 15.00Genoa - Catania ore 15.00Fiorentina - Bari ore 15.00Juventus - Milan ore 20.45Iscriviti all'RSS per essere sempre aggiornato!

Juventus fell further into the abyss after their 3-0 home loss to Milan yesterday, and more than ever fans were calling for Ciro Ferrara's head. The former Juve defender hasn't had a great first season as Juve boss, with the string of bad results and the Champions League elimination, and now the Juve directors are wondering whether it's time to make a change.

There were 24 goals scored this weekend in Serie A, with Inter-Siena being the highest scoring match (4-3). Antonio Di Natale returned with a goal, a fantastic free kick, to continue to lead the goal scoring charts with 12 goals. However Diego Milito also scored and he continues to chase the Udinese captain with 11 goals.

When Toronto FC was in her early days, there were one or two articles that appeared about the club on English sites. One was written by Globe scribe and Official Friend of AMSL, John Doyle. In it, he wrote this: "But the local homeboy favourite among the Canucks is 19-year-old Andrea Lombardo who played briefly for Italian sides Perugia and Atalanta before coming back to his hometown.

(video gol highlights)
ATALANTA: Coppola, Bellini, Bianco, Talamonti, Capelli (76' Peluso), Padoin, Guarente, Doni, De Ascentis, Tiribocchi (80' Chevanton), Ferreira Pinto (61' Ceravolo). A disp.: Consigli, Valdes Zapata, Caserta, Acquafresca. All.: Mutti.
LAZIO: Muslera, Siviglia, Stendardo, Lichtsteiner, Radu, Baronio, Firmani (36' Dabo), Floccari (72' Inzaghi), Rocchi, Del Nero (46' Mauri), Zarate.

Chievo, since being promoted to Serie A in 2001, had never beaten Juventus in their history. In fact, in 15 encounters vs. the Bianconeri, the Flying Donkeys had lost 12 times and drawn 3. Last season in Torino the two sides provided an entertaining 3-3 draw, with Sergio Pellissier grabbing a historic hat-trick.

Every year around this time the Oscar del Calcio award ceremony is held in Milan. The awards ceremony has been held since 1997 and awards the best players in the peninsula from the previous season. Last year Zlatan Ibrahimovic cleaned house as he won Best Foreigner and Best Overall Player, as well as Goal of the Season.

There were 23 goals scored this weekend, with two games finishing 0-0 (Napoli-Palermo and Parma-Udinese, both games featured a missed penalty). Diego Milito finally caught Antonio Di Natale at the top of the scoring charts with 12 goals after his goal vs. Bari on Saturday. Ronaldinho catapulted himself up to joint-second on 9 goals with a hat-trick vs.

Stasera, al Franchi va in scena Fiorentina-Lazio.
Sfida affascinante, valida per i quarti di finale (ultimo turno ad eliminazione diretta) della Coppa Italia, tra due squadre reduci da risultati non esaltanti in Serie A.
I viola di Cesare Prandelli sono stati battuti in casa dal Bologna, a sorpresa.

After this weekend's action, the eyes of Italy will be on its largest metropolitan city. The Milan derby could move AC Milan within striking distance of first or could help Inter Milan put some distance between itself and its rival. And the two clubs are approaching this game from opposite directions: Inter striking some luck to grab a point from Bari and AC Milan easily dispatching Siena.

Stasera la Coppa Italia, oggi pomeriggio invece spazio al calcio di Serie A e ai recuperi.
Genoa-Bari e Bologna-Atalanta, queste le gare di scena, costrette al rinvio nella giornata prenatalizia (la 17°), la quale, anzichè gol ed emozioni, ci regalò freddo, ghiaccio, neve e stadi impraticabili.

(video gol, 1-0. Di Vaio)
(2-0. Di Vaio)
(highlights)

Il derby della Madonnina, la sfida scudetto tra l'Inter di Mourinho e il Milan di Leonardo sar affidata a Gianluca Rocchi di Firenze. L'arbitro di calcio toscano, insomma, sar impegnato nella direzione del super match di domenica sera. L'altro match clou di giornata, invece, va a Paolo Tagliavento.

23/01/2010Catania - Parma ore 18.00Juventus - Roma ore 20.4524/01/2010Genoa - Atalanta ore 15.00Udinese - Sampdoria ore 15.00Siena - Cagliari ore 15.00Lazio - Chievo ore 15.00Palermo - Fiorentina ore 15.00Bologna - Bari ore 15.00Livorno - Napoli ore 15.00Inter - Milan ore 20.45Iscriviti all'RSS per essere sempre aggiornato!

(video gol highlights)
GENOA - (3-4-3): Amelia; Biava, Dainelli, Moretti; Rossi, Milanetto, Zapater, Criscito; Mesto, Crespo (25' st Suazo), Palacio (32' st Sculli). A disp.: Scarpi, Tomovic, Fatic, Juric, Polenta. All: Gasperini.
ATALANTA - (4-4-2): Coppola; Capelli (8' st Chevanton), Talamonti, Manfredini, Bellini; Ferreira Pinto, Zanetti, Guarente, Padoin; Doni, Tiribocchi (19' st Acquafresca).

Rodrigo Palacio and Hernan Crespo scored first-half goals as Genoa saw off the challenge of Atalanta for their first win of 2010. Genoa moved back into contention for a place in Europe as Palacio struck in the eighth minute and Crespo sealed the win three minutes before the break.

Review

Yes, that is Marco Materazzi wearing a Silvio Berlusconi mask after Inter had defeated Milan 2-0 in the derby Sunday night. Even myself, a Milan fan, has to admit that is pretty hilarious. Inter showed all their strength in the latest edition of Derby della Madonnina, even playing better than their crosstown rivals in 10 men.

Due turni di squalifica. Gli applausi ironici di Wesley Sneijder all'arbitro Rocchi, durante il derby milanese, costano caro al fuoriclasse olandese, fermato per due settimane dal giudice sportivo.
Ma non è l'unico provvedimento preso da Tosel contro l'Inter in relazione alla stracittadina.
Oltre alla squalifica inflitta al trequartista olandese, ammonizione per Marco Materazzi, colpevole di aver festeggiato al termine della partita, in maniera decisamente goliardica, con la maschera del Presidente del Consiglio.

There were 27 goals scored this weekend in Serie A, with only two games finishing in a draw (Siena-Cagliari 1-1 and Lazio-Chievo 1-1). Antonio Di Natale and Diego Milito are still fighting it out at the top of the scoring chart, each with 13 goals and each scoring this weekend. Right behind them there is a group of players stuck on 10 goals: Alessandro Matri, Giampaolo Pazzini, Francesco Totti, and Paulo Barreto.

On May 5th, 2002, most Inter fans were doing the same exact thing Ronaldo is doing in the picture. Inter had thought that they had finally gotten it right. They would finally win their first Scudetto since 1989. But it wasn't to be, and May 5th, 2002 is a day Inter fans do not like to remember.

Mauro Bergonzi di Genova, arbitrer l'Inter, di scena al Tardini, dopo la favolosa e fondamentale vittoria nel derby, contro il Parma nella 22° giornata del campionato di Serie A.
Questa una delle designazioni rese note in queste ore. Juve-Lazio, invece, big match di giornata e posticipo serale dell'Olimpico, sar arbitrato da Saccani (nella foto) di Mantova.

Scelta tecnica.
Con questa motivazione, l'allenatore della Sampdoria, Del Neri, lascia ancora una volta a casa Antonio Cassano e punta forte sulla coppia-gol formata dall'ex viola Pazzini e il giovane Pozzi (entrambi in gol nella vittoria ottenuta per 3 a 2 ad Udine la scorsa settimana).
Ancora un'esclusione, dunque per il fuoriclasse barese il quale, anche contro l'Atalanta, dovr rimanere a guardare e non potr fornire il proprio contributo alla causa blucerchiata.

30/01/2010Bari - Palermo ore 18.00Napoli - Genoa ore 20.4531/01/2010Milan - Livorno ore 15.00Sampdoria - Atalanta ore 15.00Parma - Inter ore 15.00Cagliari - Fiorentina ore 15.00Chievo - Bologna ore 15.00Catania - Udinese ore 15.00Roma - Siena ore 15.00Juventus - Lazio ore 20.45Iscriviti all'RSS per essere sempre aggiornato!

Serata scoppiettante per il mercato di Serie A.
Hernan Crespo, alla bellezza di 34 anni, lascia Genova e riabbraccia (a titolo definitivo) il Parma, la squadra che lo lanciò nel 1996, quando a soli 21 anni arrivò in Italia con la valigia carica di sogni (nella foto lo vedete esultare con la casacca gialloblu).

As the 2009-10 Serie A campaign moves toward yet another Inter Milan title, teams have already begun to bolster squads for next year, including this three-way move between Parma, Genoa, and Atalanta.
+ Ten years later, Argentine Hernan Crespo has rejoined Parma. The striker joined the Italian side in 1996 after successful campaigns with River Plate.