The Gazzetta dello Sport is arguably the most famous sports newspaper in Italy, selling more copies than rivals Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport. It is world famous for it's pink pages and has been printed in pink since 1899. The current head editor of the Gazzetta, Luigi Garlando, has always been a critic of Lippi since his return to the national team, has always been pro-Cassano, and doesn't understand why Lippi hates to answer questions at press conferences.

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The pressure on Marcello Lippi to reconsider selecting Antonio Cassano to the Azzurri is unrelenting. It was only last weekend against the Netherlannds in Pescara , that a fan of the Sampdoria striker invaded the pitch wearing a t-shirt saying "Cassano in Nazionale" - no translation really required here! Click to continue reading...

A number of players can stake a claim for being part of the best team in the world at this early period of the European domestic leagues. However, very few players standout the way those listed below have in terms of their contribution to their team, their role as leaders, and certainly their crucial involvement in their respective clubs.

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I know, the Cassano-National Team debate is getting old and boring. But this was too funny. In the 5th minute of the game yesterday, a fan ran onto the pitch wearing a t-shirt with the Superman logo and with the words "Cassano in Nazionale" (Cassano on the National Team). He jogged around the pitch for a while and then made his way off the pitch and was promptly arrested.

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The Italy U-21's continued their very disappointing qualifying campaign with another loss, this time away to Hungary. The Azzurrini needed a win to get back on track, but now qualification is getting more and more difficult. The Hungarians won 2-0, with goals coming from Nemeth and Koman (both players played on the Hungarian side that knocked the Italy U-20's out of the U-20 World Cup last month).

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Since Lippi has taken over the national team for a second time, the big question has always been, "Why aren't you calling up Antonio Cassano?" Cassano has widely been recognized as the best Italian player at the moment and there is no other talent in Italy that can even reach his level at the moment (maybe an in-form Totti).

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Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi has come under heavy criticism in recent months despite Italy's success in qualifying to the World Cup in South Africa. La Nazionale went through an alarming goal drought and was only able to overcome it after two unfortunate own goals from returning Georgia captain Kakha Kaladze.

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It is very difficult, if not downright foolish, to predict how a team will perform at a major tournament like the World Cup in the immediate aftermath of qualification. But such is the assignment with which I have been tasked.

As such, let me say that I do believe the defending world champions of Italy have the talent to win the World Cup again (and certainly as compared to other teams.

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After the international break, the man of the moment is undoubtedly Alberto Gilardino. The Fiorentina striker scored 4 goals in 2 matches with the Azzurri, including the impressive hat trick in 14 minutes vs. Cyprus. He now has 16 goals in 38 appearances (now level with Gianluca Vialli and Luca Toni) for the Azzurri and looks to be the headline striker heading into South Africa this June.

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Most of the heavy favourites have already qualified for the World Cup due next summer in South Africa. Previous World Cup winners such as Brazil, Germany, England, Argentina and Italy (also current WC Winners) all booked their spot in South Africa following a long and arduous road. Some teams such as Argentina have struggled while others such as England have cruised, yet the World Cup stage is a different playing field and previous results will not count.

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Lippi reiterated a point made in the Italian press; that the only previous times the Azzurri had secured their passage to the World Cup with one game to spare were in 1981 and 2005 and, as fate would have it, two World Cup triumphs followed soon after. Click to continue reading...

Ora che si possono prepare con grande felicità e speranze le valige per il Sudafrica, grazie alla perla di Gilardino, realizzata a tempo scaduto contro l'Eire, occorre pensare a come sarà composto il gruppo degli azzurri che affronteranno il Mondiale da campioni in carica. Tanti i dubbi da sciogliere, prima di poter approntare la lista definitiva dei 23 giocatori che faranno parte della spedizione. Click to continue reading...

Ireland defender Sean St Ledger admits Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Italy is the biggest game of his career.
The central defender has started Ireland's last five games and is set to continue at Croke Park as Giovanni Trapattoni's men attempt to pip the Azzurri to top spot in Group Eight. Click to continue reading...

• Simão hopes you and your grandmother will go all out to support Portugal when they face Hungary on Saturday. "We do not know what to expect from Hungary. We will have to (put on) a great display to win. We will fight in order to be in the World Cup. Hopefully people will support us again, so that together we can go there" he said.

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As everyone knows by now, Roberto Donadoni was relieved of his duties as Napoli manager and was replaced by former Sampdoria boss Walter Mazzarri. We can't deny that Donadoni was one of the greatest wingers Italian football has ever produced. But his managerial career so far? Not great. We really don't know where Donadoni is at as a manager or if he will ever improve.

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Manchester United's Waterford born defender John O'Shea has revealed his strong desire to go to next summer's World Cup with Ireland, having missed the squad back in his country's previous appearance in the competition in 2002.
The versatile defender failed to make the Ireland cut for the World Cup in 2002. Click to continue reading...

It was a good day for the young generation of Italian players at FIFA's U20 World Cup. The Azzurri beat Spain 3:1 and sent the opponents home. La Furia had 10 men on the pitch and could not hold Italy's strength. With Italy desperately needing renovation in its current squad this is surely looking good.

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I always like to watch videos of bloopers, and this time I've found a Serie A blooper video from the early 2000's. Always entertaining, and it includes a mistake from Buffon!! (how often do you see those?)

Video after the jump.

And since we're on the topic of Buffon mistakes, here's another one I remember from a couple of years ago:

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Despite having a strong U-21 side, Italy's other youth national teams don't really have a glorious history. All of Italy's youth focus is directed to the U-21 team, and you never hear anything about the other sides. In addition, besides the U-21 team Italy's youth sides have never really won anything, despite participating at many tournaments.

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I have yet to wade into the Cassano/Lippi debate fully, but after another superlative performance...
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 A lot has been said about Serie A's decline over the past couple of years. Critics have claimed the English Premiership and Spain's La Liga have become Europe's best leagues leaving Serie A to challenge the Bundesliga for third spot. Â

Sadly, Serie A has witnessed a sharp decline in the past few years that cannot be attributed to the lack of financial means alone.

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With Brazilian striker Amauri close to becoming an Italian citizen, it looks like Bayern Munich's Luca Toni will find it quite hard to represent Italy in South Africa. Azzurri Boss Marcello Lippi has hinted on more than one occasion that Amauri will be very useful for the national team.

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One of the biggest complains you hear about the Azzurri is that not enough youngsters are called up to the team. This is due to numerous reasons; Balotelli is still eligible for the U21 team and Italy rarely calls up players that young, while other players like Acquafresca are unable to even hold down a starting spot at a club.

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Inter president Massimo Moratti has commented on the possibility of Thiago Motta playing for Italy at the international level, claiming he "loves" the idea. The player has dual citizenship and has already announced his desire to play for the Azzurri.

"It's always a pleasure to see one of your own players with the blue jersey on," he stated to Inter's official website, inter.

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Italy have practically qualified for the World Cup following their more than fortunate win away to Georgia (thanks to our very own Kaladze) and their impressive win against Bulgaria. In the first match the Azzurri were poor lacking any creativity whatsoever. That was until Lippi pushed Pirlo up into the trequartista role. Click to continue reading...

International week is boring. There's really no news from Serie A, and we get a week of Lippi dodging questions about Mourinho and Cassano. Here's the highlights from today's game. Italy won 2-0, finally a decent performance. Pirlo excelled as a trequartista, Zambrotta actually ran up and down the wing, De Rossi is the most important part of our midfield, Iaquinta and Gila actually had pretty good chemistry, Grosso is still awesome, Buffon is back to being Buffon, Marchisio put in a good performance, and Simone Pepe still manages to fall over his own two feet.

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Italy took another step towards World Cup qualification a 2-0 victory over Georgia courtesy of a...
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via Reuters

• Now that we have your undivided ATTENTION, it appears that "Mr-Italiano-But-I-Still-Love-Brazil" Amauri will not be summoned to the Azzurri anytime soon after the Italian football federation announced plans to "play all World Cup qualifiers with the current squad.

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Milan fans must be laughing their toes off after Kakha Kaladze scored two own goals against the Azzurri on Saturday. "Secretly, after being a Milan player, he wants to play for our national team!" says Tami, our amico from Italy. "He scored two goals to help us qualify.

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By now he has made his decision. Amauri wants to play for the Italian national team. Dunga doesn't want to call him up for Brazil, and Amauri knows that Lippi is interested in calling him up to the Azzurri. Amauri thought he would be getting his passport sometime this month and that Lippi would call him up for October's World Cup qualifiers, but that is not the case, as a new Italian law (passed on August 8th) will now prevent Amauri from getting his Italian passport until March 2010.

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The new Italy U-21 side (who lost their first friendly August 12 vs. Russia 3-2) will now start qualifying for the 2011 UEFA U-21 European Championship to be held in Denmark. The Azzurrini will play two games, one on September 4th away to Wales in Swansea, and the other on September 8th at home vs.

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As the countdown to the 2010 Fifa World Cup draws ever closer, the Azzurri still have some work to do in their final qualifying matches to be assured of reaching and most importantly defending their coveted trophy once more. Whilst the final qualifying matches against Georgia, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland and . Click to continue reading...

With Carlo Ancelotti gone to his former beloved and Claudio Ranieri off on a beach collecting unemployment and sangrias, Jose Mourinho needed a new target which could land his ego in the presses constantly. In the long held tradition of clubs quarreling with country Jose handpicked Azzurri boss Marcello Lippi as his new playtoy. Click to continue reading...

Well, it's that time of the summer again. I'm off to the old country tomorrow, so the blog will be inactive for a couple of weeks. However I will be back right before the start of the Serie A season so I'll be able to maybe get a mega-preview up like last season and we'll wrap up the important news that happened while I was gone.

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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in signing Andrea Dossena from Liverpool.
The out-of-favour Italian defender has in the past indicated that he would like to make a move back to his homeland, but the proposed move to Napoli has staggered to a halt following a disagreement over the player's personal terms. Click to continue reading...