It's here, it's official, and it's going to be epic. We're happy to announce that
AFR's first ever FIFA 11 tournaments for PS3 and XBOX 360 will take place on October
30th. Everyone has been talking their FIFA 11 skills up on places like Twitter (you
know who you are, US Men's National Team), and quite frankly it's getting old.
When Jose Mourinho was around, there was only one team worth talking about in the northern
industrial city of Milan. Mourinho's Inter, who have dominated Italian football since their rivals
were dragged into despair by the Calciopoli scandal, ended a spell of superiority by winning an
unprecedented Treble last season.
Lets face it, the decline of Italian football has been imminent, and it's just starting to
materialize itself in ways like Germany catching up to Italy in the UEFA co-efficient, and Portugal
overtaking Italy's fourth spot in the FIFA ranking. And while some might be crying about this, I
see it in a more positive way; this can be the springboard, the wake-up call, the trigger, for
Italian football to pull itself back up to where it used to be.
Calciopoli scandal continues to undermine Serie A.
Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!
The Italian football federation is looking into fresh claims that more clubs were
involved in the match-fixing scandal that rocked Serie A in 2006.
Pier Luigi Collina; Say it isn't so!
In 2006, Juventus were demoted to Serie B after match fixing scandals rocked the Italian league.
The beneficiaries were Inter, who were awarded the Scudetto.
The Calciopoli scandal's ramifications are still being investigated.
Now, in a new twist, it appears Luciano "Lucky" Moggi, former GM of Juve and the main player in
Calciopoli is providing phone tap evidence that purportedly show Inter as part of the scandal,
gaming the matches by selecting specific referees who would award favourable decisions.
Conspiracy theories and accusations abound in Italy after Lazio's controversial home defeat to
Inter Milan once again puts Serie A's integrity under the microscope.
Last week, I remarked how Liverpool and Lazio were in the same boat with their fans arguably
hoping for a home defeat to counter their hated rivals' challenge for domestic glory.
Gazzetto Dello Sport has a nicely chalked out primer on Calciopoli including recent
developments.
The Calciopoli scandal which engulfed the Serie in May 2006 exposed the web of match fixing and
rigged refereeing in the Italian league. It led to Juventus losing the Scudetto and relegated to
Serie B.
Serie A is a league of pragmatists. There are pragmatic coaches, who specialise in delivering
results rather than entertainment. There are pragmatic owners, who will sack a manager without
blinking. And there are pragmatic players, who will (allegedly) occasionally agree to play for a
scoreline that suits both teams.
Fabio Capello is starting to feel the pressure. Suddenly, football pundits are recalling that
the last two teams he has coached were conservative and uninspiring. His Juventus side, who were
stripped of the titles Capello won during his time there in the calciopoli scandal, were a team who
would happily sneak an odd goal victory and in the meantime infuriate their own fans.
Serie A 2010/11 Title Contenders: Can Inter Milan's domination be stopped? is a post from: Just
Football
With Serie A 2010/2011 tantalising us by starting just before the two week international
break, the season still has that brand new feel about it. New columnist Dewa Nugraha profiles the
title contenders for the upcoming campaign:
One of the world's finest football leagues, the Italian Serie A is underway and
this season all eyes will once again focus on whether reigning league champions Inter
Milan can finally be dethroned.
Its a game that needs no introduction, but they are always fun to watch anyways so
lets!
A few weeks ago, Liverpool's Roy Hodgson was quoted as saying
the Manchester United-Liverpool fixture was similar to that of Inter vs Juventus in the
Derby D'Italia.
