I'll let Yahoo explain this one: Catania's forward Gianvito Plasmati, right, is seen with his shorts down as his teammate Giuseppe Mascara, left, scores on a free kick during the Italian Serie A first division soccer match between Catania and Torino, in Catania, southern Italy, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008.

So, everyone had a week to vote and crown the Ugliest Serie A Footballer. It was a tight race, but it in the end there had to be one winner. Who is it? Is it the man who looks like a rat (Mascara), the rapist/kidnapper (Juric), the uni-browed goalkeeper (Rubinho)? It was very close, with only 1 vote separating 1st and 2nd place.

Drop your shorts, boys. He won't see a thing Revolutionary set-piece tactics were on display in Serie A this weekend. Catania's players dropped deep into the penalty area, dropped their shorts to their knees to unsight the goalkeepers and stood back to enjoy as team-mate Giuseppe Mascara popped the ball into the back of the net.

While their countrymen battle for advancement in the Olympic Games over in China, two young Americans are preparing themselves for the upcoming Italian soccer season.
Gabriel Ferrari, on loan from Sampdoria to Perugia, seems to be settling in well already seeing 75 minutes of playing time in this week's 3-2 preseason win over Catania.

As we've reported here before, it appears USA and Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni is set for a move to Europe in January, the only question is where.
While a handful of Italian clubs (such as Cagliari, Catania, and Palermo) have been whispered to have interest, LFV friend Nick Thomas is reporting that interest is also coming from Spain's Real Betis and Malaga.

Funny and odd thing happened in this weekend's game between Catania and Torino. Catania had a free kick from about 25 yards out and Catania attacking midfielder Giuseppe Mascara lined up to take it. Everything looked routine, Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni set up his wall, and then something very strange occurred.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the deadline fast approaching for players to make transfer moves in Europe, several American standouts remain in limbo with just days to go before decision day.

Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley, Frank Simek and Heath Pearce have all been mentioned as potential transfer targets this summer.

Serie A teams, get your shopping bags ready! The mid-season transfer window officially opened last week (January 1st), and will remain open until January 31st 19:00 CET. It is a busy time for Italian clubs, who on top of getting ready for the return of Serie A next week-end, have their scouts/negotiatiors/investors working full time [.

I found myself wondering if Italian legend Walter Zenga's time in Major League Soccer (MLS) damaged his mind after reading this article. If you haven't heard, Zenga seems to think that having his players drop their shorts during a free kick is strategy. Zenga has hist players at Catania, where he currently coaches, lowering their shorts to their knees because it blocks the goalkeepers vision.

OK folks, now that Michael Bradley has found a new home at Borussia Monchengladbach, we still have 12 hours before we know if Oguchi Onyewu is going to PSG, Espanyol, Lazio, Bologna, or someplace England. The Italian deadline is at 6PM (12 PM EDT) so if its a Serie A move, expect to know earlier in the day.

Inter boss Jose Mourinho is absolutely enraged over the international commitments of his South American players and, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport, is refusing to play any of them in the weekend's Serie A clash against Catania.

So Lorenzo and Alessio had a good idea for a post, we are going to crown Serie A's Ugliest Footballer. There are quite a few of them, and this is the post where we'll nominate footballers. I'll list some here, and if you have a nomination state it in the comments section and I'll add him to the running.

So, the results are in and now it is time for the Final Round of Serie A's Ugliest Footballer. The footballers with the top 10 votes have made it to this round and now we will vote to see who is definitely the ugliest! Results and new poll after the jump.

Here are the top ten ugliest Serie A footballers, voted by you:

1) Giuseppe Mascara - 39 Votes
2) Sulley Muntari - 31 Votes
3) Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 30 Votes
4) Rodrigo Taddei - 29 Votes
5) Ronaldinho - 25 Votes
6) Rubinho - 15 Votes
7) Emerson - 15 Votes
8) Ivan Juric - 14 Votes
9) Antonio Cassano - 12 Votes
10) Stevan Jovetic - 11 Votes

I think everyone that deserved to be there is there, so that's good.

Catania are fighting against relegation in the Italian Serie A this season and are desperate to hold onto the one huge hope that they have in Peruvian defender Juan Manuel Vargas. Although the Italian minnows have confirmed that Vargas wouldn't be leaving the side this January, Goal.com reports that the 23-year old is up for [.

Nothing major to report on the transfer front. Most of the info from Inara's last transfer post is still up to date. Here's the latest:

OUT:

Gregory Coupet: Greg's transfer to Atletico Madrid has been finalized.

The two stories are not connected.Inter Milan defeated Catania 2 -1 on saturday.Mourinho being Mourinho said at at the end that they could have won the game 5 -1.That didn't go down so well.Catania chief executive Pietro Lo Monaco replied that Mourinho had insulted all of Catania and should have "his teeth smashed in.

In the present state of modern football with the physical nature of the game becoming more important than the technical nature, there seems to be less and less room for the fantasista, a player that has always been the focal point in the Italian game. The fantasista is the player with sublime technique, the player that you pay to watch, the one that can change the game at any second.

"Messieurs, rien ne va plus"! Scouts/negotiatiors/investors/sporting directors/club presidents have been working their ass off this past month, jumping from table to table in their endless quest for a last-minute star buy, in the traditional carousel that brings players, agents, and club owners all together in a merry-go-round dance.

It's second half action and the Nerazzurri are leading 2 - 1 over the southerns from Catania.  Inter vs. Catania Live Feed, the same channel should have Palermo vs. Roma next. Ricardo Quaresma makes his debut at the San Siro with a goal for Inter in the 43th minute. Bookmark to:

After Catania and Sampdoria in Serie A, Juventus obtained their third consecutive draw in less than a week, this time in the UEFA Champions League. And don't be fooled by the name: if drawing against Bate Borisov (a Belarusian team at its European top competition debut) might seem like a bad result on paper, the [.

OK, so here on the Italy Offside we are searching for Serie A's Ugliest Footballer. We have all the nominees, and now it is time to vote. If you need to see pictures of each player, you'll find them all in this post and in the comments. Vote for the 10 Ugliest players, and voting will last 10 days (so everyone can vote for 1 ugly player each day).

Since we don't have a Catania blogger, there's not as much talk around here about their Peruvian beast, Juan Manuel Vargas as there probably should be. RomaChris and I both pimp him whenever we get the opportunity, but when you play for a small club and for a decidedly non-glamorous national team, it's hard to get much attention.

Roma have the possibility to snatch the Serie A title from a faltering Inter Milano on sunday. Inter lead Roma by just one point going into the final round of games. It's simple, Roma have to beat Catania and hope Parma can do them a favour against Inter. Watch the highlights from Romas thrilling last match here!

The point of predictions is to say something which will cause a lot of argument and chair throwing while everyone who slams said predictions gets it wrong in the end as well. And for anyone who does get it correctly, well, they're just the luckiest son of a bitch alive. But it's still a good [...]

On Saturday Juninho showed why he is the master of the freekick after bringing Lyon single-handedly back into this one, with a clinical display of scoring from the deadball situation. While waiting for Inter - Catania to start I decided to turn the dial to TV5 and have a look-see of French Ligue One with Lyon vs.

For some reason whenever Serie A plays during the week I always feel like it isn't the same. I love the tradition of Serie A Sundays and Serie A on Wednesday just feels strange. But it's still Serie A, so I could care less because I love calcio. Giornata 4 was another great round of calcio: Inter took sole lead of the Serie A table after getting a result vs a tough Lecce side thanks to Julio Cruz, Juventus drew Catania at home and wasted many chances to get all 3 points, Milan keeps bouncing back after a win in Reggio Calabria, Roma continues to struggle after losing away to Genoa, and Fiorentina were outclassed by Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.

Ronaldinho shines as AC Milan take the Milan Derby 1 - 0. Match Highlights Match Day Five Results Saturday Sept. 27 Sampdoria 0 - 0 Juventus Fiorentina 1 - 0 Genoa   Sunday Sept. 28  AS Roma 2 - 0 Atalanta Bologna 0 - 1 Napoli Catania 1 - 0 Chievo Lecce 2 - 0 Cagliari Palermo 1 - 0 Reggina Torino 1 - 3 Lazio Udinese 2 - [.

Can anyone tell me what type of performance enhancing drug Alessandro Del Piero is taking right now? (Juventus fans don't jump on my back, that was my attempt at humor). Another inch perfect free kick, and on his 34th birthday to boot. Serie A results after "il salto" (the jump).

Bologna-Roma 1-1
Scorers: 68´ Totti (Rom); 92´ aut.

Catania striker Gianvito Plasmati, dropped his shorts at Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni, as team-mate Giuseppe Mascara scores on a free-kick during the Southerner's 3-2 win.   Dreamed up by former Italian national goalkeeper Walter Zenga, this tactic was employed to great success against the visitors.

Palermo and Italy goalkeeper Marco Amelia said saving Ronaldinho's penalty kick was "like playing Playstation". Now I bet tons of clubs will be getting calls from FIFA '09 addicts saying they should get a trial because they are good at saving penalties on Playstation. Roundup after the jump.

I promise not all weekend posts will reference classic songs. Some, not all.

While it's nice to see all the big fellas get their Saturday in the sun, it's leaves much to be desired on Sunday, when The Other Sixteen get to dust off their booties and kick a ball around. Luckily enough, we've Derby della Lanterna to quench our calcio thirst.

Here we are at the penultimate day of the 2007/2008 Serie A season. It has been a long, interesting season with lots of battles in the table but this second to last day is really becoming more important than the last day, because lots of scenarios can be decided tomorrow after every referee has blown the final whistle.

Ieri, 10 luglio 2008, è avvenuto il formale passaggio di propriet tra i Silvestrini e Leonardo Covarelli, che può quindi definirsi a tutti gli effetti il nuovo patron del Perugia. L'ufficialit era attesa da giorni ed era legata alla trattativa per la cessione del Pisa (squadra che dovrebbe passare all'imprenditore romano Luca Pomponi).

Our beloved Serie A kicks off this weekend and it's preview time. After thinking that last season was a tough season to predict, this season it becomes even tougher. There are so many quality sides in the top flight this season that it is really hard to predict who will finish where this season.

Inter squeeze out a win, Juventus can't hold off Catania, Milan win, Roma shot down by Genoa and Lazio roll over Fiorentina...
REPORTS
Serie A Table
CLUB GP W L D PTS GD Inter Milan4301104 Lazio431095 Atalanta431092 Napoli420282 Juventus420282 Udinese421174 Catania Calcio421171 Genoa422062 AC Milan422061 Palermo422060 Torino411251 Siena411251 Chievo Verona41125-1 Roma41214-1 Lecce41214-2 Fiorentina41214-3 Sampdoria40133-2 Bologna41303-4 Reggina40311-5 Cagliari40400-7

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the new Bologna and Siena blogs here at the Italy Offside. Every Serie A club now has it's own blog here at the Offside, and that's really great! Round-up of Giornata 7 after the jump. But before you go there, just analyze this picture of Mourinho. Saturday Night Fever?

Here's what I found interesting after reading various calcio news sites today:

-First, we have another managerial change in Serie A. Chievo haven't won since the first week of the season and manager Beppe Iachini has been sacked. Taking his place will be Domenico Di Carlo, who was in charge of Parma until March of last season.

Roma, languishing in the relegation zone before the derby, took on Lazio, who are flying high in the upper echelons of the table. Roma needed a victory over their rivals to kick-start their season and boost morale, while Lazio were looking to confirm themselves as a side to be reckoned with this season.

Diego Milito. Who would've thought that he would turn out to be possibly the best signing a Serie A side made this summer? 12 goals in 15 games. Results after the jump.

Atalanta-Udinese 3-0
Scorers: 20´ Valdes (Ata); 78´ Doni (Ata); 88´ Vieri (Ata)
Report.

I know statistics are big mostly in American sports. You'll turn on Sportscenter and here a random sportscaster be like "This player has a 65.7893034% shooting percentage, better than the average of the league which is 54.648484645!". Usually American sports will find stats for anything, like the "second assist".