On behalf of the Italy Offside, I'd like to congratulate Ronaldinho on his pregnancy. He looks about 4 months in. Can't wait to see him walking around the pitches of Serie A come August.

Various Serie A news from the day:

- Happy Birthday Antonio Cassano! Fantantonio turns 28 today.

If you've been watching Serie A this season, you may have noticed it by now. In many games across the peninsula, especially games at night, the mysterious green laser beam has been shot at various players and managers. The first appearance of the green laser is pictured, when during a Bari-Juventus game at the Stadio San Nicola, Diego stepped up to take a penalty kick and the laser was dancing on his face.

Preseason training is underway and with the preparations for the coming season there are always the presentation of the kits by each team. I remember years ago when you had to wait until at least mid-August to see the kits, now you have brands like Nike and Adidas unveiling next season's kits even months in advance.

So I thought maybe after the World Cup, there might be some new soccer fans that fell in love with the game in these past few weeks and are looking for a league to follow. Now I know many would probably go and choose the English Premier League because it has the most visibility and is English-speaking or they might choose La Liga because of Real Madrid and Barcelona or the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (ok maybe not that one), but I decided to make a case for Serie A.

As you may know by now, starting this season Serie A and Serie B will be two separate leagues run by two different governing bodies, like in England with the Premier League and the Coca-Cola Championship. So to identify themselves both divisions have came up with different logos. The Serie B logo hasn't been released first, but Serie A revealed their logo today (pictured on the left).

Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. It has competed in the top tier of Italian soccer, Serie A, since the 2006/07 season and finished the 2009/10 season in 13th position. This weekend, Catania officially launched its Givovo 2010/11 home and away jerseys with the help of [.

There have always been nicknames in soccer. Most players have nicknames, whether the are created by the media, the fans, coaches, other players, there are nicknames everywhere. Then there are the nicknames you make for players you hate. Those are always the most fun. (Like last season with Klaas-Jan Junkelaar).

Just like many university school years are coming to an end this month and sending out grades to all their students, it's time to grade all twenty Serie A teams on their 2009/2010 season. Who passed? Who failed? Who's going to summer school? Who's being held back? Who's transferring to another school (The Serie B School of Less Competitive Football)?

Goal highlights from the Netherlands ( Holland) vs Hungary international friendly on June 5, 2010. Netherlands vs Hungary final score. The Dutch make Oranje squash out of Hungary with a superlative second half performance. Goal sequence ( Current score) Netherlands 0-1 Hungary ( Dzudszak 6′) Netherlands 1-1 Hungary ( Robin Van Persie 22′) Netherlands 2-1 Hungary ( Wesley Sneijder 56′) Netherlands 3-1 [.

(video gol highlights)
TABELLINO
GENOA (4-3-3): Scarpi; Papastathopoulos, Esposito (1'st Suazo), Moretti, Modesto; Tomovic, Rossi, Zapater (13'st Milanetto); Fatic (18'st Juric), Crespo, Sculli. A disposizione: Amelia, Bocchetti, Mesto, Criscito. All. Gasperini.

Everyone always made fun of Inter in the past for being predominantly Argentinian, giving them names like "Intergentina" or "Argentinter". However, Inter have developed into just one big multi-cultural team, and now only have 4 Argentinian players on their roster. It is another team in Serie A that has become a colony for Argentinian players: Catania.

This is amazing. Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho has been banned from the touchline for three games by the Italian FA after making a handcuffs gesture in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Sampdoria.

Mourinho will have to watch the games against Udinese, Genoa and Catania from the stands.

In addition to the Mourinho suspension, Inter players were also be missing some Serie A games.

Only a measly 17 goals scored this weekend in Serie A, with three games finishing 0-0 (Roma-Milan, Atalanta-Udinese, Inter-Genoa). Both Antonio Di Natale and Diego Milito were involved in goalless draws, so nothing changes at the top of the top scoring chart. With his goal this weekend, Giampaolo Pazzini closed in on Milito and now has 13 goals, 2 away from Milito's 15.

Liverpool are ready to move into position for Fiorentina winger Juan Manuel Vargas, according to Calciomercato.com.
An Italy-based scout working for the Premier League club is trying to open up a line of communication with Fiorentina to uncover the player's availability.
The scout wants to verify conditions with Vargas' agent before he approaches the Viola with the hope of moving forwards.

It is all shaping up nicely for Jose Mourinho's men who turn their focus back to domestic matters this weekend with another meeting against Fiorentina, this time in the league.
Roma host relegation-threatened Atalanta on the back of four straight wins and having extended their unbeaten run in the league to 22 games last weekend.

Saturday, April 10, 2010 Napoli vs. Parma 12:00 PM Fiorentina vs. Inter Milan 2:45PM Sunday, April 11, 2010 Bologna vs. Lazio 9:00 AM Juventus vs. Cagliari 9:00 AM AC Milan vs. Catania 9:00 AM AS Roma vs. Atalanta 9:00 AM Siena vs. Bari 9:00 AM Palermo vs. Chievo 9:00 AM Livorno vs.

This weekend Milan take on Catania in what is another weekend of matches that will bring us another step closer to seeing just who will run off with the Scudetto. With Inter playing away to Fiorentina there is a real chance, if La Viola do us a favour, of Milan catching them. But of course, [...]

Sorry for the lack of posts last week, I was a little under the weather and didn't get to the computer much. But everything will be back in full force this week. The 33rd giornata was a big day, as we saw Roma reach first place for the first time since 2004, and Inter sitting in a place they haven't been familiar with the past 5 years: second.

Maxi is starting to make a name for himself in Italy. Despite Catania's loss, Maxi with another goal, a fantastic goal.

I thought I'd skip over Tactics Wednesday this week and post this. Serie A has always been known to have some crazy president and owners. In fact, I think you'll find that Italy is home to the craziest owners and presidents in all of world football. I feel like Italy is the only place you hear about all these crazy antics by owners, in the EPL you don't even know who some of these people are.

Only 90 minutes (plus stoppage time) remain in the 2009/2010 Serie A season. For a while on Sunday, the whole season was decided, but then a couple of goals changed all that. Inter still remain on top, and Roma are still a point behind hoping in a miracle from Siena next Sunday. The end is near.

After using every possible combination of players in qualifying, Maradona has come up with his 30 man provisional squad. As expected they are extremely suspect in the back and just stacked with fire power in the midfield and up front. It is a sin that his group of players has been handed to a man that has no idea how to put all the pieces together.

In this aggravating time between the end of the Serie A season and the beginning of the World Cup, we can bide our time by looking back at the past Serie A season. As expected by many, Inter Milan won the title. In my series of posts reviewing the season, however, I want to begin by looking at those teams that surprised the experts.

If you had read any posts I made about the national team over the past 2 years, you could tell I wasn't the biggest fan of Lippi's ridiculous reign of terror. So once that reign of terror finally ended, I was pretty excited for Prandelli's first press conference today. So excited that I got up at 9 am to watch the live feed on the Gazzetta dello Sport website.

Last weekend Sicilian club Catania officially launched it's Givova 2010/11 home and away jerseys. Hope you enjoy the post's eye candy. The club was founded in 1908, having spent much of its...
Want to send us your comments? or looking to advertise on our site? contact us at, owngoalnetwork[at]live[dot]ca

The 2010/2011 Serie A season seemed so far away and it felt like 2009/2010 just ended, but the new season is upon us. With today's calendar drawing, it officially means the season is upon us. Tomorrow will be officially one month until kickoff. The season will run from August 29th to May 22nd.

So you may of noticed that in the past few days the Italy Offside hasn't really been updated. And some of you may have disappointed, while others were probably saying "yes that stupid blog isn't being updated! finally!". But the fact of the matter is, I haven't been updating because I've been working on this season preview.

So the weekend that was originally supposed to be suspended because of the strike was played and it was a pretty good weekend overall. It's proving to be an even Serie A campaign so far, in fact it's the first time since the 1971/72 season that no team is unbeaten. Every team has lost at least once, and every team at least has one point.

Palermo hero Javier Pastore has dedicated his derby day hat-trick over Catania to Argentine compatriot Diego Maradona.

Pastore is genuinely blossoming into a future world star and his hat-trick in Sunday's game to give his club Sicilian bragging rights has the whole of Europe talking about his attributes.

Another weekend of Serie A as we inch closer to that winter break, which is only 4 weekends away. It was another interesting weekend, Milan confirmed themselves at the top, Lazio and Napoli are still high-flying, Juventus and Roma are making up for lost time, and Inter are in crisis mode and 9 points away from Milan (when's the last time that happened?

Another weekend of Serie A as we inch closer to that winter break, which is only 4 weekends away. It was another interesting weekend, Milan confirmed themselves at the top, Lazio and Napoli are still high-flying, Juventus and Roma are making up for lost time, and Inter are in crisis mode and 9 points away from Milan (when's the last time that happened?

We have reached the midway point of Serie A 2010/2011. Unofficially the winter break has always been the midway point, as teams go on vacation and start planning their transfer strategy for the January market. Officially the real midway point is after the 19th giornata, but the winter break always feels like the real midway point.

As far as the strangest free kick I can recall goes, this is up there although it doesn't really touch the Catania of a couple years ago. This one, from the Chinese second division, is easily the most confusing, though.

Was this planned? Or is number 32 just the worst teammate known to man?

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?

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).

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.

Tre punti di crisi

In periodi di vacche magre, tre punticini ottenuti contro il Parma sono prezioso fieno in cascina. Il fieno non è la classifica; il fieno è la riscoperta tranquillit post natalizia dopo le contestazioni furenti del dopo Catania. Non so se Ferrara abbia lo spogliatoio in pugno, oppure se Del Piero prepara l'ennesima rivoluzione in un club privo di solidit .

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.