Main piece of news today : Fabio Grosso decided to end his career as a professional footballer. The former OL left back, without club since Juventus didn't renew him, just announced he was turning the page. Other than that, everything is quiet. Or rather boiling under the surface before the 105th edition of THE derby that promises to be burning hot.
Juventus were crowned Serie A Winter Champions after one of their most controlled performances of
the season on Saturday night. Atalanta have proven to be tough opposition for any team, especially
at home where their only defeat prior was to champions Milan. But, the Bianconeri overcame early
frustration to eventually overcome the Nerazzurri with relative ease.
Juventus will be at home for the first time in 2012 on Sunday when they welcome Cagliari to the
Juventus Stadium. Starting the New Year off with more of a whimper than a bang, Juve did manage to
take home the three points from Lecce even if it was a struggle. As Antonio Conte stated
afterwards, they will look to build from that match and improve their performance.
It was a little surprising that with all the big names touring the U.S. this summer, that no
Italian were involved. Well that changed with the news that Juventus, the 27-time Italian champion,
will play three friendlies in America in late July.
Only one of the three games has been formally announced and it is a good one.
In late Autumn and early Winter Juventus strung together an unbeaten run that lasted eighteen
games, a feat they managed playing a largely unchanged line-up and using the same formation every
week. What began the season as Gigi Delneri's favoured formation became very different, dropping
the wing-based shape he utilised at Sampdoria and relying on eighteen year old defender Frederik.
One a team, one a player, both best told via video.
The Stadio Sao Paulo is usually a fortress: Napoli have won at home eleven times this season,
and have only lost twice. Lazio however threatened not just once, but twice, to send the side to
their third home defeat of the season. And then, Gli Azzurri woke up.
Serie A fans have had to endure a long two weeks for the international break, but they could be
looking at another long break at the end of the month that could deprive fans of the most
anticipated matches so far this season.
Earlier today, the Italian Professional Players' Association announced that, due to the failure
to sign a collective-bargaining agreement, all Serie A players will go on strike the weekend of
September 25–26.
Serie A players are planning to unlace their boots and go on strike the weekend of September
25th/26th. But in many ways that's not the big news. The big news is the reason they're going on
strike, which is to protest a proposal from Serie A club presidents that players in the final year
of their contract be forced to accept transfers, if the buying club is offering equal or better
pay.
While Inter's Champions League triumph was a major boost to Serie A, the Nerazzurri's continued
domination of Calcio does nothing but hurt the Italian national team. Inter guaranteed...
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Mention the 2009-2010 season to Juventus' 170 million fans and they will shake their head in
disgust. Italy's most successful and beloved soccer team was a shell of itself, missing out on a
European tournament spot due to poor play and aging players. It is not a coincidence that the
Italian national team also failed to live up to expectations in the World Cup, as Juve players made
up a large contingent of the team.
The 32 coaches named their preliminary World Cup squads just a week ago. Most chose 30 players,
and don't need to name their final 23 man squads until June 1st. However, like over-eager
lumberjacks, a couple of those coaches have started making cuts early.
Yesterday France coach Raymond Domenech reduced his 30 to 24, with Marseille's Hatem Ben Arfa
being the most high profile player to get the chop.
The Bianconeri lost again and to be quite honest it was not a surprise because the Juve
players have completely lost their composure since the 3-3 draw with Siena. The match against
Siena was the turning point as Juventus were somewhat managing to grind resultsfollowing Alberto
Zaccheroni's appointment as coach for the remainder of the season.
It's impossible think of tonight's game without harking back to the epic World Cup 2006 semi-final
between these two nations in Dortmund. Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli has reportedly been dogged in
his attempts to convince UEFA to allow him to bring in veterans Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del
Piero as injury cover.
TweetFrom superlative volleys to the collapse of several big clubs the Noughties was a decade
whereby football witnessed some of its most iconic and unforgettable moments. As the football world
moves into a new decade it is necessary to reflect on the moments which lit up, and defined the
Noughties. 10.
Soccer diving as an Olympic sport? Anyone on the list below could win the gold.
Germany's Jurgen Klinsmann, now head coach of the USA national team was
condemned as an uber-flopper in his playing days. He conned the referee in the 1990 World
Cup Final by spinning airborne then hitting the ground like a man who had just been subjected to an
electric shock.
Former American soccer prodigy Freddy Adu is signing with the Philadelphia Union, according to
Soccer by Ives.
Adu hasn't been in MLS since leaving Real Salt Lake in 2007 for Portuguese giants Benfica. The
22-year-old's soccer career has been stalled because of indifference from Benfica and a failure to
impress while on loan with Monaco, Belenenses and Aris.
The focus now swings away from domestic play to international games, and there are some classic
fixtures, with France hosting Brazil, Italy travelling to Germany and Portugal taking on Argentina
in Geneva.
France v Brazil
France v Brazil evokes memories of several classic encounters between the two sides, not least the
1998 FIFA World Cup final in Paris when the hosts emerged triumphant.
>> Click Here To Watch Australia Vs Serbia Live Now <<
Australia Vs Serbia Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Australia Vs Serbia Live Online Click Here
Wednesday, June 23rd 2010
Kick Off : 19:30 BST
Venue : Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit South Africa
The World Cup Group D game between Australia and Serbia will take place at the Mbombela Stadium
on Wednesday 23rd June 2010, kick-off set for 7:30 PM.
Fabio Grosso left at home as Marcello Lippi reduces squad Juventus defender Fabio Grosso and
Udinese midfielder Antonio Candreva have been cut from the Italy squad for the World Cup as coach
Marcello Lippi reduced his 30-man provisional group to 28. Grosso was a pivotal player for Italy
four years ago, scoring the decisive first goal against Germany in the semi-final and then the
winning
With a little more than a month to go till the World Cup in South Africa, Andy Golding challenges
the critics of Italy boss Marcello Lippi to reject an expected Ital-Juve call up. Juventus
have...
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Italy coach Marcello Lippi named his 29-man roster prior to the World Cup.
He did exclude players from both Inter and AS Roma as they will be playing in the final of the
Coppa Italia. These two sides are also battling for the Scudetto as well. Inter meantime are
looking to become the first Italian side to win the treble.
The Decade in Review continues with the 2006/2007 season. The 2006/2007 season was the beginning
of a new era for Italian football. It was the first post-Calciopoli season, and it was the first
Serie A season without Juventus. A reinforced Inter side dominated the championship, finishing 22
points ahead of second place Roma and winning their first scudetto on the pitch since 1989.
Everyone player must go!!! Juventus is planning to transfer many, if not all, of their star players
in an effort to rebuild a team that has been slumping for quite some time now. It appears that
players like Felipe Melo, Amauri, Trezeguet, Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Tiago, Cristian
Molinaro, and even Mauro Camoranesi are all in line to be transferred over the Summer.
The Philadelphia Union announced today that the club has secured defender Carlos Valdes's full
rights from Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe, while simultaneously announcing that forward Carlos
Ruiz has actually, legitimately been transferred to Mexico's Veracruz. Of course, the Ruiz transfer
was no surprise at all -- only logistics separated the deal from being made official over the last
week, and there were suspicions that such a transaction with Ruiz would take place for the better
part of two months now.
Early last week Thomas Di Benedetto flew into Rome's Fiumicino airport to a fervent reception. Both
media and tifosi alike were eagerly awaiting his arrival and subsequently waited for that watershed
moment when a Serie A club would enter into foreign ownership for the very first time. A week later
and there are still details, diligences and more small print to mull over.
Algeria World Cup star Nadir Belhadj has spoken to Avram Grant about a move to West Ham, according
to this morning's Sun. The £5million-rated Portsmouth left-back is reported to be Grant's top
summer target. Belhadj, 27, who also has offers from Spain, France and Qatar, said: "Everyone's
talking about West Ham, because we all know Grant's going there.
