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.

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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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.