Real Madrid came into this game knowing that they were yet to beat Milan in their own backyard, and that is how the record stayed, as the sides finished the game level-pegging. Having lost to late goals in the Santiago Bernabeu in the last fixture of this competition, the Spanish club started strongly to right the [. Click to continue reading...

What a difference a week makes.

Seven days ago it was the red and black side of Milan who were flush with optimism, stunned at a reversal in fortunes that had seen their hopes shattered in pre-season and then steadily rebuilt in Siena.

They had witnessed the first tentative steps of the apparent rebirth of Ronaldinho, they had seen Alexandre Pato set himself up for what many to believe will be "his" season with two clinical goals, and they had seemingly allayed any fears that the ageing and aching limbs of Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta and Marek Jankulovski were a bridge that not even the confident and bullish Leonardo and the downright brash Silvio Berlusconi could cross.

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América ilusiona a sus aficionados, esta noche en el estadio Georgia Dome en Atlanta, Estados Unidos, derrotó 2 goles a 1 al Milán que se presentó con todas sus figuras.

Con éste triunfo América toma por el momento el timón en el Torneo World Football Challenge, que se disputa en tierras estadounidenses.

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By Brooke Tunstall - ATLANTA, GA (Jul 22, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- You know you've made it big time when folks are dropping money to watch you practice. That, and it seems like half of your new teammates have won the World Cup. Not played in it, won it.
So it goes for US National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu, who was formally introduced yesterday at the Georgia Dome as famed club AC Milan's newest acquisition. Click to continue reading...

To fans of Calcio it's still as vivid as ever: The vision of Fabio Cannavaro lifting the World Cup aloft remains the proudest of Italian memories in a difficult recent history. But with one year to go before the 19th World Cup Final, Cannavaro and his Azzurri have a lot of hard work to do if the national team are to avoid an embarrassing fate in their defence of the trophy.

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Five days have passed since Italy's whopping 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brazil, a match which put an an end to Lippi's South African countryside scouting (one year before the big tournament) and sent the Azzurri home among general shrugs of indifference, frowned eyebrows, and sincere worries in the ranks of Italian supporters.

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Five days have passed since Italy's whopping 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brazil, a match which put an an end to Lippi's South African countryside scouting (one year before the big tournament) and sent the Azzurri home among general shrugs of indifference, frowned eyebrows, and sincere worries in the ranks of Italian supporters.

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Scoramento, delusione, amarezza. Sono queste le sensazioni che circolano nell'ambiente azzurro dopo la clamorosa sconfitta rimediata contro i Faraoni che ha complicato notevolmente i piani del gruppo azzurro. Se per gli egiziani si riapre il discorso qualificazione, per la nazionale italiana si complica maledettamente. Click to continue reading...

The Italian National Team took a break from the Confederations Cup action to visit The Lion Park in Randburg, South Africa.

Question: Which hot man avec random wild animal floats gets your "aww" factor going?

Fabio Cannavaro and a giraffe; or

Image via AP Photo

Gianluca Zambrotta and a lion cub?

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The Italian National Team took a break from the Confederations Cup action to visit The Lion Park in Randburg, South Africa.

Question: Which hot man avec random wild animal floats gets your "aww" factor going?

Fabio Cannavaro and a giraffe; or

Image via AP Photo

Gianluca Zambrotta and a lion cub?

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And speculation turns into fact. When there's smoke, there's fire. Just as we reported last weekend, Liverpool finally get their man Glen Johnson.
Johnson will come in as a direct replacement (and upgrade?) to Alvaro Arbeloa - who will now surely end up in Spain - perhaps even with former Premier League rival Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. Click to continue reading...

Italy and New Zealand squared off in their final tune-up for the tournament at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville, about 45 minutes from the U.S. base camp. There were plenty of goals at both ends, with the Kiwis taking the lead three times before finally surrendering 4-3 after Vincenzo Iaquinta scored his second of the night in the 68th minute.

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Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray) Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan) Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Davide Santon (Inter), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool) Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Forwards: Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Pepe (Udinese) Click to continue reading...

Italy has winnowed their squad down to 23 players for the Confederations Cup and here's what it looks like:
Goalkeepers (3): Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders (8): Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan) Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Davide Santon (Inter), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool);
Midfielders (6): Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards (6): Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Pepe (Udinese). Click to continue reading...

Marcelo Lippi finalized his Azzurri squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the big news is that Inter's teenage sensation Davide Santon. The youngster played mostly left back for Inter but is seen as a player who can play on both sides.

Three red-hot attacking players with breakout seasons in the 08-09 Serie A campaign were left off the list in favor of more veteran Azzurri players.

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Via Chelsea's official Web site (be sure to check out the latest news and video on Ancelotti there as well) ...

"The 49-year-old moves to London after eight seasons in Milan where his major successes were two Champions League victories and one Serie A title.

A former Milan player, Ancelotti began his managerial career at Reggiana, a club close to the town of his birth in Northern Italy, where rapid promotion to Serie A for the team meant rapid promotion for his career and a job at Parma - Ancelotti's first club as player.

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Italy coach Marcello Lippi has named the following 13 players to his roster for the Confederations Cup. Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo) Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan) Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Forwards: Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich) The final ten players will come from his 21-man squad for the. Click to continue reading...

Marcello Lippi has released a squad for Italy's friendly against Northern Ireland, but the roster is devoid of many of the big names you would expect in the Confederations Cup. That's because he's decided to keep them fresh for the tournament in South Africa, and on Thursday elected to name two teams. Click to continue reading...

Random fact of the day: I share the same birthday (today) as Aston Villa left back Nicky Shorey. We are not the same age (he shares that with my sister). Wikipedia also tells me that we share our birthday with these footballers: Mikko Kavén (Finland), Steve Cherundolo (United States), Sócrates (Brazil), Enzo Scifo (Belgium), Clinton Morrison (England), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), and Marta ( Click to continue reading...

Two days away from the match against Montenegro, the composition of the Azzurri midfield still raises some questions: can De Rossi and Gattuso recuperate on time? Meanwhile, the vet (Zambrotta) and the rookie (Chiellini, although Euro 2008 pretty much catapulted him to 90%-vet status) share their views on the match to come. Click to continue reading...

Week-End Reviews After the Summer wait, Serie A continues. Here are the results and summaries for matchday 3. Full Video Highlights here. . Italy.TheOffside.com week 3 review . Italian Calcio Blog week 3 review . Inter Milan produced a masterclass of attacking play when they moved to the top of serie A with a 3-1 win at Torino on Sunday. Click to continue reading...

The AC Milan vs Lazio match saw a variety of impressive goals but the one which sticks out above the rest was the winner scored by Gianluca Zambrotta.  Zambrotta's is winning goal of the week for the following reasons, 1. distance 2. location 3. power 4. as fullback Zambrotta doesn't score often, making this a very special goal compared to the rest netted by seasoned goalscorers this week. Click to continue reading...

You know it's funny: it seems that whenever AC Milan are in trouble, all they need to lift their spirits is a little Lazio "rejuvenation cure". Just around the same time last year, the Rossoneri had just played an abysmal UEFA Champions League match against Celtic Glasgow (in which Dida infamously faked being mortally hit [. Click to continue reading...

Calling all Milanista, I got it wrong and admit it but what's more important is understanding why.  The key to today's victory was manager Ancelotti getting back to basics. Take a look at the starting XI, leaving Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko on the bench was the right move.  Ancelotti would instead go with young Pato and Marco Borriello and a Pirlo-less midfield that supported the front [. Click to continue reading...

They were one of football's hottest topics to kick off the season but got off to one of the colder starts. All that's changed now, and done so with a little bit of pizazz. A 4-1 thumping of formerly top-of-the-tablers Lazio at the San Siro was enough to get the job done, but it was [...] Click to continue reading...

Ever since Cesc Fabregas took all the plaudits with his very own TV show, fans across Europe have been wondering who'll be next to hit the silver screen. Now the wait is over, as the lovely Giorgia Surina and Italian comic group Trio Medusa kick off The Fabio Cannavaro Show. Note that unlike Fabregas', this show was a one-night [. Click to continue reading...

As each week passes Serie A gets closer and closer. This was basically the final week of the preseason, as this week there are National Team games on Wednesday and then the SuperCoppa on Sunday, and teams start there normal preparation for the start of Serie A, which will kick-off with Udinese-Palermo and Sampdoria-Inter on Saturday, August 30th.

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So this is the table so far at the end of the year I will post the final table so you can compare, not many English Premier League teams in it so far!
No. Player's Name Pos From To Fee
1. Daniel Alves (Bra) RB Sevilla (Spa) Barcelona (Spa) £25. Click to continue reading...

Italian sports newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport rated the Azzurri players at the end of their European adventure. Along with Gigi Buffon, positive scores were obtained by Chiellini and Grosso. All the strikers flunked the test, while some midfielders could have done better. The overall form however, was never great. Click to continue reading...

Barcelona have confirmed the sale of Italian international Gianluca Zambrotta to A.C. Milan. The 31-year-old defender will return to the Serie A side having signed a four-year deal. Prior to his two-year stint in Spain, Zambrotta played in the Serie A for Juventus.
Image details: Barcelona v Espanyol served by picapp. Click to continue reading...

In accordance to the UEFA-imposed May 28 deadline, Italian coach Roberto Donadoni has made his final roster selection for Euro 2008: the 23 players who will representing the Azzurri this Summer have been picked and as many expected, Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo was the player discarded from the manager's Pre-selection list. Click to continue reading...

AC Milan have confirmed that they have officially lodged a bid to sign Gianluca Zambrotta from FC Barcelona. Although the transfer is unlikely to take pace this month since Barca President Joan Laporta has affirmed that the Italian would remain at the Camp Nou until the end of the season at least, Milan are confident [. Click to continue reading...

The rumour mill has been rumbling on FC Barcelona full back Gianluca Zambrotta since the start of the season and the will-he-won't-he saga reached a new peak in the last couple or so weeks when Italian and Catalan press reports went as far to affirm that the Italian World Cup winner will be packing his [. Click to continue reading...

AC Milan are certain to revamp their squad in the summer after blowing their Italian Serie A title hopes once again this season. Club President Silvio Berlusconi has publicly said that he is looking to add new faces to the side and has named one or two players too. Goal.com reports that Berlusconi is eager to [. Click to continue reading...

AC Milan certainly need a facelift and club president Silvio Berlusconi is now gearing up to do so in the summer. Milan might have notched up the UEFA Champions League silverware last season and the World Club Cup last month but as far as the Italian Serie A is concerned, the Rossonerri are in utter [. Click to continue reading...