Italy have had a solid qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, which has seen the side go unbeaten and concede a mere two goals. The side has also looked impressive in some recent friendlies, beating World Champions Spain 2-1 back in August. Although it could be argued that the Spain squad fielded that day was somewhat experimental, it is still quite an achievement for a national side that only a year previously was in crisis and bereft of confidence.

The Italian Players' Union (AIC) has called off a strike after reaching an agreement with Serie A's governing body over a collective contract. A temporary deal has been signed which will expire at the end of the season.

The dispute has centred on two issues: the payment of a solidarity tax, the players have now agreed to pay this, and the fate of players forced to train on their own when dropped.

A.S. Roma have announced the capture of 21-year old starlet Miralem Pjanic from French giants Olympique Lyonnais for a transfer fee reported to be around £9 million .

Pjanic, who struggled to follow up to a sensation 2009-10 season last year, has attracted from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea in the past but it turned out to be a revamped Giallorossi side that eventually swooped for him on the transfer deadline day.

Last Friday Italian players' association president Damiano Tommasi confirmed the strike was on and a delay to the Serie A season was unavoidable. All 20 Serie A team captains signed a document this month threatening of a strike if a new collective contract was not signed before September 28th. "We tried right up until the end, but all the attempts were in vain," Tommasi said.

The poor performance by Italian clubs in Europe last season has caused the Italia football federation (IFF) to change the rules. Effectively immediately, each club in Serie A will be allowed to sign a second non-EU player.

A year ago, after Italy's first-round exit at the World Cup, the federation reduced the number of non-EU players from two to one with the goal of giving more Italian players playing time.

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The QPR Squad of Forty Years ago!
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El momento es ahora.... and Kun Aguero has finally decided that it's time for him to leave Atletico Madrid for a bigger team. Meanwhile, we're pretty sure Maradona helped him to write his exit statement. These drama kings are all the same!

Marcello Lippi, despite a disastrous second spell in charge of the Italian National team, will always be held in high esteem by Italian worldwide. After all, this is the man that nearly immediately redeemed calcio in the face of a match-fixing scandal in the best way possible: by winning the World Cup.

With the debate of the best and worst January transfer campaign in the Serie A in full swing, it seems that the winner may not be a club team at all. Azzurri boss Cesare Prandelli stands to gain the most from the winter mercato, as high-profile Italian players are now plying their trade with teams at the top of the table.