The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.

Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.

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Guidolin has revolutionized Parma, with young Italian players like Paloschi and Galloppa, mixing with older players that share their experience like Panucci and Zaccardo, Parma has turned into a team that is ready to shine. With an experienced coach like Francesco Guidolin, Parma look to be a consistent side that won't die out after a few more games.

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• Are you ready for this? The folks at Marca amusingly invented an 'award' for Kaka so that he'd come to their editorial offices and give em a scoop! You know they'd been waiting AGES for this day to arrive. "I will try to score as many goals as I can against Milan.

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It was a good day for the young generation of Italian players at FIFA's U20 World Cup. The Azzurri beat Spain 3:1 and sent the opponents home. La Furia had 10 men on the pitch and could not hold Italy's strength. With Italy desperately needing renovation in its current squad this is surely looking good.

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This was an interesting story I came across today. Apparently there is a "Little Italy" of sorts in the Bulgarian First Division (official named the Bulgarian TBI A Professional Football Group, which is ridiculous), as Bulgarian club PFC Botev Plovdiv is owned by an Italian owner, has an Italian chairman, an Italian-Congolese sporting director, an Italian manager, and a roster that contains 10 Italian players (soon to be 11).

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The new Italy U-21 side (who lost their first friendly August 12 vs. Russia 3-2) will now start qualifying for the 2011 UEFA U-21 European Championship to be held in Denmark. The Azzurrini will play two games, one on September 4th away to Wales in Swansea, and the other on September 8th at home vs.

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Coach of the Year: Josep Guardiola

This one is a drop in the bucket as we say hear in the states. Josep Guardiola had an ideal first season as a top level coach. The former player had only one year of head coaching experience as Barca's B squad coach in 2007/2008, but the young man pulled off the amazing feat of three titles in his first season.

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(Spotted on Who Ate All the Pies) Which soccer team would your company be? (CNET News) What if there was a Quidditch team of football players? (Bleacher Report) Building a perfect Union (The Local) The evolution of Brazil's kit (See the Cup) Has Lyon gone batshit crazy? (Lyon Offside) 30 promising Italian players to keep an eye on [. Click to continue reading...

It's July 13, the anniversary of one of my favorite all-time soccer moments. Ironically, the moment was generated by a team that I really – if I'm speaking honestly – have historically disliked. I have always admired certain Italian players. But collectively, the Italians are just such a ridiculously cynical lot. Click to continue reading...

With this article, I realize that I risk angering some staunch Inter Milan supporters. But since I have waited three long years to express my views on this issue, I feel obliged to let them out. The truth is, I simply can't fathom why no one can stop Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A.

Perhaps it is the lackluster attitude of their guilty rivals ever since the notorious match-fixing scandals of 2006.

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Brazil. To anyone who follows world soccer, it's not news that Brazil doesn't samba across the pitch any longer, and hasn't for a long time. These days they look like a talented team, but not one with a style that sets them significantly apart from other talented teams. But while joga bonito may have seen better days in Brazil, this is also not the leadfooted defensive-minded Brazil that shocked many of us in the 2007 Copa América. Click to continue reading...

It's been nearly a month since the end of the 2008/2009 Serie A season. I would've put this post up earlier, but the Confederations Cup and the U-21 Championship distracted me from Serie A talk. So I thought we'd discuss who was the best foreign player and who was the best Italian player this season.

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