In my debut article I'm taking on the hat trick format to discuss a needed holiday tradition in MLS, a quick look at the revival of Italian soccer, and a couple familiar faces playing with their respective national teams. Does anyone have any fireworks ready?

1. The holidays may have lulled most of the soccer world into a brief slumber, but the English Premiere League is still going full speed ahead with their traditional Boxing Day matches.

After defeating Napoli earlier this season, Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona continued to foil the big boys of Italian soccer last week as they scraped out a goalless tie against league leaders Juventus.

Udinese Calcio is an Italian soccer club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia that currently plays in the Serie A. The club finished in an impressive 4th position in the 2010/11 Serie A and qualified for the Playoff Round of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League as a result. The Udinese Legea 2011/12 home, away and third [.

Last season, Milan was the center of the Italian soccer world, as the two city rivals battled at the top of the table. This season, things will not change much as Internazionale and AC Milan will lead the race for ...

Last season, Milan was the center of the Italian soccer world, as the two city rivals battled at the top of the table. This season, things will not change much as Internazionale and AC Milan will lead the race for the scudetto. And just like last season, Inter will likely fall just short of the trophy.

This season's Serie A campaign looks to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. With the top clubs from the last few seasons getting older, and upstarts gaining more experience, the gap seems to be closing and fans of Italian soccer have much to look forward to.

For this reason, predicting the team who will place fifth in the table during this upcoming season was perhaps the most difficult selection to make.

Associazione Calcio Siena (often referred to as 'Robur' or simply 'Siena') is an Italian football club based in Siena. After a year in Serie B, AC Siena will return to the top flight of Italian soccer, Serie A, for the 2011/12 season courtesy of their second place league finish last season. As the club prepares for [.

Unione Sportiva Lecce or simply U.S. Lecce is an Italian soccer club based in Lecce, Apulia. Lecce currently play in the Italian Serie A after earning promotion as 2009/10 Serie B champions. The club avoided relegation by five points with a 17th place finish at the end of the 2010/11 season. On Wednesday, Lecce employed the [.

Unione Sportiva Citt di Palermo (simply known as Palermo) is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian soccer. With several internationals on its first team squad including Javier Pastore of Argentina, Abel Hernández of Uruguay and Armin Bačinović of Slovenia, Palermo finished the 2010/11 season [.

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly known as just Atalanta, Atalanta Bergamo or the abbreviation Atalanta BC, is an Italian football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy. The club will campaign in the top tier of Italian soccer, Serie A, following its promotion from Serie A from Serie B at the end of the 2010/11 season.

Perhaps Massimiliano Allegri said it best when talking about this upcoming derby della madonnina between AC Milan and Inter Milan.

"It's the match all of Italian soccer waits for, media and players together: it's a match inside a match."

The AC Milan coach is right, because at the beginning of the season I always mark down the dates of the Milan derby.

Perhaps Massimiliano Allegri said it best when talking about this upcoming derby della madonnina between AC Milan and Inter Milan.

"It's the match all of Italian soccer waits for, media and players together: it's a match inside a match."

The AC Milan coach is right, because at the beginning of the season I always mark down the dates of the Milan derby.

New Jersey product Giuseppe Rossi, who plays for the Italian national and Spanish club Villarreal, says Italian soccer is stuck in the past, and that's why Spanish and English clubs have been dominating European competition in recent years.
Since leaving New Jersey at age 13 for Parma's youth program, Rossi has played in English Premier League, Italian Serie A and the Spanish La Liga.

Lalas....

Editor's Note: We've had a few pieces lately that involved , specifically, Alexi Lalas and his time overseas in Serie A with Padova.

This piece by Eric Beard which acknowledges Alexi's time at Padova and the focus in training. And this piece, Eric Giardini, which discusses the challenges for Americans playing in Serie A.

Who would have ever thought cheerleaders would hit it big with Italian soccer, especially with le Zebre of all teams. Although a fixed attraction at every sporting event in the USA, cheerleaders in Europe have been nearly non existent, with the exception of the occasional lower division clubs wanting to fill more seats.

Alexi Lalas is a former U.S. National Team defender (96 caps), appearing in two World Cups and was U.S. Soccer's Male Player of the Year in 1995. Lalas was the first American to play in Italy in the modern-era and then returned to the United States to be a part of the group of high profile American soccer players to launch Major League Soccer.