Novità importanti arrivano dal Ranking Fifa relativo alle nazionali. Sono, infatti, le Furie rosse a strappare il vertice della speciale graduatoria al titolato e prestigioso Brasile. In testa da luglio, la corazzata verdeoro si vede superare, dunque, dalla Spagna, campione d'Europa in carica.
Al terzo posto, sul gradino più basso del podio, c'è l'Olanda. Click to continue reading...

According to a report in the Corriere dello Sport, Premier League giants Liverpool are mulling over a bid to lure out-of-favour Juventus 'fantasista' Sebastian Giovinco to Anfield.
The diminutive hitman has only mustered six league appearances so far this term and has slipped further down the pecking order, after the arrival of Brazilian ace Diego over the summer. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benítez may be forced to part with as many as four senior international squad members in the January transfer window as he attempts to trim Liverpool's wage bill and balance the Anfield books.
Ryan Babel, Andrea Dossena, Andriy Voronin and Philipp Degen will all be sacrificed should suitable offers arrive, even though there are currently no guarantees that Benítez will be granted the revenue generated by their departures to reinvest into the Liverpool team. Click to continue reading...

The Gazzetta dello Sport is arguably the most famous sports newspaper in Italy, selling more copies than rivals Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport. It is world famous for it's pink pages and has been printed in pink since 1899. The current head editor of the Gazzetta, Luigi Garlando, has always been a critic of Lippi since his return to the national team, has always been pro-Cassano, and doesn't understand why Lippi hates to answer questions at press conferences.

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The pressure on Marcello Lippi to reconsider selecting Antonio Cassano to the Azzurri is unrelenting. It was only last weekend against the Netherlannds in Pescara , that a fan of the Sampdoria striker invaded the pitch wearing a t-shirt saying "Cassano in Nazionale" - no translation really required here! Click to continue reading...

The following list of elite midfield players in the world will exclude the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka since they sometimes play as forwards or as support strikers depending on the strategy deployed by their team. Kaka has previously played as a second striker during his spell with Milan while both Messi and Ronaldo have played in various attacking positions for their club (mostly on the wing though).

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Nonostante, in maniera decisamente seccata, Marcello Lippi ha provato a chiudere i vari tormentoni ("Amauri? Cassano? Basta cavolate, non me ne frega nulla", queste le parole del Ct in conferenza stampa) che circolano ormai da giorni all'interno e all'esterno del ritiro azzurro, Antonio Cassano continua ad essere l'oggetto principale delle discussioni. Click to continue reading...

Soon after the start of Saturday's 0-0 friendly between Italy and Netherlands, an Italian fan ran out onto the pitch wearing a Superman t-shirt with "Cassano in Nazionale" (Cassano in the national team) written on the front and back. Once he got his shirt message of support for the ignored Sampdoria striker seen (hooray for s-words!

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I know, the Cassano-National Team debate is getting old and boring. But this was too funny. In the 5th minute of the game yesterday, a fan ran onto the pitch wearing a t-shirt with the Superman logo and with the words "Cassano in Nazionale" (Cassano on the National Team). He jogged around the pitch for a while and then made his way off the pitch and was promptly arrested.

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With the final international break of the year almost upon us, Marcelo Lippi has named his squad...
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The agent of Liverpool left-back Andrea Dossena has revealed that Serie A side Roma are prepared to battle Napoli during the January transfer window for the signature of the Italian international.
"Roma have made an initial approach," representative Roberto La Florio told Romanews.eu. Click to continue reading...

Sabato giornata ricca di amichevoli internazionali. Tante le sfide affascinanti in programma, tra le quali quella tra il Brasile di Dunga e l'Inghilterra di Fabio Capello. Ma non meno appassionante, anche se si stratta solo di un "friendly match", è il match tra la Spagna e l'Argentina del focoso Dieguito Maradona. Click to continue reading...

Il capitano bianconero sta tornando. In allenamento, con Diego, è vero e proprio show. Dopo aver passato parecchie settimane tra infermeria e panchina, "Pinturicchio" riassapora il campo e, alla bellezza di 35 anni suonati, è pronto a regalare nuove magie ai tifosi torinesi. Ma non è solo sul campo che concede spettacolo. Click to continue reading...

Since Lippi has taken over the national team for a second time, the big question has always been, "Why aren't you calling up Antonio Cassano?" Cassano has widely been recognized as the best Italian player at the moment and there is no other talent in Italy that can even reach his level at the moment (maybe an in-form Totti).

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The World Cup is almost set in terms of the teams that will qualify and once the play-offs are completed it will be clear whether the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery will be present or missing. In the meantime, Sweden's talented forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic will certainly not be going to the World Cup after his country failed to qualify from the same group which saw eventual winners Denmark earn automatic qualification and runners-up Portugal reach the play-offs.

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I giovani non sono bamboccioni. E' questo, in sostanza, il pensiero espresso dal selezionatore azzurro che esce allo scoperto. Marcello Lippi entra, infatti, sulla questione sollevata dal tecnico interista, Josè Mourinho, e difende in modo totale ed incondizionato i giovani virgulti del calcio moderno. Click to continue reading...

Luca Toni departed the Italian league back in 2007 but it looks as if the striker could be leaving current club Bayern Munich pretty soon.

Toni was subbed at half-time in the German giant's 1-1 draw with Schalke and reportedly opted to leave the Allianz Arena rather than watch the second-half from the bench with his team mates.

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With much of the qualification process almost complete and South Africa 2010 looming large, it would make sense to assess some of the world's best custodians who will be present during the World Cup. Goalkeepers such as Petr Cech will be excluded from the discussion since their nation failed to qualify for next summer's big event.

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If he were an opera star, he would be il divo. If he were an American sports star, he would be called a prima dona (yes, Americans don't speak other languages well) and be compared to Terrell Owens or various NBA figures. If he was a politician, he would rise to stratospheric heights only to quickly fall to the ground.

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Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi has come under heavy criticism in recent months despite Italy's success in qualifying to the World Cup in South Africa. La Nazionale went through an alarming goal drought and was only able to overcome it after two unfortunate own goals from returning Georgia captain Kakha Kaladze.

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Fabio Capello, sem papas na língua, em colóquio organizado pela Federação Italiana. Não gostaram mas deixaram-no falar.
O técnico da Seleção Inglesa, Fabio Capello, atacou duramente o futebol italiano, afirmando que é um jogo controlado por torcedores violentos e no qual jogadores que simulam faltas são elogiados ao invés de punidos. Click to continue reading...

The Great Serie A Game posts continue with Roma-Juve 2003/2004. The 2003/2004 season was an interesting one. Milan, fresh from a Champions League victory and with some new young Brazilian player named Kaka, were dominating Serie A. While Marcello Lippi's Juve looked to be favorites to combat the Rossoneri to the Scudetto, it was not the case.

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The 30 name shortlist for the 2009 Ballon d'Or nominees has been announced, a formality they may well have dispensed with as we all know Lionel Messi will walk away with the trophy. I did note however, one glaring fact when scrolling down the list of the largely usual suspects – not a single Italian is to be found.

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The Qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup are over, except for the playoff games which will determine the last batch of teams that will travel to South Africa. Here is a breakdown of the qualified teams, and the teams that will fight for a spot in the playoffs.




Europe


Qualified teams: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, England, Italy, Serbia, Spain
Playoff teams: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, France, Republic of Ireland
Many big teams had difficulty in Europe, Portugal and Sweden struggled, and eventually Portugal prevailed, leaving Sweden and Ibrahimovic out of the 2010 World Cup. Click to continue reading...

For some reason 61-year-old World Cup winning manager Marcello Lippi was doing somersaults during Italy's training session on Tuesday. I...I don't know why. Maybe he was high on PCP?

See the completion of his gymnastic routine after the jump...

[Photos: AP]

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by FRANCO PANIZO

U.S. national team defender Jay DeMerit may soon be going under the knife.

DeMerit will be monitored over the next ten days by Watford in order to determine if he needs surgery for an eye infection in his right eye. The infection came when DeMerit accidentally cut his eye while removing a contact lens.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

U.S. national team defender Jay DeMerit may soon be going under the knife.

DeMerit will be monitored over the next ten days by Watford in order to determine if he needs surgery for an eye infection in his right eye. The infection came when DeMerit accidentally cut his eye while removing a contact lens.

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Ora che si possono prepare con grande felicità e speranze le valige per il Sudafrica, grazie alla perla di Gilardino, realizzata a tempo scaduto contro l'Eire, occorre pensare a come sarà composto il gruppo degli azzurri che affronteranno il Mondiale da campioni in carica. Tanti i dubbi da sciogliere, prima di poter approntare la lista definitiva dei 23 giocatori che faranno parte della spedizione. Click to continue reading...

Ci siamo. Poche ore e l'Italia scenderà in campo a Dublino nel penultimo impegno di qualificazione ai mondiali del Sudafrica (che si svolgeranno il prossimo giugno). Nella tana dell'Eire del Trap (e del vice Tardelli), gli azzurri del viareggino Lippi cercano il pass per la competizione mondiale. Con un vantaggio di quattro punti sui verdi del focoso Giovannino, basta l'ultimo sforzo per poter brindare alla qualificazione. Click to continue reading...

Republic of Ireland v Italy
Saturday 10 October 2009, Croke Park
Kick-Off: 20:00 BST

The Republic of Ireland host group leaders Italy at Croke Park on Saturday night, knowing that a win would put them within one point of their opponents with a single qualifying match remaining.

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By now you've heard the news: 2006 World Player of the Year and Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro failed a doping test in late August, testing positive for cortisone. The Italian football establishment players, coaches, officials, media came out in his defense. "The cortisone was lifesaving treatment for a bee sting!

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Il futuro cosa riserverà ? Nessuno di noi ne è conoscenza. Si lavora e ci s'impegna per crearcelo, ma spesso poi l'imprevedibilità ci metto lo zampino e si verificano eventi che ti portano da un'altra parte, anche totalmente diversa da quella immaginata. Neanche Marcello Lippi sa bene cosa farà (oppure ce lo tiene nascosto a noi ficcanaso). Click to continue reading...

There are just two rounds of qualifying left in the European World Cup qualifying groups and there has been some mixed news for all the sides still with a chance of making the tournament in South Africa from Fifa this week. The ruling body have announced that the teams who finish second in their Euro qualifying groups will be seeded before their play-off match.

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Shay Given is desperate to give the Irish nation a chance to dance in the streets as he once did by securing another trip to the World Cup finals.
The Irish keeper was a teenager back in 1994 when Ray Houghton's strike at Giants Stadium in New York saw off the mighty Italy and sparked one of the most memorable nights in Ireland's football history. Click to continue reading...

Sogna di tornare in Italia. Sogna di riabbracciare la Serie A. Sogna, soprattutto, di ripagarsi dalle delusioni che sta vivendo in Germania col Bayern e di poter provare a riconquistare la Nazionale di Marcello Lippi: "E' un periodo un po' così al Bayern, vediamo in questi mesi cosa fare. Un mio ritorno in Italia? Click to continue reading...