According to the Daily Mail, Napoli have stated that they plan on holding onto midfielder Marek Hamsik despite interest from Chelsea. Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon told Sky Italia,

"We have not received any official offer .

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team played without several star players and still managed a respectable performance in a 1-0 loss to an underwhelming Slovakia.

Marek Hamsik's penalty kick provided the difference, and also changed the tone of the match as Slovakia played like a team content with a 1-0 victory.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team played without several star players and still managed a respectable performance in a 1-0 loss to an underwhelming Slovakia.

Marek Hamsik's penalty kick provided the difference, and also changed the tone of the match as Slovakia played like a team content with a 1-0 victory.

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Marek Hamsik's penalty kick in the 26th minute was enough for surprise World Cup qualifiers Slovakia to earn a home win against a weakened United States team in an international friendly earlier today. The penalty followed U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein's push on Vladimir Weiss in the box. Check out our Videos section for game highlights and [. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. national team returns to action for the first time since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup today when it takes on Slovakia in a friendly in Bratislava (10am, FSC).

The Americans are without Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, as well as the injured Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, but there are still plenty of starters who will have chances to show they can play without the team's top players.

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The U.S. national team returns to action for the first time since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup today when it takes on Slovakia in a friendly in Bratislava (10am, FSC).

The Americans are without Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, as well as the injured Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, but there are still plenty of starters who will have chances to show they can play without the team's top players.

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Ancelotti very much interested in Napoli star.

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Chelsea and Juventus have been linked with a move for Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik.

Hamsik, 22, has brought about interest in both the Premier League and Serie A after a string of solid performances for the Italian side.

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The highlight of this weekend's fixtures was the match at the Olimpico in Turin between Juventus and Napoli. After numerous quality acquisitions over the Summer for Napoli, they had been expecting a good start to the season. However, after a less than impressive start, Roberto Donadoni was sacked and Walter Mazzarri brought in to try and settle the ship.

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Have Napoli turned a corner? Many people, including myself, think they have indeed. It wasn't so...
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GK: John Mucha (Legia Warsaw), Ľuboš Kamenár (FC Nantes), Dušan Kuciak (FC Vaslui), Lubos Stonemason (Nantes) DEF: Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion), Ján Ďurica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Peter Pekárik (VfL Wolfsburg), Martin Petras (AC Cesena), Kornel Saláta (Slovan Bratislava), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Radoslav Zabavník (Terek Grozny) MID: Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Miroslav Karhan (Mainz), Kamil Kopúnek (Spartak Trnava), Jan Kozak (Slovan Bratislava), George Kucka (Sparta Prague), Marek Sapara (Rosenborg), Miroslav Stoch (FC Twente Enschede), Zdeno Štrba (Škoda. Click to continue reading...

A few nice goals this week, but nothing extraordinary. Giuseppe Mascara scored one of his trademark wonder-goals, and Marco Borriello got back on the scoresheet with 2 goals (the second a nice scissor kick) after almost a year. Diego Milito got back to his scoring ways as well after being absent through injury, and Mirko Vucinic finally scored his first goal of the season.

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Belleza! Napoli's Marek Hamsik and The Pied Piper of Higuain both netted in unexpected braces to steer their teams to a neat victory last night. Both of them deserve our Sunday Senor cap for this week... especially Hamsik who scored the decisive winner against Juventus.

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According to Fleet Street, Chelsea will launch an enormous transfer binge in January.
The FIFA transfer ban hasn't had much, if any, impact on the Chelsea gossip train – I guess journalists just aren't prepared to give up the stories that would fill hundreds of otherwise empty column inches every six months.

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According to Fleet Street, Chelsea will launch an enormous transfer binge in January.
The FIFA transfer ban hasn't had much, if any, impact on the Chelsea gossip train – I guess journalists just aren't prepared to give up the stories that would fill hundreds of otherwise empty column inches every six months.

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Ancelotti makes January transfer plans...just in case!

Portsmouth vs Chelsea Tickets Still Available!

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CHELSEA are considering an £18m move for Napoli's attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik as they prepare for a spending spree that could top £30m in the January transfer window — potentially their final opportunity to invest in new players until the summer of 2011.

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The U.S. national team has yet to announce a second November friendly to go along with its match against Denmark, but reports out of Europe, including this one out of Slovakia, suggest that the Americans will take on Slovakia on Nov. 14.

Slovakian national team head coach Vladimir Weiss is quoted confirming the USA friendly in Slovakia, but U.

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The U.S. national team has yet to announce a second November friendly to go along with its match against Denmark, but reports out of Europe, including this one out of Slovakia, suggest that the Americans will take on Slovakia on Nov. 14.

Slovakian national team head coach Vladimir Weiss is quoted confirming the USA friendly in Slovakia, but U.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

Aliaksandr Hleb's little brother Vyacheslav, who plays for Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, isn't quite as good as his older sibling.

US striker Charlie Davies is in surgery after a serious car accident and Freddy Adu becomes the first footballer to make good use of Twitter.

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If it's not Barcelona star Xavi claiming he decides when he plays or doesn't, it's Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik (the crazy looking guy above) saying he can drive whatever speed he wants and not get a ticket.

"In Naples I can drive over 140 km/hour, but the police will not punish me because they all recognise me," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper Pravda.

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Sometimes when a footballer spends many many years in a city and does well for its club, he becomes a local hero and gets reverence and perks usually reserved for a dignitary. This mostly happens when a player is older and more mature able to handle the power that comes with being placed on a pedestal.

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Matchday 6 provided 5 draw outcomes not good for the gambling man, good thing I advised others...
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Rafa to battle it out with Manchester United for impressive young talent.

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benítez like them so much that they are ready to strip to the waist and go mano-a-mano over Napoli's Marek Hamsik in January.

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It was a weekend of some nice goals. First, let's just say that Fabio Quagliarella ALMOST scored the goal of the season (he did however score 2 goals on the night). You can watch that video here. Diego scored his first goals in Serie A, Julio Cruz scored his first goals for Lazio, Alberto Paloschi continues to look more and more like the new Pippo Inzaghi, Giampaolo Pazzini continues to score, and Antonio Cassano worked some magic again.

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From Monday to Friday this week we'll have the best highlights from matchday II of Serie A for your...
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Serie A is back which means Goals of the Week is back! You can't always expect the first day of the season to have the greatest goals, as the teams are just starting to get all their summer rust off and haven't hit their peak yet. But there were still some nice goals for us to watch this past weekend.

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Napoli sporting director Pierpaolo Marino insists he has have never received an offer from Liverpool for Lavezzi, and he has no intention of selling the hitman.
The Argentinean has been hotly tipped to make the move to the Premier League this summer and, according to reports, Liverpool are keen to land him. Click to continue reading...

Press reports this week have claimed that Juventus have been in talks with Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi over a summer move to Turin. Today's Corriere dello Sport alleges that the Old Lady could face competition from Premier League giants Liverpool.
It is suggested that Reds coach Rafael Benitez is ready to bid up to €25 million to take ‘El Pocho' to Anfield, where he could form a fearsome partnership with Spanish international Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

If one thing was certain on Wednesday night's Coppa Italia match, it was the "do or die" nature of Juventus vs. Napoli. Coming from rather poor moments of form in Serie A (two consecutive losses against Udinese and vs. Cagliari for the Bianconeri, a single point scored in their last four fixtures for the Azzurri) [. Click to continue reading...

...and Fabio Quagliarella. At the end of the day the main story of Napoli vs. Udinese, without a doubt, will be the Udinese striker's fantastic 2-2 tally. The kind that Quagliarella has been known to do, the kind that has made us fall in love with this great player: side volley from outside the box, [. Click to continue reading...

...and Fabio Quagliarella. At the end of the day the main story of Napoli vs. Udinese, without a doubt, will be the Udinese striker's fantastic 2-2 tally. The kind that Quagliarella has been known to do, the kind that has made us fall in love with this great player: side volley from outside the box, [. Click to continue reading...

The Italian Players Association have announced the annual Serie A award winners. The awards are obviously voted on by current Serie A players.  Serie A Player of the Year- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter) Best Foreign Player- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter) Italian Player of the Year- Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) Coach of the Year- Cesare Prandelli (Fiorentina) Best Defender- Giorgio Chiellini ( Click to continue reading...

Marek Hamsik currently plays for Napoli in Italian Serie A. He was born on July 27, 1987 in Banska Bystrica in Slovakia. He has 16 goals in 52 appearances for Napoli. Pretty decent for a midfielder, and he is still 21 years old. Although he looks much younger than his age. Rumored to be traded with Adriano [. Click to continue reading...

LIVE Coverage of Atalanta vs. Napoli Napoli currently sit third tied with AC Milan on 23 points, and a win today could lift the Southerners into second place if the Rossoneri fail to take all 3 points against Chievo at the San Siro.  I would think AC Milan should win that one comfortably and Chievo have recently switched [. Click to continue reading...

Before you answer that question, ponder the following. Your team is tied 1-1, the match is still very much left to play, and you, as a manager, are left with a choice. You can either keep fighting, trying to get the winning goal (as the spirit of the game compels you to do: you win [...] Click to continue reading...

At long last, the European section of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign got underway this weekend*, so let's take you through the action in each group.
Group 1
Carlos Queiroz's first competitive game of his second spell in charge of Portugal couldn't have been more successful as his side demolished Malta 4-0. Click to continue reading...