•Kaka is FIFA's World Player of the Year. Try to control your shock.

•Is Luciano Moggi's phone ever not being tapped these days? Another investigation has opened into his behavior because he continued to "influence" football after his banning. Well.

After yesterday's home loss to Inter, every member of the Fiorentina team gathered by the entrance to the tunnel to shake hands with their opponents. Inter ended up joining in the scrum of congratulations; it was a fitting conclusion to a great match played in an impossibly emotional atmosphere.

•This time it's Olivier Dacourt. I don't want to talk about it.

•Francesco Totti is (probably) going to be back full force for the make-up match with Cargliari on Wedneday. No more of that bench-sitting shit, he and his bionic boot are (hopefully) ready to go.

•Roma's biggest Ultra groups have announced that they will not attend the team's home match with Caglari tomorrow. They won't come together elsewhere this time (as they did during the Udine match), but instead will just stay home.

•Antonio Cassano is jumping up and down outside Roberto Donadoni's back window, begging to be allowed to wear the blue shirt again.

Ok, it's official: I feel sorry for him now. Even while he's busy over in Brazil, trying to sort himself out, the memories of how much Adriano sucks lately have lived on loud and clear in Italy. You know what's coming, right? For the second year in a row, the big Brazilian is the proud winner of the Bidone d'Oro, awarded annually to the Italian player who is most crap.

It's not even the silly season yet, but the transfers have already started (more or less). Udinese got it started with their quiet little signing of three young Ghanian players, and Juve and Inter are both trying to do their parts, as well.

Inter's supposed signing of Daniel Carvalho from CSKA Moscow has been confirmed in the media several times over the last few days, usually with quotes from team personnel that express interest, but never actually say "It is accomplished.

While most everyone in European football is on vacation either in Miami with Zlatan, Como with the Argies, Brazil with the Brazilians, or partying with one Fabio Cannavaro at his villa in Madird Rino Gattuso is busy training. Seriously.

In Glasgow to visit his wife's family for the holidays, Gattuso apparently was too jumpy to sit still, so he's joined former club Glasgow Rangers on the training pitch and they prepare for this weekend's trip to Hibs.

Yes, it's finally official: Ricky Kaka is the best player in the world, ever, according to a group of international journalists who watch a whole lot of Champions League football. He's got a big Golden Ball to take home, plus he gets to tour the Eiffel Tower, as a special bonus. Best weekend ever?

•Man City are in the picture for Adriano again. Well, maybe anyway this time the interest is official, with no less an authority that Thaksin Shinawatra putting his name forward.

•More on the Davide Marchini saga: His agent/mouthpiece Lorenzo Marronaro is now suggesting Cagliari president Massimo Cellino is the problem in the relationship between player and club, since Marchini is not "the first employee to have trouble with Cellino.

Roberto Donadoni's current contract expires at the end of June, 2008, right after the Euros. Feeling all puffed up and pleased with himself after successfully guiding the Azzurri through qualifying, though, he's preparing to enter in to negotiations for a contract extension, before he even gets to Austria.

Note: I'm traveling tomorrow. Will be back on task ASAP.

•For all intents and purposes, it's all set for Adriano to stay in São Paulo on a six-month loan. Thank Christ.

•Speaking of Adriano, Brazilian home-away-from-home Fenerbahce, once rumored to be a possible destination for the big man, is now being mentioned as a place that other big man might end up.

If you believe the Italian papers this morning, Fiorentina are about the receive big money offers for their two touchstone players. (Hopefully they'll be able to resist those offers, despite the delicious smell of cash and buying power.)

First, according to our beloved La Gazzetta finally back after taking the holidays off like the rest of us Sebastian Frey may be Milan's ultimate target when it comes to replacing the error-prone Dida.

Man, Udinese are good they've got scouts in the right places and, somehow, have the ability to get youngsters to sign with them rather than with bigger clubs, possibly by pointing to their track recording with young talent, as well as the chance for first-team action well before players might find it at the major clubs in Europe.

Liverpool have been eying Fiorentina defender Tomas Ujfalusi for at least a month now, and given how the Czech and his agent have been talking, it's been assumed he would leave Serie A next month, probably for England. Now, though, that's all been proved wrong: Ujfalusi rejected a move to The Reds, scuttling the £500,000 deal on which the two clubs had reportedly agreed.

Yesterday's sob story about life at Cagliari took an pretty awesome turn today, when team president Massimo Cellino responded with a smackdown so catty even Maurizio Zamparini has to be looking at him in awe.

As you surely recall from yesterday's drama, Davide Marchini (who is so on the outs at Cagliari that he's apparently not even training, for some reason) basically accused Pasquale Foggia of having him attacked, and had his lawyer tall the papers all about his physical and emotional pain, and how the club has to do something.

•Claudio Ranieri is quoted in the press as saying Juve were "forced" into buying Tiago when the high price tage Liverpool slapped on Mohamed Sissoko (who Juve were chasing fully a year ago) made them look elsewhere for midfield help. Boy, I'm sure that makes Tiago feel really great about being there.

Unlike Inter and Roma when they play tomorrow, Lazio have everything play for in Champions League, and then some. Going into Matchday 6, they stand last in Group C with five points, but the group is so tight that a two-goal win over Real Madrid (and a favorable result in the Olympiakos v Werder Bremen match) would send them through, based on head-to-head results.

•Poor Mauro Camoranesi is hurt again this time it's his right quad, and he's out for four to six weeks. At least he timed this one to coincide with the winter break, so he won't miss too many matches.

•If the Italian media are to be believed, only a physical (allegedly set for tomorrow) stands between CSKA Moscow's Daniel Carvalho and a move to Inter.

Antonio Cassano misses Roma. So much. Despite fighting with pretty much every manager the club had during his time there, he wishes he'd never left, and describes his departure as "a big mistake." Though, being Antonio Cassano, he can't leave it at that and just say something nice, so he his more recent declaration of love ended with this: "The club also were partly responsible as they promised me things and then took them away.

Though neither of them would arrive before summer, Juve seem to be lining up some pretty impressive targets ahead of the opening of the winter transfer window. First, of course, there's the ever-present Olof Mellberg, who has confirmed Juve's interest and, since his contract ends this summer, could enter into negotiations with the club next month to sort out a deal for next season.

•As Steven reported bright and early this morning, Palermo may or many not be in the process of arranging the summertime transfer of 22-year-old Brazilian Tulio De Melo from Atletico Mineiro. The French press are claiming the striker, who has been on loan at Le Mans, wants a move to Italy, but Palermo sporting director Rino Foschi is denying the whole thing.

Hot on the heels of the growing reports of the possibility of Levante Christian Riganò returning to Serie A with Roma in January, a story has suddenly emerged about Cristiano Lucarelli doing the same. Of course, since the story comes entirely from Lucarelli's agent, Carlo Pallavicino, who admits there has been no contact whatsoever with Roma, it's hard not to think he's just reading the papers we are, and thought "Wait, Roma want a target striker for the second half?

It appears someone in Italy has angered the football gods (I blame Moggi), because the Italian sides got some brutal freaking draws today: Roma will face Real Madrid, Milan will play Arsenal, and Inter got Liverpool. I think I can say this and also say I'm confident all three team could well go through: YUCK.

I'm not actually back yet, but since it's starting to look like an exodus of lumpy Brazilians is sweeping Milan, I figured I should make some time for a post. Just a few days after Inter and Sao Paolo agreed a loan deal for Adriano, the international press is all aflutter over the news that Flamengo have been authorized to talk to Ronaldo about a move to Rio.

•Sampdoria's world-class whiner Andrea Caracciolo could be on his way out of yet another club this winter, possibly to Atalanta. I wonder if it's ever occurred to him that the problem is his lack of consistency, rather than every club he plays with treating him unfairly.

•The latest player being eyed by Inter to solve their midfield injury crisis is Atletico Bilbao's Maniche.

There was a great article in the International Herald Tribune this weekend about Milan, and their utterly baffling inability to find the back of the net at the San Siro, at least in Serie A. The article offer some thoughts on the reason but, mostly, just expresses wonder at the numbers which, when you look at them, really are shocking: In seven league matches at home this season, Milan now up to eighth in the table have drawn twice and lost once, scoring a grand total of three goals.

There's a completely fantastic article in today's La Gazzetta in which the author (Mirko Graziano, if you want to write him a thank you note. And no, it's not a pseudonym for me. Or RomaChris, at least as far as I know.) practically explodes with love for The Great Zlatan.

Because of Milan's commitments to the Club World Cup in Japan, the last Group D matches Milan hosting Celtic, and Benfica traveling to Shakhtar are being play today rather than next week, with everyone else.

Milan go into the match needing just a point to finish top of the group, assured of a helpful seeding going into the knockout stages.

Just to review, Cagliari have won twice, are on their second manager, and are joint bottom of the table with 10 points. Life sucks there and, despite the arrival of a teenage American keeper, it's not looking to get better any time soon. In fact, things seem to be getting rapidly worse: Davide Marchini and Pasquale Foggia are fighting, and Marchini's even got a lawyer involved (though mostly he just seems to be talking).

According to an article this morning in Barcelona-based El Mundo Deportivo, the likelihood of Gianluca Zambrotta (and his homesick wife) returning to Serie A more specifically, moving to the red side of Milan is increasing by the day.

The paper claims that, in addition to Mrs.

Because they're all good people (despite the beatings and in-fighting) a bunch of Serie A teams have come together to support ACDM, a foundation that works to facilitate the integration of kids with Downs Syndrome into Italian society.

Being so famous all they have to do is wear and or/write their name on something to make people want it, a lot of players have contributed by donating game-worn and autographed gear to be auctioned off, with the proceeds, obviously, going to ACDM.

He's on the the cover of La Gazzetta this morning, with a comic book-style speech bubble declaring his desire to go to Milan. Well, alright! What better proof do we need that, come January, Ronaldinho will be wearing red and black?

I realize this story does tend to come up during every transfer period lately, but Adriano Galliani is desperately in love with the Brazilian (and Brazilians in general, which probably makes Milan all the more appealing a destination), and things at Barca have definitely take a turn for the worse, so it's understandable that the rumors would be flying hot and heavy this time.

La Gazzetta reported this morning that Inter kingpin Massimo Moratti spent some time in London last month and, while there, found time for a private meeting with one Jose Mourinho. (And this is where I sternly tell myself not to get excited.) Though the paper bends over backward to come up with reasons for the meeting that have nothing to do with a desire to hire him (my personal favorite is "the natural predisposition of the largest shareholder nerazzurro to interweave human cordial relations with the people who count in football"), that possibility is obviously a whole lot more likely than going all that way for a speed date.

•Bayern Munich's resident crotchety old man, Oliver Kahn, recently gave an interview in which he ripped the team's unnamed new arrivals, saying they need to "learn that two or three good games aren't enough" and, oh yeah, learn to speak freaking German while they're at it. I'm sure Luca Toni went over and gave him a big, Italian hug when he read that in paper this morning.

It's going to be a nice, calm matchday for Inter and Roma, neither of whose place in their group can change: They're both through to the knockout stages, Inter on top of Group G, and Roma very comfortably second in second in Group F.

Well, calmish: Roma are playing host to Manchester United, so that match, even with nothing at stake (and without the human lightning rod that is Cristiano Ronaldo), will be plenty fiery just ask Luciano Spalletti.

Rino Gattuso breeds shellfish, Bobo Vieri and Paolo Maldini have a clothing line, Dejan Stankovic owns restaurants (I can't find the websites, but just trust me on this one).

Football doesn't last forever, so it's only natural that players with two brain cells to rub together try to make sure they have something to keep them afloat when their knees give out and the bank account shrinks a bit.

So far this season, Lazio have been able to get past Grandpa Marco Ballotta's periodic howlers and the shocking collapse of Deer in the Headlights Fernando Muslera (who hasn't seen the pitch since the Milan disaster) by clinging to imminent the arrival of Juan Pablo Carrizo, whose passport issues everyone had been assured will be worked out by January.

I don't know if it's the growing pressure, or the proximity of the tranfer window, or just coincidental timing of a bunch of assholes, but it seems last week was a popular one for talking your way out of your club in Italy.

First, we have the case of Domenico Morfeo who I'm guessing falls into the "asshole" category, seeing as how he fights with authority figures about as often as poor Antonio Cassano has meltdowns.

Given how utterly suicidal Nedo Sonetti looked, standing on the touchline in the rain during Cagliari's home loss the Inter on Sunday, it's no surprise that he's resigned as coach. Sonetti's been a short-term manager most of his career he's been in charge of 25 clubs now, and most of his stints have been for shorter than a season, so being a mid-season replacement (or, erm, giving way to one) truly is his thing.