Since their existence, the Italian national team has always worn "Azzurro",
the shade of blue that is known in the English-speaking world as "Azure Blue".
The color comes from the Royal family of Savoia, and all of Italy's national sports team wear it to
this day. That's where the national team got their nickname, "Gli Azzurri".
Funny and odd thing happened in this weekend's game between Catania and Torino. Catania had a
free kick from about 25 yards out and Catania attacking midfielder Giuseppe Mascara lined up to
take it. Everything looked routine, Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni set up his wall, and then
something very strange occurred.
News today is that Antonio Cassano has (with the help of writer Gianluigi Pardo) authored his
first autobiography, entitled "Vi Dico Tutto" (I'll tell you everything). And as
always, Cassano does indeed tell us everything. We'll have to wait for the book to actually be
released (it will be on Italian bookshelves next week, November 19 to be exact) to read everything
but some excerpts were released and they are quite amusing and interesting.
Since retiring from the calcio world, Roberto Baggio has dedicated himself to his family and has
stepped out of the limelight, preferring to live the normal life. Every now and again he'll give
the odd interview, and when he does it's always interesting to see what the most skillful player
Italy has produced in the last 25 years has to say about the current state of the calcio world.
Roberto Baggio. Giuseppe Signori. Marco Di Vaio. What do all these players have in common? Yes
they are all Italian, yes they are all strikers, but the main similarity is that when each of these
players went to play for Bologna, their careers were rejuvenated.
There is something about the capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region that just rejuvenates a
player's career.
If you find yourself watching the Serie A game of your choice this Sunday and start yawning (not
due to tiredness but due to the boredom of the game), try and find a way to switch over to
Napoli-Sampdoria. With Ezequiel Lavezzi leading the Partenopei and Antonio Cassano leading the
Blucerchiati, there should be fireworks.
Happy Thanksgiving (or Tacchino Day) to all the Italy Offside readers! Enjoy your day and eat
lots of food! I tried to find a picture of an Italian turkey, this the best I could do (or google
image search could do), a turkey with the Italian name for turkey next to it.
This now leads me to my bad Italian calcio Thanksgiving joke:
Which Italian soccer player's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving?
Here's what I found interesting after reading various calcio news sites today:
-First, we have another managerial change in Serie A. Chievo haven't won since the first week of
the season and manager Beppe Iachini has been sacked. Taking his place will be Domenico Di Carlo,
who was in charge of Parma until March of last season.
Roma, languishing in the relegation zone before the derby, took on Lazio, who are flying high in
the upper echelons of the table. Roma needed a victory over their rivals to kick-start their season
and boost morale, while Lazio were looking to confirm themselves as a side to be reckoned with this
season.
