Today the Serie A 2008-2009 schedule was released. The season will begin on August 31st and end on May 31st. There will be three midweek rounds slated for September 24, October 29, and January 28. The winter break will be from December 21-January 11. Serie A will also come to a halt three times for the National Team, who will be undergoing World Cup 2010 qualifying.

Today, the Italian Olympic team advanced to the Toulon International Tournament Final, defeating Japan 5-4 on penalty kicks in the semi-final. The Japanese frustrated the Azzurrini for 90 minutes, and Casiraghi's side dominated, but couldn't finish chances. Italy looked dangerous when the ball fell to the feet of Sebastian Giovinco (who should be voted best player of the tournament), but he squandered chances and chances he created were squandered by other players.

For the past few days, many newspapers have been making predictions about what Roberto Donadoni's final roster for Euro 2008 will look like. These rosters are purely speculation and shouldn't be trusted at all. Although yesterday, the newspaper Informazione reported that television channel Antenna 3, a television station based in Lombardia, "discovered" Donadoni's real preliminary roster of 29 players.

Yes, as the title reads, A.S. Bari is up for sale. For whoever does not know, Bari is a port city in Southern Italy and is the capital of the Puglia region. It is considered the second biggest "piazza" (behind Napoli) in Southern Italy. The club has a long history, and throughout the '90's was a yo-yo club, going up and down between Serie A and B.

So now that the season has come to a close, let's get everyones opinion on who was the best at everything. We'll use the Oscar del Calcio format, so be sure to choose:

Best Italian Player
Best Foreign Player
Best Young Player
Best Goalkeeper
Best Defender
Best Midfielder
Best Striker
Surprise Player of the Season
Best Serie A Player (Best Overall, Foreign or Italian)
Best Coach
Most Surprising Team
Most Disappointing Team
and if you want, your Serie A Best XI

My picks after the jump:

For weeks we have wondered. Del Piero Yes? Del Piero No? Cassano Yes? Cassano No? Who will be the third keeper? Will Borriello Go? Will SuperPippo Inzaghi's great form gain him a place? Is Oddo fit enough to go? Will Donadoni sign a contract extension? Is Lippi coming back? Well, if you still have those questions, you're in luck, because today they have been answered.

Let's start the news round-up with some news from yesterday.

-The Italian Olympic Team (the U21's with a few overage players) is currently participating in the Toulon Tournament. They won their first game yesterday, defeating the Ivory Coast 2-0. Italy were unimpressive in the first half, and Empoli keeper Davide Bassi saved a penalty.

Well, it's summer. And summer usually means vacation. So although I love writing about calcio here daily on the Offside, I'm leaving for Rome tonight and I will be in the capitale for the whole month of June. I will have limited to no internet access and will be unable to blog about all things calcio for a month.

Here is todays main news from around the Peninsula:

- First let's start off with news that can severely hurt two teams. The Disciplinary Committee handed out it's weekly suspensions and it doesn't look good for Livorno. Livorno, who will most probably be relegated on Sunday, had a few players suspended who did some bad things after the Atalanta game on Sunday.

Cassano and Del Piero can still hope for call-ups to Euro 2008. Why? Because players going to Euro 2008 need an anti-tick vaccine (haven't they ever heard of bug spray?), so the FIGC has contacted the clubs of 48 players that Donadoni has on his possible selection list and has told them to administer the vaccine to these players.

For the past few days, many newspapers have been making predictions about what Roberto Donadoni's final roster for Euro 2008 will look like. These rosters are purely speculation and shouldn't be trusted at all. Although yesterday, the newspaper Informazione reported that television channel Antenna 3, a television station based in Lombardia, "discovered" Donadoni's real preliminary roster of 29 players.

Here's what I found interesting today:

-Livorno director Elio Signorelli assumed some responsibility for Livorno's relegation to Serie B. Why? Because he was the one that chose Livorno's strikeforce over the summer. He said that he was sure that Tavano, Rossini, Bogdani, Tristan, and Volpe would've scored a combined 20-25 goals during the season.

Here's what I found interesting today:

-Livorno director Elio Signorelli assumed some responsibility for Livorno's relegation to Serie B. Why? Because he was the one that chose Livorno's strikeforce over the summer. He said that he was sure that Tavano, Rossini, Bogdani, Tristan, and Volpe would've scored a combined 20-25 goals during the season.

The "Atomic Ant" Sebastian Giovinco has basically said in every interview this season that he wants to go back and play for Juve this summer. So what did the pint sized fantasista say in his latest interview to Calcio 2000 magazine?

"I hope Juve takes me back this summer, But I say that if you are good and you are young then it is right that you should get a game, even in a great team.

The "Atomic Ant" Sebastian Giovinco has basically said in every interview this season that he wants to go back and play for Juve this summer. So what did the pint sized fantasista say in his latest interview to Calcio 2000 magazine?

"I hope Juve takes me back this summer, But I say that if you are good and you are young then it is right that you should get a game, even in a great team.

For weeks we have wondered. Del Piero Yes? Del Piero No? Cassano Yes? Cassano No? Who will be the third keeper? Will Borriello Go? Will SuperPippo Inzaghi's great form gain him a place? Is Oddo fit enough to go? Will Donadoni sign a contract extension? Is Lippi coming back? Well, if you still have those questions, you're in luck, because today they have been answered.

Let's start the news round-up with some news from yesterday.

-The Italian Olympic Team (the U21's with a few overage players) is currently participating in the Toulon Tournament. They won their first game yesterday, defeating the Ivory Coast 2-0. Italy were unimpressive in the first half, and Empoli keeper Davide Bassi saved a penalty.

So now that the season has come to a close, let's get everyones opinion on who was the best at everything. We'll use the Oscar del Calcio format, so be sure to choose:

Best Italian Player
Best Foreign Player
Best Young Player
Best Goalkeeper
Best Defender
Best Midfielder
Best Striker
Surprise Player of the Season
Best Serie A Player (Best Overall, Foreign or Italian)
Best Coach
Most Surprising Team
Most Disappointing Team
and if you want, your Serie A Best XI

My picks after the jump:

My picks are:

Best Italian Player: Alessandro Del Piero
Best Foreign Player: Adrian Mutu
Best Young Player: Sebastian Giovinco
Best Goalkeeper: Sebastian Frey
Best Defender: Giorgio Chiellini
Best Midfielder: Daniele De Rossi
Best Striker: Marco Borriello
Best Serie A Player: Javier Zanetti
Surprise Player of the Season: Christian Maggio
Best Coach: Tough choice between Spalletti and Prandelli.

Everyone's favorite success story, Chievo Verona, are back in Serie A. The small club from Verona, nicknamed the "Flying Donkeys" (Hellas Verona fans used to say that donkeys would fly before Chievo reached Serie A), secured automatic promotion today with a draw vs. Grosseto and have returned to Serie A for next season.

Some interesting transfer news and notes today. Marco Borriello will wear the Rossonero jersey once again, as Milan sealed the deal with Genoa yesterday. The Rossoblu received 7 million euro plus the co-ownership of promising young fantasista Davide Di Gennaro. Milan have decided to take a gamble on the target man, who was ever so close to becoming the Serie A top scorer this season.