This Saturday our beloved Nazionale takes on Bulgaria in World Cup 2010 qualifying. Italy has a positive record vs. Bulgaria, playing 14 matches in total, winning 7, drawing 5, and losing 2 and have scored 25 goals vs. Bulgarian defenses. Our last loss vs. Bulgaria goes back to the Vicini era, losing 2-1 in Sofia.

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Third time's the charm for AS Roma. After the (bad) draw vs. Napoli on matchday 1, the (worse) loss vs. Palermo on matchday 2 (and the disaster vs. CFR Cluj in the UEFA Champions League), the Giallorossi can smile again. Three unanswered goals will do that to ya... On the grass of the Stadio Olimpico of [. Click to continue reading...

As each week passes Serie A gets closer and closer. This was basically the final week of the preseason, as this week there are National Team games on Wednesday and then the SuperCoppa on Sunday, and teams start there normal preparation for the start of Serie A, which will kick-off with Udinese-Palermo and Sampdoria-Inter on Saturday, August 30th.

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Italian sports newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport rated the Azzurri players at the end of their European adventure. Along with Gigi Buffon, positive scores were obtained by Chiellini and Grosso. All the strikers flunked the test, while some midfielders could have done better. The overall form however, was never great. Click to continue reading...

Italy 1-1 Romania
I know there were some people out there who picked Romania as the dark horse candidates for this tournament -- not me, sadly, but it looks like those people were pretty smart.

After the embarrassment of their defeat against the Netherlands, Roberto Donadoni made a number of changes to the Italian lineup, bringing Daniele de Rossi and Simone Perrotta into midfield alongside Andrea Pirlo, giving Alessandro del Piero a start and rejigging the back line with Fabio Grosso and Giorgio Chiellini. Click to continue reading...

(From La Repubblica): From "Italia-Milan" to "Italia-Roma + ADP" seems the most likely change Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni will make, as Italy step onto the Letzigrund stadium of Zurich for the team's (already decisive) match vs. Romania. Indeed, the insertion of Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero straight from the start seems almost a [. Click to continue reading...

In accordance to the UEFA-imposed May 28 deadline, Italian coach Roberto Donadoni has made his final roster selection for Euro 2008: the 23 players who will representing the Azzurri this Summer have been picked and as many expected, Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo was the player discarded from the manager's Pre-selection list. Click to continue reading...

  In an exciting Roma-Inter Coppa Italia final (reaching its 4th match-up in consecutive years), the Giallorossi grabbed their season consolation prize. I say "bittersweet" in the title and that deserves some explanation. Sweet firstly, because beating one's big rivals is always great, especially after a season-long head-to-head race in the Serie A and especially if those rivals are Inter. Click to continue reading...