Mister Lippi released a 25 man roster for the upcoming friendlies on 14 and 18 November against The Netherlands (in Pescara), and Sweden (in Cesena), respectively.
"How do I get Lippi to select me again?" "Transfer to Juventus, and don't hug Mourinho the next time you face Inter Milan."
There were a few new faces, but once again, Antonio Cassano of Sampdoria was not selected. His Samp teammate, Giampaolo Pazzini, made the cut.
There were six players selected from Juventus FC.
Giuseppe Rossi of Villarreal was the only foreign-based player selected.
Azzurri Roster
Goalkeepers
Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Marchetti (Cagliari)
Biondini (Cagliari), Camoranesi (Juventus), Candreva (Livorno), (De Rossi was injured yesterday and was replaced by Montolivo from Fiorentina), Galloppa (Parma), Marchionni (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pirlo (Milan)
The Serie A began in 1929. Only Internazionale Milano has played every season in the top flight. To learn more about Italian soccer history, please click the image to visit my Italian Calcio and History of the Azzurri page.
Wesley Sneijder has been a revelation for Inter Milan this season, and has become their "uomo simbolo."
A great source for Serie A videos. You can also view videos on the Goal4Replay application above this post.
Online Coverage of the Serie A
For an ESPN Matchtracker of Italian football, please click here.
For an interesting STATS Match Center, please click here. (Then select Serie A at the top left.)
For a game tracker called Live Match from La Gazzetta dello Sport, please clickhere. You may have to click on the number of the week to see a full fixture list.
The premier world football club competition kicked-off on 15 September. The defending champion is FC Barcelona, and the final will take place on 22 May 2010 from el Estadio Bernabeu in Madrid.
"Matchday 1 takes place on 15/16 September, with fixtures continuing on 29/30 September, 20/21 October, 3/4 November, 24/25 November and 8/9 December. The top two sides from each section will progress to the first knockout round draw on 18 December, which will be held at 12.00 CET in Nyon, while those finishing third will enter the UEFA Europa League Round of 32."
Source: UEFA.com.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Kaka' during a preseason friendly in Washington. Ricky will face his old friends and fans at the San Siro on Tuesday.
"Per quello che c'è stato in questi anni, mi aspetto una bella accoglienza . Sarà una partita difficile".
"For all that has been in these years, I expect a great reception. It will be a difficult game."
Ricardo Kaka' of Real Madrid.
Kaka' had a 94.55% pass completion rate on 55 passes. He also had 8 shots on goal against his former team at the San Siro.
Italian source: La Gazzetta dello Sport, 2 November 2009. "Dice che vuole eliminare il Milan dalla Champions League? Certo, perché lo conosce bene e lo teme... Sarà emozionante rivederlo e giocare contro di lui. Nello spogliatoio ha lasciato un ricordo bellissimo".
Kaka' and Carlo Ancelotti at Milan.
"He says that he wants to eliminate Milan from the Champions League? Of course, because he knows Milan well and fears it... It will be emotional to see him again, and to play against him. In the dressing room, he left a beautiful memory."
Alessandro Nesta of AC Milan on Ricardo Kaka'.
Italian Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport, 20 October 2009.
New Faces
There are 8 new teams, along with 16 domestic title holders.
Here are the 32 teams divided into 8 groups:
Group A
Bayern Munich Juventus Bordeaux Maccabi Haifa
Group B
Manchester United CSKA Moscow Besiktas VFL Wolfsburg
Group C
AC Milan (Huntelaar returns to face los Merengues.) Real Madrid CF (Kaka' returns to face the Rossoneri.) Olympique Marseille FC Zurich
Group D
Chelsea FC FC Porto Atletico de Madrid Apoel FC Nicosia
Group E
Liverpool Olympique Lyon ACF Fiorentina Debreceni
Group F
FC Barcelona(Ibrahimovic returns to face the Nerazzurri.) InternazionaleMilano(Eto'o returns to face Barca.) Dynamo Kiev FC Rubin Kazan Group G
Sevilla Rangers Glasgow Vfb Stuttgart AFC Unirea Urziceni
Group H
Arsenal AZ Alkmaar Olimpiakos FC Standard de Leige
UEFA Awards for 2008/2009
UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year: Erwin van der Saar of Manchester United. UEFA Club Defender of the Year: John Terry of Chelsea FC. UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year: Xavi Hernandez of FC Barcelona. UEFA Club Striker of the Year: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona.
Paolo Maldini of AC Milan received a Special Achievement Award from UEFA President, Michel Platini, during the draw ceremony in Monaco.
This was the winning entry in the World Football Commentaries Writing Contest. Congratulations to Andrew.
by Andrew Helms 15 October 2009
The US overcame a two-goal deficit, horrendous finishing, playing down a man, and playing with heavy hearts with their teammate Charlie Davies in the hospital to tie a Costa Rica team desperate for the win that would qualify them for next summer’s World Cup. Jonathan Bornstein’s header from a Robbie Rogers corner kick in the 95th minute leveled the score 2-2 and secured first place in CONCACAF for the US after a grueling 16-month tournament. On the other side, it was heartbreak for Costa Rica; the tie pushed them into fourth place which means a two-game playoff with Uruguay, CONMEBOL’s fifth place team, will decide which nation will be the final team to qualify for South Africa.
It was a very strange match. It started as an open, attacking affair which saw both sides with chances in the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately for the US it was Costa Rica that was able to capitalize, building a two-goal lead after 24 minutes thanks to a three minute, world-class display by Bryan Ruiz. The first goal was a deadly combination of attacking verve and defensive timidity. Ruiz turned Oguchi Onyewu at the corner of the 18 and then made a beeline for the goal. Carlos Bocanegra was slow to react and Howard was soft coming off his line. ESPN commentator Alexi Lalas mentioned the idea that the timid display could be the result of the US playing to not get a red card. Whenever you play with the purpose to not do something, bad things happen. Just three minutes later the Costa Ricans played an impressive sequence of passes to undo the left side of the US defense before Ruiz hit a laser into the far upper V. The US was shell-shocked. Costa Rica had one foot in Cape Town. From there, however, the US took over and generated chance after chance. Before the goals, on 9 minutes, Conor Casey missed a 100% opportunity after a wonderful individual display by Jozy Altidore. Before half-time Altidore would miss a similar opportunity as would Landon Donovan.
The goals would come. Michael Bradley followed up a Donovan shot and awkwardly forced the ball into the ground and over the onrushing keeper; it took sheer determination to break the seal. Even after Onyewu went down with a torn patella tendon and the US was playing with 10 men, substitute Jose Francisco Torres dictated play and the US was relentless in their pursuit of the second goal. Finally, with seconds remaining Bornstein rose to meet a well-driven corner kick from Rogers and the celebrations began.
In the post-game celebration the team posed in front of a Charlie Davies banner. Captain Carlos Bocanegra thanked the fans for their support throughout qualification. With Trinidad and Tobago tying Mexico, the US finished first in CONCACAF. Again. Even with the excitement of the game and clinching first, soccer is still secondary. The US soccer community all wishes Davies a speedy recovery, and we pray for comfort for the family and friends of the passenger who died. Though the injuries are less severe, we all are also hoping Onyewu and Jay DeMerit are able to recover quickly and fully as well.
This site does not collect any personally identifiable information from its valued visitors. Any Google Ads, which may use Internet-based advertising, are from third party advertisers. I do monitor visits by the map images and Bravenet counter.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento: "Football, the beautiful game."
Image courtesy of Triad Publishing.
Please click the image to hear him discuss how he received his famous nickname.
"Steve, sometimes I wake up from a dream, and I am crying. I am dreaming that I am back playing with Pelé."
In November 2006, I began this blog as an extension of my World Football and Italian Calcio and History of the Azzurri sites. This blog features commentaries, interviews, unique themes, goal videos, Italian and Spanish translations, Italian National Team (Azzurri), Serie A, Juventus FC, WPS, 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage, extremely valued guest contributions, quotes of the week, and live scores.
In 2004, I created a bilingual site called The Amoias of the Americas that discusses the legendary Argentine club, Boca Juniors. More importantly for me, it chronicles how Oscar Amoiaand I became acquainted 100 years after our families departed Italy. Oscar also contributes his expertise to this blog.
Live Scores and Fixtures: US Visitors Add One Hour
Translated Quote of the Week: Claudio Ranieri of AS Roma
"Mourinho è grandioso perché la gira e la rivolta come vuole lui. E ha sempre ragione. E’ un grande allenatore e un grande comunicatore, non ho nulla contro di lui, anche se dice che ho 70 anni e ho vinto una coppetta. In realtà sono 4, e una facendo tanti gol al Barça in cui lui era il secondo".
Italian source: La Gazzetta dello Sport, 09 November 2009.
"Mourinho is grandiose because he spins things to suit himself. He is always right. He is a great manager and a great communicator, and I have nothing against him. Even if he says that I am 70 years old and have only one a small Cup competition. In reality, I have won 4, and one was a rout against Barcelona when he was the assistant coach."
Serie A TIM 2009-2010 Classifica (Table) and Calendario (Fixtures)
GP = Games played. GD = Goal difference. P = Points. W = Wins. D = Draws. L = Losses.
For 2009-2010, Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan, and Fiorentina will compete in the Champions League.
Genoa, Lazio, and Roma will play in the new Europa League.
Upcoming Fixtures for the Azzurri. Next Stop: South Africa. :-)
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Saturday, 14 November 2009: Italia x The Netherlands. Friendly in Pescara to benefit the earthquake victims of Abruzzo.
Wednesday,18 November 2009: Italia x Sweden. Friendly in Cesena.
03 March 2010: Friendly to be announced.
Juventus News
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Juventus was founded in 1897 by a group of high school students. The name means "youth" in Latin, but the team is affectionately known as "La Vecchia Signora" (the old lady).
Please click the image to read "My Chance Meeting with Juventus FC."
Loading...
Soccer Art Work by Tom Clark
Zinedine Zidane and Fabio Cannavaro at Euro 2000. Please take a look at Tom's great work.
Since 2005, I have published articles, commentaries, interviews, and translations for AC Cugini Scuola Calcio, Football Media, International Herald Tribune 2006 World Cup Fan Blog, Italiansrus.com, Keeper Skool, and Soccerlens.
Posts
