It has been a long four years since the putrid results of South Africa and while the memory of that tournament may still haunt some players, this tournament should leave a better taste in their mouths. A second place finish in the Euro and a third place finish in last year’s Confederations Cup has already done much to boost expectations. Going into this tournament, Italy shouldn’t be afraid to dream big because a deep run is definitely possible. Here are […]

Eighth placed Internazionale entertain Lazio, who are one place ahead of them, at the San Siro on Wednesday evening. A mere two points separate the two teams as they both desperately seek three points in order to remain in contention for Europa League qualification. A run of poor form in 2013 has seen both teams slip down the Serie A table. Injuries have severely plagued Andrea Stramaccioni’s Inter side which has contributed to their poor form. The Nerazzurri have now […]

With every new Serie A campaign comes great excitement. New signings arrive, last season’s key performers return with another year of experience under their belt, and hopes are high your club has what it takes to lift the scudetto in May. But for fans of AC Milan, things didn’t exactly follow the script previously written. The Rossoneri endured what can only be described as a horrendous transfer window, which has left the squad devoid of its greatest talents and fans […]

Before the start of the European Championships this summer, many in Italy were feeling pessemistic about the Azzurri’s chances, not only with regards to the knockout stages, but towards getting out of the group itself, needing to navigate through the likes of a seemingly invincible Spain, a Croatia team that has always given Italy fits, and an Ireland side managed by the wily Giovanni Trappatoni. Between the difficult group, the exploding match-fixing scandal at home, and the departure of Cesare […]

A 1-1 draw against the reigning world champions can be counted as a good result for the Azzurri despite the injuries and off field distractions. Cesare Prandelli utilized the much talked about 3-5-2 after experimenting with the unorthodox formation in training last week, with the back three comprised of Juventus duo of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, plus Daniele De Rossi making his international debut as a center back. Up front the attack was also as expected, as was most […]

Admittedly this is a late preview, but with all the tumult going on both inside the Azzurri camp and in Italian football as a whole, now is a good time to look at how Italy may fair at Euro 2012, what to expect and how Prandelli’s men compare to their group competitors. First up is the injury problems Italy is facing, particularly in defense. Giorgio Chiellini is just coming off an injury suffered in Juventus’ last home game of the […]

AC Milan head into the off season wondering what could have been as they bowed out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage against Barcelona and finished second in Serie A behind Juventus by only four points. There is, of course, no shame in being knocked out of Europe by one of the best teams in the world or losing out on the league title to only the third undefeated side in league history; however, the Rossoneri had high […]

Saturday 28th April Roma v Napoli The game of the weekend is between two teams of contrasting fortunes. Roma have lost their last two games, a heavy 4-0 loss to Juventus in Turin and a 2-1 home reverse to Fiorentina. Napoli on the other hand, have beaten strugglers Lecce and Novara to move up to fourth. A huge game in the battle for third place, a Napoli win would leave Luis Enrique’s side with only Europa League football to play […]

There was some idiotic scenes in the Genoa, as the home side -losing to Siena at the time -were demanded to take of their jerseys by their own ultras. The reasoning; according to this small minority of fans the players were not fit enough to wear the club’s colours. Marco Rossi, Genoa’s captain, ceded to their demands and went about collecting jerseys from his team-mates.  This left Genoa Giandomenico Mesto in tears on the pitch. To their credit, at least […]

It could not have been any better. It could not have been any sweeter. Four unanswered goals from Milan against Arsenal ensured the Italians have at least one foot in the quarter finals. For coach Max Allegri, it was his most significant moment in the Champions League of his short managerial career. But, Allegri was not the star of the night. Led from the front by an inspired Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it was the collective performance of Milan that shone the […]

Health scares, multi-million pound on-off deals and the toppling of a prime minister. It has the makings of a political thriller that any dramatist would be proud off. Instead, it has been the script of Massimiliano Allegri’s awkward second season in charge of Milan. It is easy to forget just how rocky the waters have been in the background to his attempts to build on the foundations of a debut year Scudetto. The champagne had hardly dried on the carpets […]

As the old cliché goes, history repeats itself. And this could not be truer come every February for Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Whether at Barcelona or in the blue or red half of Milan, the ‘big’ Swede’s scoring record often leaves something to be desired at this time of the year. Goals, to be precise. In each of the last five seasons he has just managed one solitary goal in this month. While in the last two seasons he has […]