Following Italy’s shock 1-0 loss in Genoa to the USA on Wednesday night, Gigi Buffon told reporters, “there’s no need to get worried” and that “we absolutely did not deserve defeat tonight”. The Juventus ‘keeper was absolutely correct. The Azzurri dominated proceedings at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris from start to finish and as Giorgio Chiellini opined, “we deserved at least a draw from this performance.” Still, with any loss, no matter the significance, questions will always be raised. But, Italy’s […]
On October 11 last year in the provincial city of Pescara, Italy ended their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland. It was the perfect ending as Italy finished top of their group. It was also just reward for coach Cesare Prandelli who managed to rebuild a strong Azzurri from the wreckage of the 2010 World Cup disaster. The undoubted star man for Prandelli’s new look Azzurri was Milan’s Antonio Cassano. A player who came to prominence at […]
We are half way through the Serie A season; Juventus were crowned winter champions after a hard fought 2-0 away win at Atalanta. Roma hit five on Saturday evening at home against Cesena where Francesco Totti hit his 211th goal for the club. Inter Milan won their eighth straight game in all competitions after defeating Lazio at the San Siro 2-1. After some great mid-week performances in both the Coppa and Copa here are five goals of the week from […]
Football is a romantic game and, to many, the raw emotion a football match can invoke surpasses that of any other sport. There is nothing better than seeing great players battling it out on the field. Fans take true delight in any match when legends, known all over the world, take to the pitch to fight for supremacy. It may have been ‘only’ a Coppa Italia tie, however, on Tuesday this week a match was played that may have been […]
One of Serie A biggest derby was played Sunday night and the blue and black side of Milan won the war. Inter Milan playing as the ‘away’ side won the derby for the first time in two seasons, thanks to a second half strike from Diego Milito who capitalised on an Ignazio Abate mistake. Juventus and Napoli dropped points at home; Lazio got their first win of the season and Catania’s home match against Roma was abandoned due to torrential […]
Another exciting match is upon on us Monday when two of the historically best teams in Italy collide in the country’s capital, as Juventus travel to face Roma. This will be the Old Lady’s fifth game in a little over two weeks. Juventus are coming in with blistering form as they continue to get positive results. Roma on the other hand are coming in after a run of poor results and will surely be looking to please the home crowd […]
Udinese represented a challenge that, as Serie A Weekly suggested last week, would prove pivotal for new Roma - and so it came to pass in an evening from which few positives could be taken. The ‘Zebrette’, in many ways, are Roma’s antithesis. Franceso Guidolin started his managerial career in 1988, the same year in which Luis Enrique made his senior playing debut in La Liga. Udinese’s wily campaigner presides of a modestly constructed side, a team renown for carefully […]
So Roma won one of those ‘should win’ games - hardly news to send ripples pulsating throughout Serie A. But slowly and surely, Luis Enrique’s new Roma are coalescing into a more fluid unit with the signs of promise emerging. But while edging past Novara and Lecce is a positive, it remains a fundamental necessity and a journey to Udinese represents something far more meaningful - and although it is relatively early in this campaign, the Udinese game could represent […]
On Novara’s synthetic surface, Roma had to dig deep, and dig they did, unearthing three much needed points thanks to a blend of persistence and vision. Against dogged and at times enterprising resistance, Roma looked to their new acquisitions as architects of an away day three points, rekindling the capital club’s assault on Serie A - but then came an unfortunately timed break for international football. For passionate, club-centric tifosi, the brief hiatus for international friendlies can prove an unwelcome […]
Failure to beat Cagliari on the season’s opening game served to make Roma’s trip to Inter a considerably more daunting prospect. Normally, both a clean sheet and an accompanying San Siro point would have been considered a profitable raid to the north, but in retrospect, Enrique was left to rue his team’s bewildering inability to score. Since Luis Enrique replaced Vincenzo Montella talk has almost exclusively revolved around Roma’s quest to become a quasi-Barcelona. And subsequently, the summer mercato did […]
That’s the season done and dusted, now the real entertainment can begin – a summer of wild speculation, fervent anticipation and the foundations laid for future success. But with the dust barely settled upon a bittersweet campaign, it’s time to take stock of a number of key issues. Roma are on the cusp of a wholesale regeneration project, and although it won’t rival that of Manchester City, in relative terms it is a very big deal. A potential pitfall in […]
The league doesn’t lie; it merely reveals an incontestable truth that Udinese (and heavens forbid Lazio), deserve a tilt at Champions League football - certainly more so than the Giallorossi. Now, and with one game remaining, the question for Roma is whether or not the prospect of Europa Cup football is a blessing or a curse. On Sunday, Guidolin’s Zebrette exorcised the ghosts of Roma’s last gasp Fruili winner, beating Chievo to remain in pole for that all important fourth […]
