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General Category / Games/Matches / Re: World Cup Qualifier: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland
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on: October 07, 2009, 09:37:24 AM
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can't wait to watch this match on saturday. This won't be an easy game and i don't have a positive feeling about the match. I think we'll still qualify with the win against the worst team in our group who we play next (San Marino).
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Tardelli: Croke Park will beat Italy
Wednesday 7 October, 2009
Republic of Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli warns Italy that he will be counting on “the passion of the 70,000 at Croke Park.”
The Azzurri travel to Dublin for Saturday’s crunch World Cup qualifier, a game you can watch LIVE on Sky Sports 2 and online (check viewing restrictions).
“For we Italians living abroad, it is a very special event, but we are professionals and hope to face it in the right way,” he told CNR Media.
“I expect the same Italy as always, the team that wants to win and is ready for battle. We will be equally fired up, as we need points.
“We can also count on the passion of the 70,000 at Croke Park to beat the Azzurri.”
The former Inter and Italy Under-21 Coach is enjoying his time in the Emerald Isle.
“I am very happy here. We are doing some good work and I must thank Giovanni Trapattoni. Working with him is fantastic, you can learn so much about football and the media.
“I hope to keep working here for a long time. I’m proud to be leading this squad who, along with some good quality, have above all a great work ethic.”
Italy need only a point in Dublin to be certain of World Cup qualification, so Ireland are the favourites for a play-off place.
However, FIFA President Sepp Blatter prompted fury by suggesting he would use a seeding system in this round.
“It does not seem right to put the stronger teams on one side and the weaker on another. It’d be good to give any outfit the chance to go head-to-head with any other, but football is also made up of things that are not fair.”
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General Category / Players and Profiles / Re: Should Lippi bring Cassano to the WC ?
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on: October 07, 2009, 09:34:48 AM
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wow .. even his ex-teammate are against him. But DeRossi needs to understand cassano isn't meant to be a scorer on the team he should be used as a trequartista similar to what totti was used for in the past and how many goals has totti scored for the national team with all his appearances ?
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De Rossi: "Cassano doesn't score"
Wednesday 7 October, 2009
Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi has backed Marcello Lippi's decision to exclude Antonio Cassano from the Italy squad, saying he doesn't score enough goals.
Cassano has been magnificent this season, producing a number of match-winning performances that appear to have convinced everyone apart from Lippi.
When asked about Cassano's exclusion, De Rossi replied: “He is among the most talented and entertaining Italian strikers. But if we go and look at his goalscoring record, it's clear that the players who are here with the Italy squad score more than him or even that other players with better records have also been left out.”
De Rossi then turned his attention to speculation regarding the future of Francesco Totti, who could come out of international retirement.
“It would be a pleasant surprise. I don't believe that Totti will remain indifferent to the fascination of the World Cup, but at 33 he has made a decision and also assumed his responsibilities.
“When he left the Azzurri, he clarified that he did it because he couldn't manage to play 60 games a year. Only now are we all agreed that it was true. Back then we thought he held a grudge against Donadoni…” De Rossi concluded.
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General Category / Games/Matches / Re: World Cup Qualifier: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland
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on: October 05, 2009, 08:17:04 PM
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I watched the Roma/Napoli game today. I have to agree about Quagliarella, he was pretty dormant in the game. However, I liked Di Natale in the Inter/Udinese game. That was very promising action. I think if he plays like that in W/C we'll see some good football.
Thats funny i was listening to the radio and they were talking about how quagliarella isn't such a great player yet he still gets a call up to the national team. I loved lippis attitude and choices in 2006 but i honestly think the old mans lost his marbles with his current decisions. |
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General Category / Games/Matches / Re: World Cup Qualifier: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland
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on: October 04, 2009, 11:54:47 AM
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Azzurri: Lippi takes old guard to Dublin
Sunday 4 October, 2009
Marcello Lippi has named his squad for the final World Cup qualifiers against Ireland and Cyprus.
The Azzurri need only one point to be sure of a place in the South African competition next summer.
They travel to Dublin for Saturday evening's crunch match against Giovanni Trapattoni's Republic of Ireland at Croke Park.
Italy then welcome Cyprus to Parma's Stadio Tardini on the evening of Wednesday October 14.
Fabio Cannavaro is suspended for the Ireland fixture, so he will only join in training from next Sunday at the Coverciano ground.
Gennaro Gattuso returns from an injury lay-off, while Fiorentina's Alessandro Gamberini and Salvatore Bocchetti of Genoa are also present.
Inter full-back Davide Santon keeps his place despite the lack of playing time at San Siro.
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Marchetti (Cagliari);
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Juventus), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Santon (Inter), Zambrotta (Milan);
Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), D'Agostino (Udinese), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Marchisio (Juventus), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Iaquinta (Juventus), Quagliarella (Napoli), Rossi (Villarreal).
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General Category / Azzurrini / Re: U-20 World Cup starts tomorrow for Italy
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on: September 24, 2009, 06:29:55 PM
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I attended a few games when the under 20 world cup was in Toronto but Italy didn't have a team for the competition back then since they were more interested in the under 21 world cup .. i never understood why theres an under 20 AND an under 21.
I think Italy has a lot of future talent that eventually will become future azzuri which is comforting since I really don't have faith in our current national team. The latest pattern I noticed is the the 12 year pattern italy goes through .. 82, 94, 2006 .. italy made the finals... so maybe in 12 years we'll see some of these products of the youth team take them to the finals.
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General Category / General Soccer Talk / Re: Serie A Matches
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on: September 23, 2009, 08:12:00 PM
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Sampdoria is off to a great start. 4n0. Tied Juventus on the table but ahead of goals scored. I think this team has a good scudetto chance this year. OK, even if they don’t, I think we’re going to see them with a good season. Compared to last year we’re gonna see a different team this season.
Not anymore. They lost today to Fiorentina 2-0.. but they can't complain since they are still in good position in the table. Wow! Milan is not convincing at all this year .. i thought this would be their year to contend for the scudetto . .they aren't the same team they used to be. |
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General Category / Players and Profiles / Re: Should/Would Amauri play for Italy ?
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on: September 21, 2009, 02:38:32 AM
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Go NO! He's not italian .. whats the point of the world cup if teams are just taking talent from other countries. I also think he's seriously over-rated. We already have iaquinta on the national team who is far better and has proven consistent. If we want to add another striker bring foggia, cassano or balotelli.
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General Category / General Soccer Talk / Re: Serie A Matches
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on: September 21, 2009, 02:35:13 AM
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This weekend the Serie A newbies (Parma, Chievo, Bari) made a point that they too can contend in Serie A by beating winning. In Bari's case they even won 4-1. This just goes to show the unpredictability once again of Serie A. Roma seemed to bounce back in their campaign and demolished fiorentina. I think Juve are probably going to be this years strongest italian team since not only do they have great players but also have to depth to handle many competitions.
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General Category / Players and Profiles / Re: Should Lippi bring Cassano to the WC ?
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on: September 21, 2009, 02:29:59 AM
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Calls for Cassano increase
Monday 21 September, 2009
Sampdoria director of sport Beppe Marotta has been joined by England manager Fabio Capello in backing Antonio Cassano for a return to the Italy squad.
The 27-year-old has started the season in sparkling form, inspiring Sampdoria to first place in Serie A with four straight wins.
Cassano has been repeatedly ignored by Italy Coach Marcello Lippi who has issues with his temperament and the fact he doesn't play for one of Italy's top three.
Capello signed Cassano while at Roma in 2001 and was widely praised for getting the best out of Italy's most exciting yet immature attacking talent.
“When I see Cassano play, he reminds me of the player I had in Rome, but I don't know what he does off the pitch,” Capello told Radio Anch'io Sport.
“I have always said that he is the biggest Italian talent and I hope that one day he will be included in the squad for the World Cup.”
Asked if he would call him up, Capello replied cleverly, saying: “He is not English!”
Meanwhile, Marotta continued his almost daily campaign to get Cassano the recognition he deserves.
“It's obvious that Cassano delights people with his extraordinary play. I cannot do more than wish Antonio the best because he deserves a call up,” Marotta said in an interview with Sampdorianews.net.
Cassano and Samp are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Fiorentina who were heavily beaten by Roma yesterday evening.
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General Category / General Soccer Talk / Serie A Matches
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on: September 19, 2009, 10:20:52 PM
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I think this year the title race will be between juve and inter. I watched a bit of Juve vs. Livorno and while livorno were able to hold their own and carry the ball to juves area .. juve's incredible defense would shut down their every opportunity until you can tell the livorn players were getting so frustrated they were taking opportunities from 30 meteres out. Tommorows big match is roma vs fiorentina. Roma need to win tommorow to put themselves back into the top 10 but fiorentina seem pretty determined and both teams probably fueled from losses in the CL and UEFA earlier this week.
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General Category / General Soccer Talk / Italian Teams in UEFA
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on: September 17, 2009, 04:40:40 AM
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While the italian teams in CL didn't do so well I think we'll see the italian teams in UEFA conquer. Todays matches include:
SS Lazio vs. FC Salzburg
AS Roma vs. FC Basel
Genoa vs. Slavia Praha
I think Lazio have it the easiest because basel and slavia aren't weak teams. I do think all the italian teams have a shot at winning today unlike yesterday's CL matches where I wasn't really confident in the italian teams. My prediction - italian teams will all win today.
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General Category / Photos and Video / Re: Funny: Scherzi A Parte
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on: September 17, 2009, 04:34:34 AM
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I always found this one hillarious. Gattuso losing his shit on parking lot attendants. This guy is a loose cannon and I would've been shitting if I was the guy he was threatening .. STAI MUTO! ..lol |
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General Category / Games/Matches / Re: World Cup Qualifier: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland
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on: September 14, 2009, 07:35:57 AM
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I'm not too crazy about Lippis decisions on the players he's chosen. Not sure Pepe and Leggrotaglie get call ups and players I think would make a good impact like cassano and foggia don't. So many other great talents .. i think giovinco will be the future of our midfield as well.
But if we had foggia, cassano, giovinco, rossi on all at once we'd never win headers ..haha!
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