As the title reads, former Portuguese international and ex-Mourinho pupil Costinha plays for Atalanta and is probably the biggest waste of money in all of Italian football today. Back in the summer of 2007, Costinha’s contract expired at Atletico Madrid. Atalanta thought they were making a real steal signing him, as be brought a wealth of international experience to their midfield. A player of Costinha’s quality was a luxury for a side like Atalanta, even at the age of 33. Atalanta gave him a three year contract (expires this June) worth 730,000 euro a season, the highest on the team (even more than captain Cristiano Doni). However he suffered a number of injuries, and only made 1 appearance in his first season, playing 56 minutes. To date, that is his only appearance in a Atalanta jersey. No games last season, no games this season so far. He is still on the team, he trains with the team, but doesn’t play. It’s a mystery. Last season sporting director Carlo Osti said ironically “Costinha? I didn’t even know he was an Atalanta player.” He does drive a Lamborghini to training however, as evidenced in this video. He’s also been spotted at the San Siro many times watching his old boss Mourinho and Inter. It’s been rumored that Mourinho wants Costinha on as his staff as a coach, and maybe if that rumor comes true he would finally rescind his Atalanta contract. But the damage has already been done, they’ve already payed him 1,460,000 euro to play one game in 2 years and continue to pay him as the current season goes on. For a club like Atalanta that doesn’t have much financial power to begin with, that’s a big hit. Ah, Italian calcio, it never ceases to amaze me.

The Gazzetta dello Sport is arguably the most famous sports newspaper in Italy, selling more copies than rivals Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport. It is world famous for it’s pink pages and has been printed in pink since 1899. The current head editor of the Gazzetta, Luigi Garlando, has always been a critic of Lippi since his return to the national team, has always been pro-Cassano, and doesn’t understand why Lippi hates to answer questions at press conferences. He feels Italians have a right to know the answers to questions about the team that represents them as a population. So in today’s Gazzetta, he laid out 10 questions that he wants Lippi to absolutely answer and that has been on the mind of Italy fans everywhere. Will Lippi answer these questions? Definitely not. But let’s see what they are after the jump.

1) Would Amauri, Italian passport in hand, be immediately called up?

10) When will you tell us your decision to remain as national team manager or not?

Garlando continues to say that answering these questions would actually make the National Team camp’s atmosphere more serene, as Lippi wouldn’t be constantly asked questions anymore as the reasons would be out, and Lippi wouldn’t have to scold journalists at every press conference.

What are the chances of Lippi answering these questions? As much chance as seeing Cassano wear an Italy kit anytime soon.

Recently, it was reported everywhere that Christian Vieri was hanging up his boots. Vieri, at one time one of the most feared strikers in all of world football, had given all he had and was going more and more into a decline, so he it looked like he wanted to finally call it quits at age 36. He refused numerous offers from all over the world, and joined a World Poker Tour and said he didn’t want to have anything to do with football ever again. Rumors came out however that he was going to Brazil to sign with a Brazilian Serie A side, but they were quickly negated by his agent and by Vieri himself. But I guess the thing they were negating was the division of the Brazilian club he was going to sign for. Because now it’s being reported that Bobo is very close to signing a deal with Brazilian Serie C side Boavista of Rio de Janeiro. Yep, you read correctly, the Brazilian Third Division. But not only is he getting paid (the deal is supposedly only 6 months to start, and 50,000 Brazilian reals a month), but the deal includes a house on the beach and a private driver. So Vieri goes on vacation to Rio for 6 months and gets paid to play football in the Brazilian Third Division on the weekends. Not a bad life at all. We’ll have to see in the coming weeks if this “vacation” for Vieri actually becomes booked.

I know, the Cassano-National Team debate is getting old and boring. But this was too funny. In the 5th minute of the game yesterday, a fan ran onto the pitch wearing a t-shirt with the Superman logo and with the words “Cassano in Nazionale” (Cassano on the National Team). He jogged around the pitch for a while and then made his way off the pitch and was promptly arrested. When Buffon was asked about it, he said it was funny. When Lippi was asked about it, he said he had “taken his glasses off at that moment and didn’t see anything“. There were also some funny pro-Cassano banners in the stands, like “Lippi, take Cassano to South Africa, I’ll pay for the ticket” and yesterday at the Italian National Rugby Team game, a fan held a banner that was addressed to the Nazionale Rugby coach Mallett: “Can you at least call up Cassano?“. Video after the jump.

The Italy U-21’s continued their very disappointing qualifying campaign with another loss, this time away to Hungary. The Azzurrini needed a win to get back on track, but now qualification is getting more and more difficult. The Hungarians won 2-0, with goals coming from Nemeth and Koman (both players played on the Hungarian side that knocked the Italy U-20’s out of the U-20 World Cup last month). Now, with only 4 games remaining and the maximum amount of points available 12 (assuming Italy win these remaining remaining 4 games), Italy would only reach 16 points, and with Wales already at 13 and Hungary now at 9, a second place finish for a play-off spot even looks a little difficult. Italy has a game in Luxembourg on Tuesday, and if they fail to pick up the three points, we will most probably not see Italy compete in the 2011 European Championship (and that would mean not at the 2012 Summer Olympics either, as the final tournament in 2011 serves as the qualification process). This is looking more and more likely as Pierlugi Casiraghi’s last months as Azzurrini boss and this is definitely the worst U-21 team of all time.

The last time an Italy Under-21 side didn’t qualify for a major tournament was the 1996-1998 cycle. Otherwise, the Azzurrini have always been a force on this level, winning 5 times. The Under-21 side has always been filled with so many promising players that went on to be protagonists on the senior team as well, but this side lacks that overall talent. Besides Mario Balotelli, Andrea Ranocchia, Andrea Poli, and Alberto Paloschi, the rest of the squad doesn’t seem to have much promise and therefore the squad isn’t as strong as other years. Then again you could also blame the inexperience of Casiraghi, who had arguably one of the most talented Italy U-21 sides of all time the past 2 cycles and failed to win anything. His tactics have been questionable a lot of times and he isn’t good at reading games. So, it will be difficult for this side, and it doesn’t look good, even with a win in Luxembourg on Tuesday. We will probably see the resignation or termination of Casiraghi after this cycle is finished and the side will start anew after qualifying.

Since Lippi has taken over the national team for a second time, the big question has always been, “Why aren’t you calling up Antonio Cassano?” Cassano has widely been recognized as the best Italian player at the moment and there is no other talent in Italy that can even reach his level at the moment (maybe an in-form Totti). Lippi has given us a variety of answers: “A manager doesn’t have to explain his choices“, “Let’s focus on the players that are here, not the ones that aren’t“, “All players aged 18-40 can dream of playing for the national team“, “Cassano is a great player and a nice guy, but I make the choices“, and the list goes on and on. There isn’t one press conference that goes by without the name Cassano being mentioned. Fans everywhere are wondering why Cassano isn’t being called up as he clearly deserves it. Well, Italian satirical news program Striscia la Notizia has claimed to have found the answer.

There was always a rumor floating around that Cassano and Lippi’s son, Davide Lippi, had gotten into a fight some time ago. When Davide Lippi was asked about this he laughed it off, saying it never happened and that he actually likes Cassano and whenever they see each they joke around. However, Striscia la Notizia confirms that this story may be the real reason and the “ugly story” that Sampdoria president Riccardo Garrone talked about last week. They actually have an interview from “somebody that works in the football world” but he remained to be anonymous, so his face is blurred out and his voice has been changed. Here is the interview:

For the non-Italian speakers, basically he describes the story, saying that months ago Davide Lippi and Cassano were both at a club in Versilia, a popular beach destination in Tuscany (close to Lippi’s hometown of Viareggio) for celebrities and filled with tons of famous nightclubs, and that they got into a little argument which led to a fist fight, and Cassano kicked Davide Lippi’s ass.

So Marcello Lippi apparently holds a grudge against Cassano for this whole fight and refuses to call up Italy’s most talented fantasista. Is this the real reason? I’m sure we’ll see tons of the stories relating to this in the coming days, weeks, months, and probably even minutes before the kick-off of the first World Cup match.

What do you think? Do you believe this is the reason? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Fairly good week for goals, as only one game finished 0-0 (Catania-Napoli, but ask Takayuki Morimoto about that). The top scorer table is still wide open, as Di Natale started strong but now has cooled off so he remains at 9, while Hamsik is second with 7 and that’s impressive for a midfielder. Pazzini and Milito also are at 7 and they probably won’t stay there for long, while Trezeguet and Eto’o are starting to score regularly as well and are at 6. Most impressive on the top scorer list at the moment? Giandomenico Mesto at 4 goals. Mesto only scored 1 goal in 5 seasons at Reggina and 2 in a season with Udinese. He already has 4 this season. Amazing what a change of position can do to a player. Goals of the week after the jump.

Felipe Melo vs. Atalanta – This video is good because it first shows the perfectly valid goal that Melo scored that was called back and then a few seconds later he sticks it in the linesman’s face and unleashes an unstoppable blast past Consigli.

Fabio Ceravolo vs. Juventus – Nice assist from Simone Tiribocchi, and then Ceravolo cuts past Grosso and puts a perfect curling effort past the outstretched Buffon.

Riccardo Allegretti vs. Livorno – Allegretti was long known to be a free kick specialist, and Bari fans were waiting for him to finally score on a free kick in Serie A. It finally happened vs. Livorno.

Marco Di Vaio vs. Palermo – Di Vaio first misses the easy breakaway, but then makes up for it finishing from an almost impossible angle.

Mirko Vucinic vs. Inter – The Montenegrin scores a beautiful header. Marco Motta with the long searching pass, Vucinic jumps over Lucio and loops it over Julio Cesar.

Samuel Eto’o vs. Roma – This is a real striker’s goal. Amazing quick turn and pinpoint finish.

Alexandre Pato vs. Lazio – Nice buildup from the Rossoneri, Ronaldinho with the pinpoint cross and Pato with the perfect anticipation of Kolarov and perfect header past Muslera.

Milan has really jumped up the table these past few weeks. After the horrible start where everyone condemned the Rossoneri to a season of misery, Leonardo’s squad has made a complete turnaround, finally playing well and becoming contenders once again. They now find themselves 5 points behind leaders Inter and only 2 behind Juventus and saying the word Scudetto shouldn’t be met with laughter. Ronaldinho looks to have found motivation to play again and has been excellent, Pato is scoring crucial goals, and even Massimo Oddo has been placing his crosses into the box instead of row Z of the stadium. If Milan can keep it up, they can make this season a lot more interesting. Serie A round-up after the jump.

SERIE A RESULTS, STANDINGS, AND HIGHLIGHTS

SERIE B RESULTS AND STANDINGS

One of the players playing extremely well at the moment is Genoa fantasista Raffaele Palladino. Palladino has always been a player that could do things with the ball that others could only dream of doing, but he never had the consistency to show that talent at a high level. Palladino is now an important part of Gian Piero Gasperini’s Genoa side, and he’s the one that can make the difference up front for the Rossoblu. It looks like now at the age of 25 he has finally reached the point where he can be consistent enough to show his incredible skill.

Palladino grew up in the Juventus youth system, and in 2004 was sent on loan first to Salernitana, where he had an excellent season in Serie B, and then the following year to Livorno, where he had a decent season in Serie A. He immediately became an important part of the Italy U-21 side, first under Claudio Gentile and then under Pierluigi Casiraghi. With Juventus’ relegation to Serie B, he was taken back to the home base and played a role in Didier Deschamps’ Juve side that won promotion. At first he didn’t play as much, but his versatility led him to play many games, as he could play as a second punta, a winger, or as a trequartista. The following season he stayed with the Bianconeri on their return to Serie A, but with the purchase of Vincenzo Iaquinta, Palladino was essentially the 4th striker. When he did play he showed good things, and Roberto Donadoni even gave him a shot in two national team games. He even earned the nickname “Raf Alladino” (Raf Aladdin, because of the magic tricks he worked with the ball) from fans. However, Palladino needed to play, and so in the summer of 2008 his old Juventus youth team manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, brought him to Genoa on a co-ownership deal, and gave him a chance to show his stuff.

His 2008-2009 didn’t start well, as a bad knee injury kept him out for most of the first part of the season, but upon his return he worked himself back into the side and played a very important part towards the end of the season, scoring a crucial winning goal vs. Juventus and then making some nice assists for his teammates. This past summer, Genoa decided to renew the co-ownership deal and keep him for one more season. The start of this season was also injury troubled, as a bad virus kept him out until mid-September. But Palladino was back with a bang. He immediately started playing really well, and against Fiorentina scored an amazing back-heeled goal against Sebastian Frey. Palladino has continued to play well, and now that he is healthy and motivated he seems to be finally showing his talent.

If he can continue, a return to the national team is a possibility. Palladino’s mix of speed, technique, and ability to do whatever he wants with the ball at any instant can be of great use to a national team lacking in creativity. However, we’ll have to see if he can keep it up all season, as consistency has always been his problem.

Roma-Inter from May of 1999 is another highly entertaining game from one of the most entertaining Serie A seasons of all time. The 1998-99 season had 3 leaders of the table (for the first part of the season it was Fiorentina, who were winter champions but were then hurt by the injury of Batistuta, then Lazio, who looked on their way to the Scudetto but fell off form towards the end, and then Milan who surprised everyone and stole the Scudetto on the last day). Juventus had a bad year, with Del Piero suffering a big injury and Lippi being replaced mid-season by Carlo Ancelotti. Inter were expecting big things with their strike pair of Roberto Baggio and Ronaldo, but various injuries led to the latter two not playing much together all season, and Inter went through 3 coaches before finishing the season with Roy Hodgson. For Roma, this was their last season of the Zdenek Zeman era, as Fabio Capello would take over in the summer. Roma practiced the Zeman philosophy, 4-3-3 formation, free-flowing constant attacking football, leaving many defensive holes. It’s no surprise that this game ended 5-4 in Inter’s favor. Game story after the jump.

This game was played in early May of 1999 with the season coming to an end. Roma were fighting for a place in the Champions League, while Inter were having a disastrous season and hoped to salvage some of it by at least getting a UEFA Cup qualification spot. This was one of the few games of the season where Inter had Roberto Baggio and Ronaldo both fit, as well as Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano, always deadly on headers. To counter Zeman’s 4-3-3, Hodgson put out his own 4-3-3, with the trio of Baggio, Ronaldo, and Zamorano up front. Inter kept taking the lead but Roma kept fighting back with it’s own trio, Marco Delvecchio, Francesco Totti, and Brazilian Paulo Sergio (who left for Bayern Munich that summer and won the Champions League). Like I said, Inter kept taking the lead, and Roma always found a way back until the end when Diego Simeone scored the winning goal. It was highly entertaining. And of course something to not: what a joy it was to watch Roberto Baggio play, no matter what shirt he was wearing. He was involved in 4 of Inter’s 5 goals in this match.