Inter flew out to Germany to  play Galatasaray in a match that saw Luca Castellazzi stretchered-off with a head injury. Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto’o both had chances, but the game ended goalless.

Juventus lost the first game of the North America tour to Sporting Lisbon, despite a wonderful chip from Alessandro Del Piero. Two goals from Djalo’ was enough for the Portuguese side.

Udinese have continued their great preparations for Champions League football with a win at the hands of Olympique Marseille. Diego Fabbrini opened the scoring for Francesco Guidolin’s side, but Chris Gadi cancelled it out after half-time. It was captain Antonio Di Natale that bagged the winner with twenty minutes to go.

Roma beat Sud Tirol with a brace from Mirko Vucinic and a goal from Marce Borriello. Vucinic played well despite being linked to Juventus and Manchester United over the last few days.

Napoli won their first friendly of the season convincingly against Trentino. Giuseppe Mascara and Christian Maggio made it two-nil in the first-half. While veteran striker Cristiano Lucarelli got two early in the second, along with Mariano Bogliacino and Luca Cigarini, to finish the game. 6-0 the final score.

Lazio scored three, but only managed to draw against Slavia Prague, in a great comeback. Edy Reja’s side were down by two, but managed to bring it back to 3-2, only for Prague to equalize.

Genoa demolished Val Stubal with six goals and no reply. New signings Sebastian Ribas and Valter Birsa both getting on the score-sheet.

Bologna won a touranment of two matches, trashing Molveno 4-0 and Mezzolombardo 3-0.

Novara trashed Aqui Terme by nine goals to nil.

While Siena did the same to Selezione FCs.

That’s it for now! For more updates on worthless friendlies follow be on twitter @dylan_fahy

It’s exactly forty days until the Serie A season officially begins (28th August 2011). I think I’ll take a break from criticising the FIGC to write about some recent transfer rumours and an argument in Rome, with some pre-season friendlies thrown in for good measure.

• Sky Sport Italia are reporting that both Manchester clubs are now in the hunt for Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. City will apparently offer 5 million more than his current contract is worth.
• Roma Director Walter Sabatini is reported to be in Amsterdam negotiating and fee for Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg (I have also heard he is back without a deal). Either way I believe Roma are undervaluing the shot-stopper, as it’s rumoured that they are only offering between 6-8 million.
• Lazio have quashed rumours that Mauro Zarate is on his way to PSG by saying there have been no ‘formal’ offers. Reports during the week claimed that the French outfit were offering 20 million for the front-man.
• Alberto Aquilani’s agent claims that Fiorentina will not meet the full asking price. Claiming: ‘we can whittle things down’. The midfielder returned to Liverpool after Juventus decided not to buy the player after his loan in Turin.
• The random rumour of the day goes to Villarreal, as they have reportedly offered 12 million for Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino. With a contract worth 3 million a year.

An Argument In Rome

Now this probably isn’t a real story, but I wanted to cover it anyway.

Soon to be appointed Roma general manager Baldini has caused a bit of a backlash with his controversial comments on Francesco Totti. The comments basically consisted of baldini calling Totti lazy:

“Totti has four or five years of playing career left ahead of him, if he manages to focus only on football and nothing else”.

Now Baldini is not the first man to call Totti lazy, but he’s not even in the job yet and he’s criticising the Giallorossi Faithfull’s favourite player.

Baldini’s comments were mainly about the fact the Totti is in a lot of Italian advertisements, when he should be focussing on football. Any Italian will know who unbearable his Vodafone ads were with Gattuso.

This story has been blown out of proportion by fans, but don’t expect many of them to fully understand the comments. Totti has publicly described them as ‘a stab in the back’, when he should have said nothing.

It’s not a good start for the stubborn Tuscan in Rome.

Friendlies

We all love them! Watching our teams destroy smaller teams.

Inter vs. Cremonese
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side won 4-1, with goals from Eto’o, Pazzini and Faraoni.

Lazio vs. FC Luzern
New signings Miroslav Klose and Djibril Cisse both got on the score sheet as Lazio also won 4-1.

Udinese vs. Bordeaux
Champions League bound Udinese managed to win 3-1 against good opposition, even without Alexis Sanchez.
Since Udinese ruined the pattern of winning 4-1, I’ll end the round-up there!

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As I spoke of in my last article, Juventus President Andrea Agnelli will appeal this decision. Though ultimately it will come to nothing.

This all leads back to the original Calciopoli trial, evidence must have been cherry-picked, and it only lasted about fifteen days. The evidence of former Inter President Giacinto Facchetti’s eighty or so phone calls to match officials must have been a figment of everyones’ imagination. If everything was fair, Inter would lose this Scudetto and would be relegated to Serie B. At the very least give the Scudetto to no one, like the 2005 one. This can not be allowed to carry on. The FIGC keep leaking phone-taps when it suits them and they are the most corrupt association of all.

Why? Money Speaks...

Just looking at the different clubs that were convicted of match-fixing via the phone-taps, Luciano Moggi had many more calls then anyone else and they were more incriminating. The sporting tribunal actually found Moggi guilty of unethical behaviour and attempted match fixing. It’s the scale of everyones’ involvement. Juve were rightly punished (perhaps harshly) but if that’s the precedent it should be followed, meaning Inter should have been relegated. The FIGC could have closed the door on this by revoking the Scudetto at the very least.

It looks as though every one’s guilty, but the saddest thing is this is now a stereotype of Italian football, you can’t win without cheating. If everyone is cheating then no one will be punished.

• Juventus continue to pursue a striker in La Liga, but it’s no longer Sergio Aguero, instead Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi might be on his way to Turin. His agent confirmed that Juventus and Villarreal are discussing a possible transfer, and reports claim that the Bianconeri have made a 25 million bid. Although the Spanish side want 5 million more.
• Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has insisted that Marek Hamisk can leave if a bid of 100 million is made. I swear he had a straight face on while talking to Corriere dello Sport: “Unless an indecent proposal of €100 million arrives, Hamsik will stay where he is”.
• Fiorentina’s Riccardo Montolivo has rejected a contract renewal according to Andrea Della Valle. The Honorary President has admitted: “He evidently doesn’t want to stay here. Now he needs to tell us, and quickly, where he wants to go and play.” The Italian Internationale’s contract expires in 2012.
• Liverpool’s Raul Merireles has quashed rumours linking him with a move to Serie A, with Inter and Juventus the two clubs mentioned. When asked would he be at Anfield next season he responded: “Of course”.
• Back to Juventus, and Corinthians President Andres Sanchez claims they made a 52 million bid for Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez. After his own club made a 35 million offer for the Argentinian ace. The striker seems set to move back to South America after he announced he was leaving City for personal reasons.

Giovinco Is Happy The Way Things Have Gone

Sebastian Giovinco claims he has no regrets about staying at Parma instead of going back to Juventus, although he didn’t keep it at that. Also accusing Italians of being xenophiles.

“I am happy with the way things have gone. Juventus? They were the ones that sent me away. If I was to come back they would have to convince me. Parma have allowed me to break into the international setup”.

La Formica Atomica better be careful...

Italian magazine that interviewed him, Calcio 2000, persisted to ask strange questions: ‘Would my career have been easier if I was called Giovinho, prob yes’. The ‘Atomic Ant’ better be careful because Parma are not going anywhere fast (no offense), and bigger clubs could right him off based on his attitude.

2006 Scudetto Legal Action

Current Juventus President Andrea Agnelli has threatened to take legal action if the FIGC do not revoke the 2006 Scudetto from Internaztionale Milano. The FIGC will convene on Monday to make a decision, although it looks unlikely that the Scudetto will be removed, as it looks as though they are not legally permitted. Agnelli pressed his view by saying:

“It’s not time for bureaucracy, it’s time for essence. The dialogue will be restored only when these conditions will be guaranteed. People’s respectability isn’t at stake, especially the honourableness of those who cannot argue. We’re playing for the credibility of the system.”

Since the Calciopoli II trial in Naples evidence has emerged that Inter were also involved in match-fixing. A executive committee have spent the last month examining the evidence. Many Juventus fans have  been up in arms, as it looks as though Inter will not be punished. As Calciopoli continues to show it’s ugly head.

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An extremely unpredictable result considering they were in the midst of a relegation battle the season before, eventually finishing fifteenth. They also lost key players that summer, including Simone Pepe and Gaetano D’Agostino among others. Even at the start of this season it looked highly unlikely as they lost their first four games and drew the fifth.

After that poor start however, they became unstoppable. Antonio Di Natale and Alexis Sanchez formed a devastating partnership, netting thirty-nine goals in total. Kwadwo Asamoah, Gokhan Inler and Mauricio Isla made up a complete midfield. While Cristian Zapata was holding the defensive responsibilities. Manager Franceso Guidolin acted as a calming presence for the fans, but at the same time motivated the players. The Italian press even dubbed them the ‘Barcelona B’, as there attacking style presisted even when losing.

So after such a great season, how are the team from Udine preparing for the Champions League next season?

So far it looks as though the talismanic Sanchez is on his way to Barcelona. While crucial midfielder Gokhan Inler moved to rivals Napoli. Defensive rock Zapata’s move to Villarreal was confirmed today. Back-up attackers Antonio Floro Flores and German Denis also look to be on the way out. Udinese have loaned/sold a total of twenty-four players so far this transfer window. Yet only recalled/bought seven.

So you would think that Guidolin’s team would be linked to lots of exciting talent with the money being injected. Giovanni Dos Santos, Marco Parolo and Gaston Ramirez have been the names linked so far. Not going to set Europe alight are they? Many are evn claiming Udinese might ‘do a Sampdoria’, by qualifing for the Champions League one season and getting relegated the next. The reality is very far off, as Samp was a very different and unique case. That does not mean that they will not have a bad Champions League season, as so far reinforcements have not been made in key positions.

It’s not as bad as it sounds though little Zebras. Over the last fifteen years Udinese have qualified for Europe eight times, and they have lost start players before. Udinese make a percentage of what the ‘big’ teams around them make, yet they still manage to stay up there. Ever so often they have a bad year, take the year before this, but their system brings them back time and time again.

They are the first Italian team to adopt the Spainsh way of running a club. By investing in their scouting network and not splashing out on big name players. The money they will make from the supposed Sanchez sail is not going in to an immediate replacement, as they already have the next Sanchez in the reserves. Instead it is going into a replacement for the ‘next Sanchez’ in the reserves, aka the scouting network.

In theory they should already have the ‘next’ Inler and Zapata too, but it will not always work. If the up and coming star fails, the system hits a bumb in the road. Which results in a lacklustre season, or a costly signing. Either way it is the cheapest and the best way to grow a team, the only downside being it takes time.

Gino Pozzo, son of Udinese owner Giampaolo, explained this last May in La Republica:

“People have started calling us a phenomenon. However, in reality, we have been working in a certain way for a very long time and this is now starting to pay off”.

Although it has its doubters, the ‘Spanish system’ works in the long run, even though it is 100% dependent on its scouting network. People should be applauding Udinese, not being sceptical.

Ventuno is a game that is best played in about four or five people, but the minimum is three. A football is required, but proper goal posts are not. I played in-front of a wall that had two sign posts. Now, there are many different variations and rules, but I’m going to explain the ones I played with.

When you have your people, you have to decide who starts in goals. Now goals is the worst place to be, so with that in mind, you can decide. If you have goal posts, you play il gioco della traversa or crossbar challenge. From a decent distance you aim to hit the bar, and the person the misses the goals completely (high or wide), is in goals. If you don’t have proper goals you play sparala. I’m not sure what the English transaltion is, but it basically means shoot it high. From about two metres from the goals you put the tip of your foot under the ball and try and raise it high up on the wall. The person with the lowest shot is in goals. I have had many disputes when it comes to measuring how high it goes against the wall. As I would wait until no one was watching to hit, then claim it went really high.

Now that you have your keeper the fun begins. Basically the aim is to eliminate whoever is in goals, by scoring with your feet, head ect. The keeper starts with 21 points, thats why the game is called ventuno, and everyone outside the goals starts with a libera or free, which means they can miss/have the keeper catch their shot without going in goals. The keeper also has a box, which is about a metre, and people can’t go in and the keeper can’t come out.

Everything has to be done off the ground, so I can’t just shoot. I need my friends outside the goals to lift the ball up into the air, then I can hit it. That is the most important rule, everything must be off the ground, and I can’t lift it up to myself. That’s why three people are required.

So why the 21 you ask, because everything I score with has a value. For example when I score with my foot it takes one (1) point off the keeper, 21-1=20. Here is the list:

Foot (Piede)=one (1)

Head (Testa)=two (2)

Knee (Ginocchio)=three (3)

Chest (Petto)=four (4)

 Backheel (Tacco)=five (5)

Those are the main ones, but here is were it gets interesting, there is also:

Where everyone touches it while it’s in the air (Torretta)=five (5)

Shoulder (Spalletta)= everything (The keeper is eliminated)

Another rule is that if you kick the ball wide during the game you lose your libera. Meaning you lose your chance, the next time you kick it out you are in goals and start with 21. How to you gain liberas’? They are not called liberas’ anymore but jollys’ instead. Hitting the post gets you one jolly, the crossbar three and the intersection between the two is five. Once you have a few jollys your pretty much safe and won’t have to go in goals.

How does the keeper defend himself? It’s pretty simple he tries to stop everything, if he touches a shot but it still goes in it still only takes away one point. It could be shoulder, that eliminates everything, but if the keeper touches it, it is still only one point. Another way is by caching things cleanly, if it’s a clean catch then the person who touched it last either goes in goals or losses his libera or jolly.

If the ball goes over the bar it means nothing and is called altosalva or high saves.

When the person in goals gets down to nine (9) points they have a thing called la bastarda. Now I’m not going to translate that, but it means if they get the ball and shout bastarda stop everyone has to freeze. The keeper has to throw the ball at someone from inside their box, and if they hit them they either go in goals or lose their libera or jolly. The person on the outside can try and catch the ball cleanly, which keeps them safe. A way to be safe when the keeper at nine shouts, is to run to the post. Being on the post is like being free and the keeper can’t get you, but bare in mind only one person can been on the post. So if you see someone is already there, run elsewhere eg, behind something or far away. Players outside have to avoid letting the player get to nine.

The exact same situation occurs when the keeper is at either one (1), two (2) or three (3). This is called la febre. Apart from this time the keeper can take three steps out from his goals before throwing the ball at someone.

To avoid these situations just eliminate the keeper while not getting him to these numbers.

When the keeper is eliminated everyone has to take a penalty, if everyone scores the keeper is fully eliminated. If someone misses the keeper goes back to one, each miss gives he/she back a point. If people miss the keeper could still have la febre.

When the keeper is finally eliminated ideally they should be out of the next game, and have to go home early. I never played that way, so the game just starts all over again when the keeper is eliminated.

There are many tactics involved in the game, such as try to eliminate immediately. One other tactic is to not use your libera or jolly. I forgot to say that you are not obligated to use them, but it’s not a good tactic.

I have played Ventuno millions of times, and I hope from this post you can too. It really improves your ball skill and it’s a lot of fun with friends. Leave any questions in the comments, because it’s hard to explain in words how to play. But I hope you get the gist.

• La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas is interested in Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. The Italian international has one year left on his current contract, and there has been problems negotiating a renewal.
• Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Arturo Vidal has responded to speculation linking him to sides across Europe, including several English and Italian sides . The Chilean international says he will decide ‘after the Copa America’. He also says that Juventus would represent ‘a great oppertunity’.
• Reports coming out of Sicily suggest that Serie A newcomers Novara are looking to sign a co-ownership deal for Catania’s Takayuki Morimoto. The Japanese striker has struggled to get playing time for Catania, and Novara are looking to strengthen their squad.
• The strangest rumour award goes to Antonio Floro Flores, as Russian side Rubin Kazan have bid nine million for the Udinese forward. The twenty-eight year old has been linked to several Italian sides, but looks to be going overseas instead.

Liverani’ Tsunami
Palermo midfielder Fabio Liverani claims that President Maurizio Zamparini is a ‘tsunami’ by causing constant conflict:

“While Sabatini was there as a buffer, there were no problems, but when he left the Zamparini tsunami hit us full force”.

Zamparini might be the President, but he has to let the players and managers get on with it. In my opinion Palermo would be in the top four without Zampa’s attitude. Liverani made these comments during an interview with Mediagol, he went on to say:

“One day he would strike out at me, the next Rossi, then Federico Balzaretti, or Fabrizio Miccoli, then Cesare Bovo. When you insult someone every week, it’s inevitable the harmony is sucked out of the team. That harmony can be worth an extra seven or eight points over the course of a season”.

Liverani contract was not renewed at the end of last season, ending his three-year stint in Palermo.

Calciopoli Update
It has finally happened, former Juventus director Luciano Moggi has been officialy banned from football for life. This was after the FIGC rejected Moggi’s ,and fellow ex-director Antonio Giraudo’s, appeals against the lifetime bans. They were both part of the infamous Juventus board during the original Calciopoli scandal.

Moggi’s lawyers insisted the charge be considered past the statue of limitations. A law in Italy that prevents charges being made after a certain period of time. Neither the less, a statement was released yesterday confirmed the ban.

Former FIGC Vice-President Innocenzo Mazzini also lost his appeal and has been banned.

Finally a small piece of justice has been made for Italian football, although we still have a long way to go. All I hope now is that Moggi stops giving his opinion on everything Juve, and other teams, do. There might be other guilty parties, but we don’t need to hear about them through Moggi.

The cancer that still is Calciopoli had just been let loose. Italian football was entering a very dark place. Corruption and fraud were a common sight. Yet for one day we managed to win by overcoming our difficulties. What a memory.

Exactly five years on, and 2006 is just that. A memory. The fact is Italian football is still in that very dark place thanks to certain individuals. Events such as 2006 and Inter winning the Champions League only take us out of that place for a short period of time. We need a permanent solution to Calciopoli. Which is for the culprits to be punished and a system in place that would prevent another such event to ever take place again. I wish Calciopoli was just a memory, but sadly it is still very much alive.

For a proper look at 2006 have a look at Elaine’s Quattro Stelle: 2006

Current Inter President Massimo Moratti came out, urging Nerazzurri’ fans to boycott the pink paper:

“I was accustomed to reading the pink newspaper, but now unfortunately I’ll have to stop because their attack was so determined, harsh and calculated that it would be bad taste for me to keep on suffering in this way. The Scudetto is almost secondary now – albeit a point we stand firm on. What was totally unexpected was the attack on someone who is no longer here and cannot defend himself”.

Saying Mr Facchetti “cannot defend himself” is a fair point, but it should not even be brought up. In a way Moratti is using it to cover himself up. Boycotting the paper will not hide the facts, Inter should be punished if the evidence is there. 

“I am ready to battle on for Inter and the fans, which is why the idea of abandoning this club or playing the victim never went through my mind. These are the best moments for Inter.”

This is only another way in which Moratti can tarnish his reputation further. Making outrageous claims such as this will only make the papers write more, even Inter fans will be embarrassed. 

However, this was not the end of the saga, Gazzetta dello Sport editor Andrea Monti has issued a response to Moratti:

“Every newspaper is written for people, including the president of Inter, and we are entitled to criticize him. What I have argued, and I confirm, is known: the FIGC would do well not to allocate the 2006 Scudetto. The rest is not my opinion. We have only chronicled the prosecutor’s reports which is simply an allegation and not a sentence. The last thing Italian football needs is a new contest between the newspapers and the protagonists, even worse, one in the courts”.

The main part being it’s an allegation, nothing has been set in stone. The FIGC have pulled out of big decisions such as this before. Moratti has made a huge mistake though, beacuse if the FIGC do not take action, the papers will. By lashing out at the media he has made a powerful enemy.

Monti wrote this in an editorial, also going on to say  “there has never officially been one line that has appeared that has insulted the memory of Giacinto Facchetti”. Which just goes to show you what little research Moratti actually did. I would be surprised if he actually read the paper.