Odds n Ends on a Quiet News Day

By: Martha | January 22nd, 2008

Corradi •A man who knows a good PR opportunity when he sees it, Dunga has called Pato into the Brazil team for a February 6 friendly against the Republic of Ireland. (Dunga also coaches Brazil’s national team, which goes a long way toward explaining Pato’s presence in the side, as well as that of nine other players under the age of 23.)

•I’m not sure where this story originated, but a lot of sources today are reporting on Lazio’s interest in getting Parma’s Bernardo Corradi back. Granted, the arrival at the club of Cristiano Lucarelli threatens Corradi’s place in the first 11, but would Parma really be willing to part with someone of his ability, no matter how inconsistent, just because Lucarelli has come to town?

•On the topic of Lazio, they may be injury-riddled, but they’re still willing to part with defender Lionel Scaloni: He’s going back to La Liga, where he’s spent the bulk of his career, and will serve out the rest of the season on loan at Mallorca.

•Genoa, meanwhile, are also busy lending players out: They’ve sent Andrea Masiello to Bari for the rest of the season, and are reportedly engaged in discussions with Roma, hoping to secure the services of the largely ignored Mauro Esposito, either on loan or via a permanent deal.

•In other Roma news, they’ve loaned Ricardo Faty to Ligue 2 leaders Nantes for the rest of the season. He’s been at Bayer Leverkusen on a two-year loan since last summer but, according to Wikipedia, has only played one match there, so it presumably wasn’t much skin off Leverkusen’s nose to let him go give it a shot elsewhere. Depending on whether or not Nantes secure promotion, it’s thought they might try to make the 21-year-old’s move permanent.

•The International Federation of Football History and Statistics has named Carlo Ancelotti the best club coach ~~ever~~ of 2007. Just so you know. (Apparently Champions League matches are heavily weighted.)

•The week’s suspensions have been handed down, and there’s nothing for Adrian Mutu, for what sure looked like a dive during the second half of Fiorentina’s 2-1 win over Torino on Saturday. Guglielmo Stendardo, however, got three matches for his vociferous protests to the referee after Lazio’s ~~loss to~~ draw with Napoli (making him the second Lazio player, after Massimo Mutarelli, to get a lengthy suspension for bitching and moaning), and several others got one game, most of them for accumulated yellow cards.

•Even Andrea Caracciolo’s agent admits nobody really wants him — according to Andrea D’Amico (who evidently did not go to the same Agent School as the guy who works for Amauri), the only club who’s actually made inquiries about his client’s services are Lazio, who have no money whatsoever but might give him a chance to play. All of the other rumored destinations, D’Amico says — including Roma, though he claims Luciano Spalletti is a long-time fan — are crap.

•The Lucho Gonzalez-to-Fiorentina story is back again, and this time it’s even more expensive. Last time the rumor came up, the Viola were said to have offered €8 million for the Porto captain, but now they’ve allegedly upped their offer to €10 million, which is still only half of what Porto are asking (and that, in turn, is less than his €25 million buyout clause.)