News Roundup to Distract Us as We Wait For Roma Spank Man U

By: Martha | April 4th, 2007

Flamini •You know how Catania had to play their home games in an empty neutral stadium after the riot and cop murder outside the Angelo Massimino in February? Well, never mind. By the magic of the Italian appeals system, the previously harsh punishment has been overturned, and Catania fans can once again gather and cheer wildly for the awful team. Because the Angelo Massimino doesn’t meet the new security requirements, however, home games will still take place at neutral — but not empty! — grounds.

•Speaking of February’s tragedy, the Italian Senate passed a series of laws yesterday that made all the security measures put into effect in the wake of the incident fully official, something that is required within 60 days of a “decree,” which is how those rules were originally put in place. In addition to the measures with which we’ve all become familiar over the past couple of months, the Senate added a stipulation of their own requiring clubs to give free tickets to fans under 14. Though the idea, obviously, is to bring families back to the game, I can’t help by wonder if the effect is going to be younger and younger Ultras. (They can get in free AND wreck havoc? SWEET!)

•Torsten Frings, the Werder Bremen midfielder who just weeks ago was enraged by the mere mention of his name in the context of a transfer to Juve, is now waxing poetic about that very club. The fact that Frings is suddenly enraptured at the thought of a move to Italy seems to stem largely from his ego: In an interview with a German paper, he said “Juventus want me at all costs. They are interested in me not as any midfielder, but as the midfielder.” THE midfielder! How can anyone in their right mind resist that sort of fawning praise? Frings clearly can’t, and he told the paper he’s “seriously considering” the option. Since he’s contracted through 2009, however, Juve are going to have to come up with enough money to please the egos of the money men at his club, or Frings ain’t going anywhere.

•Just so you know, Inter are not going to swap youthful, vibrant Adriano for that old, clunky Toni. Jeez.

•According to an interview he gave the French press, Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini is desperate to leave for a club where he can start the next “cycle” of his career, a cycle he hopes will feature a lot more playing than he’s doing now. Depending on who you believe, he’s either going to Juve or Inter; either way, the bid will probably be about £4 million.

•In case you were wondering what the referee thinks, Horacio Elizondo, the man who sent Zidane off in the World Cup Final has called Zizou “a true gentleman” and “a knight,” for accepting his card without flipping out. According to Elizondo, The Great One should not be judged for his actions, because “It can happen to all to lose the head for a moment.” (Rather cattily, La Gazzetta dello Sport helpfully points out at this point in the article that Zidane was sent off 13 times prior in his career. Hee.)