UEFA Cup: Look At the Ex-Azzurri!

Four Italian sides — Sampdoria, Empoli, Fiorentina and Palermo — are in action today in the UEFA Cup, all four with have a good chance to go through to the next round. Since I doubt many of you really care, I’ll spare you the full preview (a roundup of results from the first leg is here), but Palermo are at home with a 1-0 aggregate lead and are the most stoked of the bunch going into today’s matches.

Even more important than the results, however (no, really), is the fact that two long-lost Azzurri strikers — both slowly making their ways down the Road to Redemption — will probably be starting for their clubs. I’m talking, of course, about Christian Vieri and Antonio Cassano, both of whom have one goal for their new clubs, and are desperate to impress the calcio world with their footballing prowess. (See how changed Bobo is? The only prowess he’s worried about these days is to do with football. Why, he’s hardly recognizable!)

Vieri made his first start for Fiorentina in the club’s first leg match with Dutch side Groningen, playing about an hour and, despite that whole slower-than-your-grandma thing, was reportedly always threatening, with a couple of near-misses in the box. He’ll hope to do more than that today, when the Viola throw a giant mass of attackers at Groningen in their desperation to pile up many, many goals. Cassano, meanwhile, is finally healthy and came off the bench to score his first goal at the weekend; he’s expected to make his first start for Sampdoria today against Aalborg. If the pair of them manage to score today, rest assured that both will tear off their shirts to show how much weight they’ve lost and immediately a)get carded, and b)send the Italian media into a frenzy about their possible Azzurri returns. I trust all of you have your fingers crossed for all three possibilities.

Category: Bobo Vieri, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Serie A, UEFA Cup

Tags: Bobo Vieri, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Serie A, UEFA Cup

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