Continuing my weekly article inspired by Gazzetta dello Sport, here are the performances of all Italian soccer players operating in foreign European leagues.

Based on Gazzetta’s info, there are currently 22 Italians playing in first divisions abroad, and 10 of them stepped on the field this week-end.

The table below includes the team the player belongs to, their opponents for the week, the number of minutes they played, their contribution (goal, assist), and the final score of the game.
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ENGLAND
Player	Team	Opp.	mins.	Contrib.	Score
Carlo Cudicini	Chelsea	@Sunderland	90	/	1-0
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SCOTLAND
Massimo Donati	Celtic	@Motherwell	/	/	PP.
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GERMANY
Luca Toni	Bayern M.	@E.Cottbus	90	/	0-2
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SPAIN
Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid	@Deportivo	90	/	0-1
Giuseppe Rossi	Villareal	Zaragoza	28	1 goal	2-0
Christian Abbiati	Atl. Madrid	Levante	90	/	3-0
Gianluca Zambrotta	Barcelona	@Almeria	(susp.)	/	2-2
Enzo Maresca	Sevilla	@Valencia	(bench)	/	2-1
Morgan De Sanctis	Sevilla	@Valencia	(bench)	/	2-1
Emiliano Moretti	Valencia	Sevilla	90	/	1-2
Stefano Sorrentino	Recreativo	Murcia	90	/	4-2
Damiano Tommasi	Levante	@Atl. Madrid	(injd.)	/	0-3
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FRANCE
Fabio Grosso	Lyon	@Monaco	90	/	3-0
Flavio Roma	Monaco	Lyon	(injd.)	/	0-3
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HOLLAND
Graziano Pellè	AZ Alkmaar	@Utrecht	45	/	2-2
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BELGIUM
Roberto Mirri	Mons	Z.Waregem	(susp.)	/	3-0
Alessandro Pistone	Mons	Z.Waregem	(injd.)	/	3-0
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SWITZERLAND
Stefano Razzetti	St. Gallen	@Young Boys	(bench)	/	0-3
Andrea Guatelli	FC Zürich	@Aarau	(bench)	/	0-1
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POLAND
Stefano Napoleoni	Widzew Łódź	@R.Chorzow	45	1 goal	1-1
Joseph Oshadogan	Widzew Łódź	@R.Chorzow	(N/A)	/	1-1
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RUSSIA
Ivan Pelizzoli	Lok. Moscow	R.Kazan	(N/A)	/	0-1

 

Heroes of the week

Not many protagonists this week, but those that did make an impact share a common characteristic: they both came off the bench to score a valuable goal. I am talking about Rossi (just back to full fitness from injury) and Napoleoni.

In the Spanish Liga this week-end, Villareal were hosting Zaragoza. Things started off pretty well for the Yellow Submarine, when a 10th-minute free-kick by Nihat gave them them a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Giuseppe Rossi came on for Tomasson in minute 62, and just 2 minutes later the home team obtained a penalty-kick. The ex-Man Utd striker stepped confidently, and sent the keeper the wrong way for the 2-0 (and final) scoreline. Rossi now totals 11 goals in the Pichichi race (way behind of Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano and his 22 tallies).

Then for the first time in this segment, our travels take us to usually-neglected Polish league, or “Orange Ekstraklasa” as they call it back there. One of this week-end’s match-ups featured Widzew Łódź playing hosts to Ruch Chorzów, a game which saw ex-Tor di Quinto striker Stefano Napoleoni start off from the bench. The young Italian however made an appearance after the break, and immediately went to work: his 46th-minute goal puttting his team in the lead and sending the home fans into rapture. Celebrations were short-lived however, because Ruch Chorzów equalized just 5 minutes later.

Finally a small stop in the Bundesliga, for mCalcio habitué Luca Toni. No goals for the ex-Fiorentina striker this week, and what’s even worse is that Bayern Munich suffered a shock defeat at the hands of last-ranked Energie Cottbus on Saturday. A two-goal defeat I might add! Luca did manage to obtain a penalty-kick in minute 28 (with the score 1-0 for Cottbus at that point), but Franck Ribéry saw his low effort saved by the home keeper.

Posted in Italian Players Around the World |

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