Posts Tagged ‘Amauri’

Chelsea vs. Juventus: The PLAYERS

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Chelsea vs. Juventus: The PLAYERS

Continuing to surf on La Gazzetta‘s “Serie A vs. EPL” wave, here are ALL THE PLAYERS from UEFA Champions League’s Chelsea vs. Juventus.

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Juventus 1-1 Sampdoria: Bianconeri Stopped by Blucerchiati & Woodwork (Serie A Matchday 24)

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero, right, is fouled by Sampdoria defender Paolo Sammarco during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Sampdoria at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. (AP Photo by MASSIMO PINCA)

Before Sunday, one of the main reasons for Juventus to complain this season was their injury situation. After today’s match against Sampdoria Bianconeri fans can add another item to the list, one which is just another manifestation of that darned bad luck persecuting the team all year long.

That item is woodwork.

Yes, as of today even posts and crossbars are conspiring against Ranieri’s boys, which tried their darndest to obtain a vital three points but found an attentive Blucerchiati defense and some evil curse of dark magic to deny them that joy (for I can find no other explanation to justify the boatload of missed chances I witnessed at the Stadio Olimpico today). The 1-1 final result will satisfy Walter Mazzarri (who has now raked four consecutive matches with points), but certainly not Juve, who see Inter and their Scudetto chances slipping further away.

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Brazil vs. Italy Preview: London’s Emirates Stadium Gets Ready for the ‘Derby of the World’

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

The mother of all games, or as Lippi and Falcao tagged it, the ‘Derby of the World‘. As yet another week of international friendlies begins, fans everywhere will be eagerly anticipating some of the highest quality international football action in the year. I mean just think about it: Argentina vs. France and Spain vs. England all in the same week?

The most anticipated game of them all of course, will be Tuesday’s fixture at the Emirates Stadium of London, Brazil vs. Italy. These two teams have not faced each other since 1997 (a friendly tournament encounter to prepare for the France ’98 world cup) but boy do they have some serious history together. Who here doesn’t remember the 1970 and 1994 World Cup finals? Of course, we Italians would rather forget those and prefer to remember 1982′s 3-2 win with Paolo Rossi’s hat-trick. So far, previous encounters puth both teams on equal records: 12 matches, five wins a side and only two draws (including 1994′s 0-0 tie which lead to Brazil’s penalty-shootout victory).

For a cute trip down memory lane visit Francesco’s post over at the Italy Offside. In the meantime, let’s preview this epic showdown set to take place on Tuesday.

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Juventus 4-2 Milan: The Inter Antidote Is Here, It’s a Black & White Pill (Serie A Matchday 16)

Monday, December 15th, 2008

“Anti-Inter”. A big phrase for Italian newspapers this week-end, as indeed Sunday’s Juventus vs. AC Milan presented itself as a revealing showdown. One to determine the Nerazzurri’s real contender for the Scudetto race, one to decide historical bragging rights between two teams who, in the past two decades, have won more Serie A champions titles than any other team.

Well, at the end of a dramatically intense and exciting match the Bianconeri have claimed those rights, and thus kept within distance of the Inter “enemy”. On Sunday, the Old Lady won thanks to their playing rhythm, the youthful strength of Marchisio, Sissoko and De Ceglie, but also thanks to the exceptional attacking prowess of the Del Piero-Amauri tandem, a tremendous combination of class and power. Milan displayed some pride and quality, but they lacked physical and playing continuity. It was a night in which the absences of Kaká and Gattuso felt very heavy indeed.

Note: I am still without my computer. Right now I can only post through an old Compaq 900 laptop from the pre-war era. For Juve-AC Milan though, some sacrifices have to made. ;)

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Lecce 1-2 Juventus: Thanking Amauri and Super-Seba (Serie A Matchday 15)

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

Inter score three, Juve win it at the death. In the end it’s all the same: three points in the bag, and the Serie A standings unaltered.

And so, because points are more important than goals or scoring chances, several facts go unnoticed at the end of Sunday’s match. Two of them are that despite their win, Juventus played one their worst games of the season, and that Lecce, despite their evident technical inferiority, fought hard to come from behind and would have at least deserved a tie at the end of the night.

Instead, what people will remember out of Lecce-Juventus are mainly two things.

The first, is that Sebastian Giovinco scored his first Juve goal. In the absence of Alessandro Del Piero La Formica Atomica finally got his chance to shine and, emulating his idol captain, did not pass it up. His beautiful free-kick provided the Bianconeri’s first goal; his moves, his touches, and his accelerations gave Juve supporters a glimpse of what may very well be the Black & White future of the next decade. This is how champions are born people.

The second thing people will remember, exemplied by Amauri’s goal in the 90th minute, is more of a reminder of sorts. It embodies a team spirit that, in months of uncertainty, courtroom frustration, and Serie B agony, has still remained intact: La Juve non molla mai.

Go and ask your Italian friends what it means…

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