Posts Tagged ‘Antonio Di Natale’

Euro 2012 ITALY ROSTER – Official List of 23 Players

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

National team coach Cesare Prandelli has made the Azzurri’s roster official, and communicated his list to UEFA.

Compared his previous version, the manager has left out Andrea Ranocchia and Mattia Destro. Doubts remain on the eligibility of Leonardo Bonucci, currently under investigation in the massive betting scandal surrounding Italian soccer this week.

The list also made the squad numbers for the final phase of the tournament official.

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Euro 2012 ITALY Roster “Pre-Selection” – Prandelli’s List of 32

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

As the European Championship draws near, over the past week-end Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli revealed his preliminary list of 32 players from which the final 23 who will be making the trip to Poland/Ukraine this Summer.

There were several surprises, such as newcomers Mattia Destro (Siena), Emanuele Giaccherini (Juventus), and Ezequiel Schelotto (Atalanta), but also “old-timers” who despite their vast amount of experience have not featured yet under Prandelli’s reign: Rubin Kazan defender Salvatore Bocchetti, Bologna’s Alessandro Diamanti, and Udinese veteran Antonio Di Natale.

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Udinese 2-0 Zenit St. Petersburg: All Hail the Pride of Italy… (UEFA Cup Round of 16, 1st Leg)

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

(LEFT) Udinese's Fabio Quagliarella, left, celebrates after scoring with his teammate Simone Pepe, during a UEFA Cup, Round of 16, first-leg soccer match between Udinese and Zenit St. Petersburg, in Udine, Italy, Thursday, March 12, 2009. (AP Photo) (RIGHT) Udinese's Antonio Di Natale celebrates after scoring on a penalty kick during a UEFA Cup, Round of 16, first-leg soccer match between Udinese and Zenit St. Petersburg, in Udine, Italy, Thursday, March 12, 2009.  (AP Photo) (

All together now: “Thank you Udinese!!”.

The Italian disaster-fest that was the UEFA Champions League this year will not be easily forgotten, but at least there is one team giving us consolation and keeping the peninsula’s pride elevated (to moderate heights at least) as they mantain their presence in Europe’s second-choice cup: the UEFA (soon-to-be Europa) Cup.

With this win, the Bianconeri have demonstrated that their darkest days are finally behind them and to sweeten the deal even further, Udinese’s opponents Thursday night were none other than 2007 Russian Premier League and 2008 UEFA Cup Winners Zenit St. Petersburg, the very same team which not even five months ago was battling it out against Real Madrid and Juventus in the UCL.

Just something to keep the naysayers quiet…

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Udinese 2-1 Lech Poznań: Bianconeri Hanging Tight, Keep Italy’s Presence Alive (UEFA Cup Round of 32, 2nd Leg)

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Udinese's Simone Pepe, right, celebrates with his teammates Gokhan Inler of Switzerland, during the UEFA Cup, Round of 32, second-leg soccer match between Udinese and Lech Poznan, at the Friuli Stadium in Udine , Italy, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009.  (AP Photo)

After their nasty performance in Turin and receiving the heavy criticisms of big boss Giampaolo Pozzo, Udinese can breathe some fresh air again. European air. For not only did they turn a 1-0 half-time deficit over Lech Poznań into a 2-1 victory (and subsequent qualification to the UEFA Cup’s round of 16), they are also the only Italian team to have won in Europe this week. Who would have thought?

It was a tale of two halves, in which the Bianconeri struggled considerably after conceding Rengifo’s goal and which almost mimicked the final 10 minutes of the first leg. However, Marino’s team then picked up it with verve & rage in the second 45 minutes, grabbing goals through Pepe and Di Natale. Udinese will now face the current champions, Zenit St. Petersburg, in the next round, and given the things (as many good as bad ones) this team is capable of, we can only hope their European adventure will not end there.

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Napoli 2-2 Udinese: 45 Minutes of Brilliance, 45 Minutes of Boredom (Serie A Matchday 22)

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

…and Fabio Quagliarella. At the end of the day the main story of Napoli vs. Udinese, without a doubt, will be the Udinese striker’s fantastic 2-2 tally. The kind that Quagliarella has been known to do, the kind that has made us fall in love with this great player: side volley from outside the box, no chance for the opposing keeper.

And as much as Fab Quagl’s goal wonderfully capped the end of an exciting 45 minutes, Napoli vs. Udinese ended at half-time. The score did not change further in the second period and sealed the draw (more or less satisfactorily) for the two teams: Napoli halted their 3-game losing streak while Udinese, after their great mid-week performance vs. Juve, confirmed to be back in the driver’s seat.

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