Marco Materazzi « mCalcio.com

Posts Tagged ‘Marco Materazzi’

Italy’s Euro 2008 Roster – 23 Players, Aye to Cassano & Del Piero, Nay to Montolivo

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

In accordance to the UEFA-imposed May 28 deadline, Italian coach Roberto Donadoni has made his final roster selection for Euro 2008: the 23 players who will representing the Azzurri this Summer have been picked and as many expected, Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo was the player discarded from the manager’s Pre-selection list.

“I was expecting it, I’m not too disappointed” said Montolivo. “The coach told me I had been excluded from the roster, and we’ll discuss the possibility of me staying among the group until Friday, and perhaps participating in the friendly vs. Belgium in Florence“. Donadoni himself however revealed, later in the day, that Montolivo would be leaving Coverciano. “The choice has been made yesterday evening. I gave [Montolivo] the choice of remaining with us, and he decided to leave tonight“.

It’s worth mentioning that Montolivo was, until the last minute, in serious contention with Quagliarella. It isn’t a coincidence that in the official team picture, both Montolivo and Quagliarella appear on the far ends of the second and bottom rows respectively (i.e. in easy “position” to be cut out). The same situation had taken place for Euro 2000 and Giuseppe Pancaro, who was then discarded at the last minute by then-coach Dino Zoff.

Also, many (myself included) had expected the Don to make his final choice between Montolivo and Aquilani (who was struggling with form & playing time in the last part of the season), but I guess Donadoni was reassured by the performances of the Roma player during practice, and reverted his final choice to Montolivo/Quagliarella (the Udinese striker also had a bleak end of the season, compared to his usual abilities).

In addition, the final shirt numbers have been submitted to UEFA. De Rossi has inherited Totti’s nº10, Del Piero will be keeping nº7, and Cassano wil take nº18 (formerly Pippo Inzaghi’s).

Here’s the full list with numbers:
.

Number	Goalkeepers:	Club:
Nº14	Marco Amelia	Livorno
Nº1	Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus
Nº17	Morgan De Sanctis	Sevilla
.
Defenders:
Nº6	Andrea Barzagli	Palermo
Nº5	Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid
Nº4	Giorgio Chiellini	Juventus
Nº3	Fabio Grosso	Lyon
Nº23	Marco Materazzi	Inter
Nº2	Christian Panucci	Roma
Nº19	Gianluca Zambrotta	Barcelona
.
Midfielders:
Nº13	Massimo Ambrosini	Milan
Nº22	Alberto Aquilani	Roma
Nº16	Mauro Camoranesi	Juventus
Nº10	Daniele De Rossi	Roma
Nº8	Gennaro Gattuso	Milan
Nº20	Simone Perrotta	Roma
Nº21	Andrea Pirlo	Milan
.
Forwards:
Nº12	Marco Borriello	Genoa
Nº18	Antonio Cassano	Sampdoria
Nº7	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus
Nº11	Antonio Di Natale	Udinese
Nº15	Fabio Quagliarella	Udinese
Nº9	Luca Toni	Bayern Munich

Tags: Alberto Aquilani, Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Barzagli, Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Cassano, Antonio Di Natale, Azzurri, Christian Panucci, Daniele De Rossi, Euro 2008, Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Fabio Quagliarella, Gennaro Gattuso, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Luca Toni, Marco Amelia, Marco Borriello, Marco Materazzi, Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi, Morgan De Sanctis, Riccardo Montolivo, Roberto Donadoni, Roster, Simone Perrotta
Posted in Azzurri, Euro 2008 | 2 Comments »

Inter Milan 2-2 Siena: Nerazzurri Miss The Chance For an Early Celebration, Roma At -1 (Serie A Matchday 37)

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Serie A Well well well… it’s nice to see everything is back in order in Serie A. I was starting to miss matchdays like these: back in the day, amidst all the footy chaos and odd results there was still one fixed constant in the universe, namely Inter’s uncanny ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

If you’ve been following Calcio for longer than 2 years you all know what I’m talking about, right? Ah those days… they sure seemed to be gone after 2006. What, with Inter coming out unscathed of the Calciopoli scandal and creating this super-team of champions (this virtually unstoppable goalscoring machine that should have destroyed everything in its path), one wondered if the average Italian soccer fan would ever find another such perfect team to mock.

Don’t panic people, Inter‘s still here! Indeed, believe or not, the Nerazzurri tied 2-2 at home to Siena today. All they needed was a win and the Scudetto was a done deal: in fact, people in Milan had already prepared bottles of Spumante to celebrate Inter’s 16^th title. But I guess that will have to wait one more week. Yes, Inter tied, by blowing away a double lead from Vieira (trumped by Maccarone) and Balotelli (trumped by Kharja), and then by missing the chance to make it 3-2 from the spot (bravo Materazzi). No need for hair-pulling just yet Inter fans, all you need to do is win at Parma next week and the Scudetto is yours. Ah, if only Parma weren’t fighting against relegation and in desperate need for a win themselves…

I’m being mean to Inter, so I should stop. Ultimately, Roberto Mancini’s team will (at 99% certainty) wrap this thing up next week with something like a ruthless 3-0 win, and in the end they’ll have the last laugh. But boy, do they deserve to made fun of right now…

$Inter players celebrate after Patrick Vieira\'s opening goal (Inter 2-2 Siena, Serie A Matchday 37, May 11, 2008)$ The first 45 minutes of today’s match were, to say the least, unexpected. The entire San Siro stadium was decorated in Neroazzurro, displaying early celebratory banners and T-shirts to galvanize their team into victory. Inter responded by immediately shifting into high gear, making siege of Alex Manninger’s goal. The first attempts by Patrick Vieira (wide) and Marco Materazzi (off the crossbar) set the mood, and it seemed as everything was set for a Siena trashing: it only took 11 minutes after kick-off for the home team to pull in front, as Patrick Vieira applied the headed finish to a Luis Jimenez corner-kick. 1-0 Inter and expectedly, plenty more to come.

Plenty? Not quite. In minute 30, Houssine Kharja got free on the right wing, moved to the center and found the right corridor for Massimo Maccarone. The Siena striker got in behind the defense and torpedoed Julio Cesar low on his right. 1-1, and the San Siro suddenly turned silent. The Nerazzurri supporters did feel a little better later, when the big screen TV announced Napoli had scored vs. AC Milan, but they certainly weren’t expecting their team to have to fight for a victory today. Even more stunning, in minute 41 Siena could have actually taken the lead, but Andrea Rossi (through on goal after a counter-attack) inexplicably shot the ball right at Julio Cesar.

Screams of panic thus turned into sighs of relief for Inter supporters, and then into shouts of joy, because just before the break the Nerazzurri went ahead again. Out on the right wing, Maicon sent in a long throw towards the box, and Vieira flicked it over to the second post for a wide open Mario Balotelli: headed finish and 2-1 Inter. Cue 80,000 San Siro supporters in full delirium mode.

In the second half, probably instructed by their coach to put the nail in Siena’s coffin, Mancini’s boys continued to push forward. Julio Cruz had a good opportunity to make it 3-1, but his left-footed finish (after a great fake-shot dribble on his marker) landed wide of Manninger’s right post. Then, the Inter deck of cards progressively started unraveling. In minute 63. Mario Balotelli had to leave the field due to cramps (standing ovation for him, as he was substituted by David Suazo), and 5 minutes later Siena pulled level. Daniele Ficagna crossed the ball from the right, Burdisso only managed a touch and deflected the ball towards Houssine Kharja. The Franco-Moroccan winger armed a precise instep shot that landed into Julio Cesar’s left-bottom corner. 2-2, the entire Giuseppe Meazza stadium silent once again.

With 20 minutes left to play, all tactics flew out the window for Inter. The entire team was pushing forward, litterally putting 11 Siena men under siege: I mean there was no one (and I mean no one, except for Maccarone) for the visitors that wasn’t defending behind the ball line. Even Materazzi was pushing up, doing more damage than good (his back save in offside position on Cruz’s shot was quite… comical). Just a minute later however, Matrix had the chance to redeem himself: having obtained a penalty shot for a (doubtful) shirt tug from Riganò, the Inter center-back decided he was going to be his team’s hero by transforming the spot-kick himself. Manninger had other plans, and skilfully parried away Materazzi’s shot to the bottom right.

As Materazzi’s dreams of glory shifted from “hero” to “zero” (on the touch line, Roberto Mancini wasn’t hiding what he thought of his center-back ), Inter threw their last resources forward to obtain the 3 points. Mancio even brought on Hernan Crespo but it was all to no effect: the ensuing shots by Jimenez and Cruz were wide, Vieira’s appeals for a penalty were turned down, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. As the home team left under the boos of the crowd, every Interista across Italy stared at the final result in disbelief. The Serie A season’s epilogue will have to be delayed one more week.

	INTER-SIENA 2-2 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 11’ Vieira (I), 30’ Maccarone (S), 45’ Balotelli (I), 69’ Kharja (S)
INTER (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Maxwell (81’ Crespo) – Vieira, Cambiasso (85’ Pelé), J.Zanetti – Jiménez – Cruz, Balotelli (63’ Suazo).(bench: Toldo, Rivas, Maniche, Cesar). Coach: R.Mancini.
SIENA (4-3-2-1): Manninger – Ficagna, Portanova, Loria, A.Rossi – Vergassola, Codrea (46’ Alberto), Galloppa (65’ Riganò) – Locatelli (46’ Coppola), Kharja – Maccarone (bench: Elefhteropoulos, Rossettini, De Ceglie, Frick). Coach: Beretta.

Tags: Houssine Kharja, Inter, Marco Materazzi, Mario Balotelli, Massimo Maccarone, Patrick Vieira, Scudetto, Siena
Posted in Inter, Serie A, Siena | 3 Comments »

Nike – “Take It To The Next Level” Commercial

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Ahhh… the time has come! The moment all of us footy enthusiasts have been waiting for: the new Nike soccer commercial. When it comes to the beautiful game, Nike’s marketing department has never failed to impress us; this time they have really pushed the boundaries of creativity, adapting a unique first-person view.

From their “How badly do you want to be a fooballer” campaign and featuring international superstars such as Arsene Wenger, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Marco Materazzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ruud van Nistelrooy (among others), their newest TV commercial is titled “Take It To The Next Level” and it goes a little something like this:

You open your eyes. You see the referee has just finished booking the defender that brought you down. One of your teammates helps you up, and asks if you’re alright. “Can you take it?” he says. “Yeah yeah don’t worry about it” you reply, and carefully place the ball on the free kick spot.

Not even waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, you slam an inswinging shot past the ball straight into the net. GOAAAAAL!! Your teammates jump all over you, you’ve just won the game for your team!

As you exit the field, you spot Arsène Wenger eyeing you from the sidelines. Looks like he’s scouting for some new talent… could you be the next promising youngster heading to Emirates Stadium?

As you enter the door of the training ground, you can’t contain your excitement at receiving your fully personalized Arsenal jersey. The assistant coach points to your spot in the changing room, between shirts nº32 (Theo Walcott) and nº2 (Abou Diaby).

Time for your first match, Arsène is bringing you on against Manchester United!! William Gallas high fives you as he leaves the pitch; a slap on the cheek from the Gunners captain is all the encouragement you need!

It doesn’t take you very long to get right into the heart of the action! Wayne Rooney chests the ball and volleys it towards Cristiano Ronaldo. You somehow try to stop him but you just get pushed to the ground. Boy that’s gonna leave a mark! Before you can even get back up, you see the Portuguese player making a fool of your keeper and scoring with a slamming volley. After his goal, Ronaldo doesn’t miss taunting you for your incompetence, that was embarassing!

Enraged at your first match performance, you’re boiling with energy at your next training session. Push-ups, sit-ups, jumping, running up the stairs, you’re really pumped and ready for action.

After a long spell on the bench, Wenger has decided it’s time to give you a second chance: you’re a starter in Arsenal’s next league game. No time to waste, kick-off and let’s go!!

You pass the ball to Cesc Fàbregas, he gets by a defender then slides the ball to the right wing. With the cross is coming in towards you, you cannot miss it this time! Waiting for the ball to drop, you arm a powerful volley past the opposing keeper!! GOAAAAL!! Fàbregas kisses you and screams like a little girl with excitement.

From the kisses of Fàbregas to that of your girlfriend. You’re transported into a limousine, ready to attend some big fundraising event. It’s a drag, but you know it’s for a good cause and besides, you love the media attention.

As you make your way on the red carpet hundreds of screaming fans ask for your autograph. One crazy chick even wants you to… autograph her breasts? Don’t mind if I do! You’re glad to oblige, under the perplexed eyes of your girlfriend…

Champions’ League day! Arsenal are playing Inter Milan. You’re facing Marco Materazzi, challenging an aerial ball. The Italian defender doesn’t play subtle however, and shoves you aside before heading the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

You can only watch helplessly as the Swede strikes a powerful shot into the top corner, leaving your keeper to pick the ball up in the back of net. Zlatan is laughing at you…

Darn, that Materazzi challenge really left some bruises. As you take your shower after the match, you discover you’ve lost a tooth!

Next week, you’re playing Barcelona. The traditional pre-match handshakes see the Blaugrana players pass by before you…Rafael Márquez, Bojan Krkic, Ronaldinho… then game on!

Receiving a pass, you chest it down and flick it over a defender, before attempting to send it down the right wing… but Marquez intercepts it!! He passes to Ronaldinho, and the pesky Brazilian makes your teammates look like fools… two sombreros in quick succession? Cesc is not happy!

Back to more training, even harder this time!! More running up the stairs… but also team spirit building: you pull down the pants of one of your teammates during practice. Everyone bursts out laughing as the joke recipient chases you angrily. It’s all in good fun though.

Then more running… so much in fact that you end up puking your lunch when you’re done. It was worth the effort though, the Dutch national team manager has monitored your progress and called you up for your first international match vs. Portugal!!

Your heart is pacing at 200 beats per minute as you enter the stadium, right behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Nani. Boy oh boy are you excited! Some pre-match stretching, Ruud van Nistelrooy does a few juggles & flicks, then hands the ball to the referee. The match can begin!!!

Kick off, your team is taking control. Ruud attempts a long-range drive but it’s parried by the keeper. He apologizes for messing up your good pass. Oh look it’s Ronaldo again, only this time you’re not letting him school you.

Your team gets the ball back, Wesley Sneijder‘s in control. One nutmeg to clear a defender, then Wesley passes the ball to you and the road to the goal is clear! You run at full pace towards the net, but a Portugal defender takes your legs away right on the edge of the box. Your mind goes black…

You open your eyes. You see the referee has just finished booking the defender that brought you down. Ruud helps you up. Wesley brings you the ball and asks if you’re taking it. You nod, carefully place the ball on the free kick spot, and start your run…
.
.
Alright I’ll quit teasing you… here’s the video (you can find the high res version at Nikefootball.com).