Posts Tagged ‘Pasquale Marino’

Lech Poznań 2-2 Udinese: Wasteful Show in Poland for Quags & Co. (UEFA Cup Round of 32, 1st Leg)

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Udinese's Alexis Sanchez (R) fights for the ball against Lech Poznan's Grzegorz Wojtkowiak during their UEFA Cup soccer match at the Stadium in Poznan February 19, 2009. Fabio Quagliarella (L) looks on. (REUTERS)

Three minutes of craziness. That’s all it took Udinese to blow out their 2-0 lead vs. Lech Poznań. Three minutes of defensive hara-kiri in the last quarter which, as many times this year, cast a shadow on all the good work done by the strikers and is keeping this UEFA Cup qualification in the balance.

And such a shame too, because the Bianconeri had found the perfect way to warm up their (low number of) supporters at Stadion Miejski: two goals early into the second half which would make even the most frigid of fans excited in sub-zero Polish weather. The upside is that a 2-2 away draw is still a pretty good result for Marino’s boys, who will simply have to avoid any more disasters in the return leg at Stadio Friuli.

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10-Men Inter Reclaim Their +6 Serie A Lead as Juve & Milan Stumble (Serie A Matchday 21)

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

As a Bianconero, big disappointment lingers in my mind after Wednesday’s Serie A action. Not only did an unrecognizable (and Del Piero-less) Juve lose away to Udinese, but Inter Milan‘s concurrent win over Catania (and AC Milan‘s draw to Genoa) restores the Nerazzurri’s +6/+8 lead, leaving us to wonder if the current order of the top three Serie A teams will ever change again.

Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic, but I’ve been following the soccer scene for quite some time now and I’ve got this hunch: usually during a title race, when the top team loses some ground only to regain it the following week, they are keeping their lead till the end. I’ve got no scientific or tactical evidence to support this theory, it is what it is: a hunch. But based on my previous years of Serie-A watching experience, it is somewhat reminiscent of the Juve vs. Parma and Juve vs. Inter title races of the late 90′s.

Secretly of course, I want to believe otherwise…

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Udinese Thinking of Playoffs, Sampdoria Thinking of Derby (UEFA Cup Group Stage, Matchday 4)

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

After AC Milan on Matchday 3, Serie A made two out of three Wednesday by adding yet another name to the UEFA Cup playoffs Round. With only one day left in the Group Stage, only a certain club from Genoa has yet to join the Round of 32 party.

Indeed, Sampdoria must have had their minds elsewhere on Wednesday, because they were (quite unequivocally) beaten by Standard Liège with a whopping score of 3-0. Could the upcoming Derby della Lanterna against Genoa have something to do with it?. Meanwhile, Udinese secured their spot in the playoffs round thanks to a 2-1 win at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb, courtesy of goals by Fabio Quagliarella and Christian Obodo.

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Fiorentina 4-2 Udinese: Come-back Kings Wearing Violet on Saturday (Serie A Matchday 13)

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

The perfect example of “a match of two halves”, Saturday’s Fiorentina vs. Udinese also delighted Serie A fans with a big deluge of goals, courtesy of some often shaky defending (on both sides) but more so of the great prideful reaction by Cesare Prandelli’s boys. One goal down early in the game, La Viola looked over the precipice, reacted and came back as only a great fighter would.

In particular, today’s lasting image was the big “fu** you” message (figuratively speaking) sent by Riccardo Montolivo to all his critics, after his uninspiring mid-week performance for Italy. The Viola midfielder literally took his team by the reins, providing the playmaking and the scoring, and capping a great performance with two nicely taken goals.

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Quagliarella Inspires, Dinho Follows (UEFA Cup Group Stage, Matchday 2)

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Surfing the wave of success from matchday 1, Serie A clubs continued their good run of form on matchday 2 of UEFA Cup Group Stage. With Sampdoria taking a break this round, both AC Milan and Udinese came out victorious of their encounters vs. Sporting Braga (1-0) and Spartak Moscow (2-1).

While Udinese achieved their result thanks to a 60th minute penalty of Fabio Quagliarella, the Rossoneri had to patiently (frustratingly?) wait until stoppage time of the second half, before a Ronaldinho-powered blast gave Milan the late victory.

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