Posts Tagged ‘Pavel Nedved’

Serie A Matchday 29 – Week-End Review + GOALS of the Week (2008-09)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

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Roma 1-4 Juventus: Bianconeri Triumph in ‘Battle of the Hospital Wards’ (Serie A Matchday 29)

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Juventus Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved (C) celebrates with team mate forward Vincenzo Iaquinta (L) after scoring against AS Roma during their Italian Serie A football match on March 21, 2009 at Olympic stadium in Rome. (Getty Images)

In this long, tough battle for Serie A supremacy, few teams can make the claim to have been decimated by injuries, at least not like those entering the Stadio Olimpico of Rome Saturday. I won’t bother to go over Juventus for fear of redundancy; Roma, just for this match alone, stepped onto the grass with five bench Primaveras and a big book of prayers in Spalletti’s hands. It is a sad tale of missed potential and full of “what if” hypotheses: what if these teams could have counted on their full roster this season; what if Legrottaglie and Juan had been there to stop the Chelsea and Arsenal strikers; what if Inter was having the same injury troubles as these two… what if.

Thus, it is in this surreal “red cross” atmosphere that Giallorossi and Bianconeri set to face each other Saturday, with the home team, it must be said, in slightly more dire straits than their colleagues. A youth presence on a team is always refreshing, but for Roma that’s about just what it was: refreshing and cold, just like the goal shower Juventus onloaded on them. Iaquinta drew first blood, Loria (yes, you have read correctly) momentarily tied, before big Vincenzo, Mellberg, and Nedved wrapped things up for the visitors. It was a clear message to league leaders Inter, as this never-ending Saturday/Sunday “long distance” battle continues, one team losing ground one day only to see it restored the very next day. In the words of Gazzetta, “Those expecting an early wrap for the Serie A title will be disappointed”.

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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 0-0 Napoli: Bianconeri Through on Penalties, Qualify for Coppa Italia Semis

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

If one thing was certain on Wednesday night’s Coppa Italia match, it was the “do or die” nature of Juventus vs. Napoli. Coming from rather poor moments of form in Serie A (two consecutive losses against Udinese and vs. Cagliari for the Bianconeri, a single point scored in their last four fixtures for the Azzurri) both teams had every intention of turning this Cup encounter into a rejuvenating cure.

What transpired in the end was a rather entertaining match, and this despite the misleading 0-0 score at the end of the 120 minutes of play. A rather bleak first-half performance was followed by an exciting second half, in which Juventus and Napoli played open attacking football and quckly shifted the ball from one end of the field to another. It was only through some great moments of defensive brilliance (Mellberg/Cannavaro) or sheer bad luck (Bogliacino/Trezeguet) that the 0-0 score remained unchanged, and in the end (after another battled & tense 30 minutes of extra time) only penalty kicks were able to break the tie at the Olimpico tonight. Ultimately Juventus prevailed, capitalizing on the Neapolitan errors of Lavezzi, Contini and Gargano, and will advance to the Coppa Italia Semi-Finals where they will play Lazio.

At the end of the day though, it must be said that both teams can be satisfied with their performances tonight. After their rough last couple of weeks, Napoli and Juventus have demonstrated they are very far from being dead & buried.

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Soccer Bargains: All EXPIRING CONTRACT Players for 2009

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Fabio Cannavaro, Carlos Tevez, Michael Ballack, Michael Owen, Mark Van Bommel, Fred… these are but a few of the players whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season. And with the january transfer window practically at our doorstep, it is time to give these “old timers” a chance to prove they still are champion material. Time to make that zero-cost buy to win you that elusive trophy, cup, or championship title (or in the worst cases, save you from relegation).

In other words: it’s “Bosman Bonanza” time, with some real bargains to be made…

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