Monday, March 2nd, 2009
There comes a time when the soccer blogger, journalist, or newscaster is at a loss for words to comment the spectacle he/she sees on his/her TV scren. Palermo vs Catania is one such example, because “crazy” doesn’t even begin to describe what happened at Renzo Barbera stadium today.
Gazzetta defined the following “miracles of a derby”:
- Believe or not (this had me floored when I read it), Catania had not won an away match for over one year and a half. How did they choose to break that negative trend? With a 4-0 victory, against Palermo of all teams.
- This season and before this match, the Rossazzurri had only scored six on away games.
- The last away victory of Catania in the Derby della Sicilia was 16 years ago, back when the two teams were still in Serie C1,
- Giuseppe Mascara‘s last goal in the Serie A dated back to December (hat-trick to Torino). How did he break the ice? A smashing 50m half-volley right under the crossbar, a goal-of-the-year contender if there ever was one.
- Ironically, Catania’s man-of-the-match wasn’t any of their scorers, but their keeper. With five fantastic saves on the 3-0, Albano Bizarri kept a clean sheet and concurrently provided the cherry on the cake on an already wonderful team performance.
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Tags: Catania, Davide Ballardini, Giuseppe Mascara, Michele Paolucci, Pablo Ledesma, Palermo, Serie A, Takayuki Morimoto, Walter Zenga
Posted in Catania, Palermo, Serie A | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
In circumstances like these it might be easy to repeat the Bianconeri adage, “Juventus never give up“. It’s one that fits. “Character” is one of the single most marking characteristics of this team, and the way Juve achieved their victory over Catania today can only reinforce that image (just like their Coppa Italia match did earlier this week).
Good fortune however (commonly known as “luck”) was a strong contributor today as well. Playing with 10 men for almost 80 minutes of play the Bianconeri managed to steal away the three points right into stoppage time, a close-range redirect that ended a streak of two consecutive home league losses and keeps the evil Inter rivals within reasonable reach.
Also of all people, the unlikely match-winner was last Summer’s most criticized Bianconeri recruit. In a period where everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of Xabi Alonso, the black & white fans had to settle for a rugged Danish defensive mid, a player whose fame in Italy was exclusively limited to a close encounter with Totti’s DNA during Euro 2004. And today him of all people, was Juve’s saviour.
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Tags: Catania, Christian Poulsen, Claudio Ranieri, Juventus, Serie A, Takayuki Morimoto, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Walter Zenga
Posted in Catania, Juventus, Serie A | Comments Off
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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Tags: AC Milan, Antonio Di Natale, Carlo Ancelotti, Catania, Claudio Ranieri, David Beckham, Dejan Stankovic, Diego Milito, Fabio Quagliarella, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Inter, José Mourinho, Juventus, Pasquale Marino, Serie A, Udinese, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Walter Zenga, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Catania, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Milan, Serie A, Udinese | 1 Comment »
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