Continuing my weekly article inspired by Gazzetta dello Sport, here are the performances of all Italian soccer players operating in foreign European leagues.
Based on Gazzetta’s info, there are currently 22 Italians playing in first divisions abroad, and 10 of them stepped on the field this week-end.
The table below includes the team the player belongs to, their opponents for the week, the number of minutes they played, their contribution (goal, assist), and the final score of the game.
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Player | Team | Opp. | |||
Carlo Cudicini | Chelsea | @Sunderland | |||
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Massimo Donati | Celtic | @Motherwell | |||
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Luca Toni | Bayern M. | @E.Cottbus | |||
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Fabio Cannavaro | Real Madrid | @Deportivo | |||
Giuseppe Rossi | Villareal | Zaragoza | |||
Christian Abbiati | Atl. Madrid | Levante | |||
Gianluca Zambrotta | Barcelona | @Almeria | |||
Enzo Maresca | Sevilla | @Valencia | |||
Morgan De Sanctis | Sevilla | @Valencia | |||
Emiliano Moretti | Valencia | Sevilla | |||
Stefano Sorrentino | Recreativo | Murcia | |||
Damiano Tommasi | Levante | @Atl. Madrid | |||
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Fabio Grosso | Lyon | @Monaco | |||
Flavio Roma | Monaco | Lyon | |||
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Graziano Pellè | AZ Alkmaar | @Utrecht | |||
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Roberto Mirri | Mons | Z.Waregem | |||
Alessandro Pistone | Mons | Z.Waregem | |||
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Stefano Razzetti | St. Gallen | @Young Boys | |||
Andrea Guatelli | FC Zürich | @Aarau | |||
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Stefano Napoleoni | Widzew Łódź | @R.Chorzow | |||
Joseph Oshadogan | Widzew Łódź | @R.Chorzow | |||
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Ivan Pelizzoli | Lok. Moscow | R.Kazan |
Heroes of the week
Not many protagonists this week, but those that did make an impact share a common characteristic: they both came off the bench to score a valuable goal. I am talking about Rossi (just back to full fitness from injury) and Napoleoni.
In the Spanish Liga this week-end, Villareal were hosting Zaragoza. Things started off pretty well for the Yellow Submarine, when a 10th-minute free-kick by Nihat gave them them a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Giuseppe Rossi came on for Tomasson in minute 62, and just 2 minutes later the home team obtained a penalty-kick. The ex-Man Utd striker stepped confidently, and sent the keeper the wrong way for the 2-0 (and final) scoreline. Rossi now totals 11 goals in the Pichichi race (way behind of Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano and his 22 tallies).
Then for the first time in this segment, our travels take us to usually-neglected Polish league, or “Orange Ekstraklasa” as they call it back there. One of this week-end’s match-ups featured Widzew Łódź playing hosts to Ruch Chorzów, a game which saw ex-Tor di Quinto striker Stefano Napoleoni start off from the bench. The young Italian however made an appearance after the break, and immediately went to work: his 46th-minute goal puttting his team in the lead and sending the home fans into rapture. Celebrations were short-lived however, because Ruch Chorzów equalized just 5 minutes later.
Finally a small stop in the Bundesliga, for mCalcio habitué Luca Toni. No goals for the ex-Fiorentina striker this week, and what’s even worse is that Bayern Munich suffered a shock defeat at the hands of last-ranked Energie Cottbus on Saturday. A two-goal defeat I might add! Luca did manage to obtain a penalty-kick in minute 28 (with the score 1-0 for Cottbus at that point), but Franck Ribéry saw his low effort saved by the home keeper.