Archive for April 28th, 2008

Italian Players Around the World (28/04)

Monday, April 28th, 2008

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 11 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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ENGLAND    
Player Team Opp. mins. Contrib. Score
Carlo Cudicini Chelsea Man Utd (bench) / 2-1
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SCOTLAND          
Massimo Donati Celtic Rangers (bench) / 3-2
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GERMANY          
Luca Toni Bayern M. Stuttgar 90 1 goal 4-1
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SPAIN          
Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid Ath. Bilbao (susp.) / 3-0
Giuseppe Rossi Villareal @Betis 86 / 1-0
Christian Abbiati Atl. Madrid @Getafe (bench) / 1-1
Gianluca Zambrotta Barcelona @Deportivo 68 / 0-2
Enzo Maresca Sevilla @Murcia 13 / 0-0
Morgan De Sanctis Sevilla @Murcia (bench) / 0-0
Emiliano Moretti Valencia Osasuna (injd.) / 3-0
Stefano Sorrentino Recreativo Levante 90 / 2-0
Damiano Tommasi Levante @Recreativo (injd.) / 0-2
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FRANCE          
Fabio Grosso Lyon Caen 45 1 assist 2-2
Flavio Roma Monaco Marseille 90 / 2-3
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HOLLAND          
Graziano Pellè AZ Alkmaar / SEASON OVER /
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BELGIUM          
Roberto Mirri Mons GBA 90 / 0-0
Alessandro Pistone Mons GBA 90 / 0-0
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SWITZERLAND          
Stefano Razzetti St. Gallen @Thun (bench) / 1-1
Andrea Guatelli FC Zürich Luzern (bench) / 1-0
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POLAND          
Stefano Napoleoni Widzew Łódź @Grodzisk 30 / 0-3
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RUSSIA          
Ivan Pelizzoli Lok. Moscow S.Nalchik (bench) / 0-0

 

Heroes of the week

Oh look! Mr. Toni here, what else is new? Well, Mr. Grosso went from glory to shame in less than a week, that’s what. Uncool…

Luca Toni, age 30“Only” one goal for Luca Toni this time. Yeah that’s right, his April average drops: we’ve been so used to Italian Bayern doubles lately that scoring one appears sorta appears like a “downgrade”, doesn’t it? That’s nº21 in the Bundesliga for the ex-Fiorentina striker, and needless to say he’s topping the goalscoring charts (2nd-ranked Mario Gomez is trailing by 6).

Fabio Grosso, age 30As for Fabio Grosso, after his goalscoring performance vs. Strasbourg last week, bad stuff from the Lyon winger this week-end. Everything started well though: one assist for Karim Benzema, and Lyon up by one in the 34th. Shortly after however, some mistakes by the home team’s defense (Grosso included) led to the equalizer by Juan Eduardo Eluchans and 1-2 goal by Lilian Compan, and our favorite World Cup 2006 hero even got a yellow card in the process. Then during the half-time break, a slap on Yoan Gouffran (who had grabbed Grosso by the shoulder) was caught by the referee and resulted in a direct red for the Italian.

Serie A Matchday 35 – Week-end Review + GOALS of the Week (2007-08)

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Week-End Reviews

Here are the results and summaries for matchday 35. Full Video Highlights here. I apologize for the lack of full match reports this week-end but… I was otherwise occupied and hung over, I’m sure you’ll all understand. ;)

Italian Calcio Blog week 35 review

Italian Calcio Blog

Gazzetta in English week 35 review

Gazzetta dello Sport

MILAN, 27 April 2008 – Inter are now just a step away from the Scudetto. At three games from the end of the season, the Nerazzurri have still 6 points over Roma thanks to their 2-1 win against Cagliari, courtesy of Julio Cruz and Marco Materazzi (the Sardinian side could only reply through Davide Biondini’s consolation goal). Not very useful for Roma and their 4-1 win over Torino, where Gianni De Biasi picked up his second defeat as manager of the Granata. David Pizarro opened the score, Mirko Vucinic and Amantino Mancini (2 goals) completed the job before Nicola Ventola had a chance to score in the second half for Torino. Roma finished the game with ten players after Juan was sent off.

JUVE IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – However, Roma hold strong over Juventus. The latter have secured today a spot in the Champions League with their 5-2 win over Lazio. Giorgio Chiellini opened the score for the bianconeri after 33 minutes of play, followed by Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and another goal by Chiellini. Lazio came out more energised in the second half, as shown by Rolando Bianchi’s and Sebastiano Siviglia’s goals, but it was too little too late for the Biancocelesti who had to finish the game with 10 men, after Siviglia picked up his second yellow for a foul on Pavel Nedved.

MILAN CLOSE – The race for 4th place is getting closer and closer as we approach the end of the season: four teams are within a margin of 6 points. Fiorentina‘s match against Sampdoria ended in a draw, with Bobo Vieri and Adrian Mutu scoring to neutralise in just six minutes (33′ and 39′ of the second half) the initial advantage achieved by Christian Maggio for the Blucerchiati. Fortunately for Sampdoria, Daniele Gastaldello’s header in stoppage time gave the visitors a valuable point from the draw.

Fiorentina’s tie was a beneficial result for AC Milan, victorious 4-1 today in Livorno with an inspired Filippo Inzaghi scoring three goals: Super Pippo now has a record goal average, with 8 goals in the last 4 games. Clarence Seedorf also contributed to the rossoneri score and Dario Knezevic is the author of Livorno’s only goal today.

Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella scored for Udinese and Juan Manuel Vargas’s goal wasn’t enough for Catania today. But the fight for a place in European competitions is not the only one in the standings: at the bottom, a few teams are still fighting for survival in Serie A.

AT THE BOTTOM – Livorno is alone at the bottom of the standings, while Reggina moved ahead of Parma – now second last – after this week’s game. Luca Cigarini opened the score for Parma but in the second half, Massimo Paci was sent off for the Gialloblu and Francesco Cozza led his team-mates to victory with his two goals. A breath of fresh air for Empoli, who only needed a great play by Ignazio Abate to take over the “Marassi”, defeating a Genoa side that finished the game with 10 players due to Marco Di Vaio’s expulsion. But the Tuscan are still far from their final goal: the last 7 teams are within a margin of 5 points. This week-end’s goalless games were Palermo-Atalanta and Napoli-Siena.

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GOALS of the WEEKGOALS of the WEEK

Great strikes aplenty once again… and 4 of them come from the same match! What are the odds of that…

This week, the goal-of-the-week award goes to Alessandro Del Piero. I’m throwing objectivity right out the window this time, and siding with La Domenica Sportiva. The Juve captain’s run, dribble, and left-footed finish against Lazio is the culmination of an absolutely stunning season by Del Piero, one that a certain Azzurri manager can no longer ignore.


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Results Summary

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Serie A – day 35
Fiorentina – Sampdoria 2 – 2
Genoa – Empoli 0 – 1
Inter – Cagliari 2 – 1
Juventus – Lazio 5 – 2
Livorno – Milan 1 – 4
Napoli – Siena 0 – 0
Palermo – Atalanta 0 – 0
Reggina – Parma 2 – 1
Roma – Torino 4 – 1
Udinese – Catania 2 – 1