Archive for December, 2008

L’Équipe’s Best XI Soccer Players of 2008

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

L’Équipe: Equipe-type mondiale 2008

It’s that time of the year again. With the days fast approaching December 31, awards for the “Best XI” of 2008 are being handed left and right. The biggest one (at least as far as us Europeans are concerned) probably being UEFA’s Team of the Year (voting is still open on uefa.com here).

While we wait for the UEFA popular vote (winners announced in January), let’s have a look at what the main sports newspaper in France has in store for us this year. Here’s L’Équipe‘s All-Star XI Football Players for 2008.

And once again, don’t be surprised if Premiership elements are leading the way and Serie A is snubbed…

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Buon Natale 2008 Everyone

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

mcalcio_header_xmas.jpg

In these dire times of shaky world economy and computer-less writers, best wishes for a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy holidays on behalf of mCalcio.com. :mrgreen: :wink:

Santa brought me plenty of soccer-related gifts this morning: from sportswear (Juve’s full kit -jersey, shorts, and socks) to books (Gigi Buffon’s “Numero 1″ and Antonio Cassano’s “Dico Tutto” autobiographies), my footy-addiction is satisfied. I just hope he didn’t use the revolutionary delivery method depicted in the image below.

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UEFA Champions League Playoffs: A Preliminary Look at Our EPL Opponents…

Friday, December 19th, 2008

UEFA Champions League Playoffs Draw - Italian Teams

Fabio Capello dubbed it “diabolical“. Given the picks obtained by Inter, Juventus, and Roma in Friday’s UCL draw, the term might indeed be appropriate. For how else can we define the incredible “Serie A vs. Premier League” showdown bestowed upon us, as our beloved Italian teams face off against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal in February?

With the matches still months away, a preliminary presentation of our EPL opponents is in order. In particular, a general guess on what kind of games we will be looking at in 2009.

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UEFA Champions League PLAYOFFS Draw (2008-09): It’s Serie A vs. Premier League…

Friday, December 19th, 2008

UEFA Champions League

The draw for the 1st knockout round (Round of 16) of the UEFA Champions League took place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, today at 12:00 CET (I liveblogged the event on Soccerlens). And boy oh boy, are there some good games comin’ up.

As far as Italian teams go, Inter, Juventus, and Roma didn’t exactly pick the easiest games of the lot. Quite the opposite in fact. And to make matters worse, lady luck bad luck gave them the scourge of Italian teams in the last decade, namely… Premier League clubs!

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Juventus 4-2 Milan: The Inter Antidote Is Here, It’s a Black & White Pill (Serie A Matchday 16)

Monday, December 15th, 2008

“Anti-Inter”. A big phrase for Italian newspapers this week-end, as indeed Sunday’s Juventus vs. AC Milan presented itself as a revealing showdown. One to determine the Nerazzurri’s real contender for the Scudetto race, one to decide historical bragging rights between two teams who, in the past two decades, have won more Serie A champions titles than any other team.

Well, at the end of a dramatically intense and exciting match the Bianconeri have claimed those rights, and thus kept within distance of the Inter “enemy”. On Sunday, the Old Lady won thanks to their playing rhythm, the youthful strength of Marchisio, Sissoko and De Ceglie, but also thanks to the exceptional attacking prowess of the Del Piero-Amauri tandem, a tremendous combination of class and power. Milan displayed some pride and quality, but they lacked physical and playing continuity. It was a night in which the absences of Kaká and Gattuso felt very heavy indeed.

Note: I am still without my computer. Right now I can only post through an old Compaq 900 laptop from the pre-war era. For Juve-AC Milan though, some sacrifices have to made. ;)

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