Features news coverage of Fiorentina and its players, including match reports, transfer rumours and general football news.
Today’s transfer roundup starts with transfer-related news, but not a big rumor. Instead, I give two thumbs-up to Real Madrid’s Wesley Sneijder for looking out for his brother’s best interests, as he stepped in to prevent Real from making an offer to former club Ajax for his brother Rodney, a promising youth team player.
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Steve Amoia returns with his preview of Week 35 in the Serie A - with a look at Adriana Lima, transfer rumours involving Milan and highlights from last weekend in Italy.
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Quotes of the Week in Italian Calcio
You didn’t know that Salma likes Italian football? Or can quote the great masters of literature? Do you really care? 
“I wouldn’t repeat the same gesture that cost me a five-game ban. It was a big mistake, especially for the example that I set the children who were watching.” — Antonio Cassano of Sampdoria
Were the children he was talking about one of the jewels of Bari Vecchia? Maybe he needs to tell himself “Vai a fan****!” the next time a Cassanate is on the horizon? Can a referee card him for that? “Mister Collina, the player was cursing himself. Repeatedly. Then he threw his shirt at himself. Should we fine him? No, his behavior has improved markedly. We should buy him another shirt, and call Donadoni…”
“Inter have some tough games coming up and we have been chasing them for two years.” — Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma. Speaking of chasing, some supporters behind the goal are still looking for the spot kick he sailed over Van Der Sar.
“If I have to analyse this game, then I say Palermo had three shots on goal and Gigi Buffon did not make a single save.” — Claudio Ranieri of Juventus
Mister Ranieri with his usual concise, creative, and confounding analysis. Maybe the Americans should hire him for political commentary. “Hillary sounds like Caesar’s wife. Barack sounds like Caligula. John sounds like Mr. Abramovich.”
“Walter will do well because he has lost the short fuse of a player and reasons like a Coach. To be honest, he has surprised me. I remembered him as being brash and also a loudmouth. The day that I left Inter, I didn’t think that he would have a future as a Coach.” — Giovanni Trapattoni of Red Bull Salzburg and soon to be manager of Eire. He was also born on 17 March.
Speaking of short fuses, Mister Trap had a famous video during his time with Bayern Munich. Walter Zenga must have studied that before his first game on the Catania bench. Brash and a loudmouth? Walter? A former goalkeeper? A Northern Italian?
Quotes courtesy of Football Italia.
Video Highlights
Image courtesy of Goalvideoz. Please click the image to view a video highlights menu after the game.
Image courtesy of Serie A TV. Please click the image for free video previews and selected clips after the games.
Giornata/Week 34:
For live scores during the games, please click here.
For an ESPN Matchtracker of Serie A games, please click here.
For a live game tracker called Match View, in Italian, from the Gazzetta dello Sport, which has very detailed statistics and graphical displays, please click here. You may have to click on the number of the week to see a full fixture list.
Saturday, 19 April
AS Roma x Livorno at 1300 GMT.
Fiorentina x Palermo at 1830.
Sunday, 20 April
Cagliari x Empoli: A relegation derby at 1300 GMT.
Siena x Genoa
Atalanta x Juventus
Catania x Lazio
Parma x Napoli
AC Milan x Reggina
Sampdoria x Udinese
Torino x Internazionale at 1830.
For more news in English about Italian football, please visit mCalcio.
For a live radio stream (subject to availability) from RAI, please click here.
If you are new to calcio and the Italian language, I wrote an article called “Soccer Terminology in the Mother Tongue.” Unfortunately, you will not learn the actual chants (i cori) from the stadiums, useful terms to describe rival players and fans (gli avversari), or how to compliment your favorite referee (l’arbitro). For those, you will need to make a visit to bella Italia…
Place your predictions below and may Gerry McDonnell grace us with his odds. And may Salma grace you with, well, I will leave that to your imaginations.
“I could never die on Sunday. Then I would miss my Italian football.”
Steve Amoia is a featured author on Soccerlens. He is the author and editor of World Football Commentaries, and also writes for Keeper Skool.
Written by Steve Amoia. One comment
This can be a difficult time of the season for strong recommendations as title hopes evaporate; teams get lost in mid-table mediocrity with little to play for and those resigned to their fate fail to perform to expectation.
But there are some interesting clashes this weekend as in Serie A six of the top seven take each other on. In the Premier League, Arsenal’s season will finish early unless they can win at Old Trafford. There’s much to be decided at the bottom of the Bundesliga as any three from five could still be relegated and two of them meet this weekend. Ligue 1 is even less defined as only six points separates 12th from 19th and four of the bottom five have the same number of points. Only in Spain could nearly everything top and bottom of the table be resolved this weekend.
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A superb goal in each half from Adrian Mutu ensured ACF Fiorentina progressed to the UEFA Cup semi-finals while recording their 50th victory in European competition at PSV Eindhoven.
With the Serie A side having to score to stay in the tournament after a 1-1 first-leg draw, they started in an adventurous 4-3-3 formation. This duly paid dividends when Mutu hammered in an unstoppable long-range free-kick seven minutes before half-time.
Eight minutes into the second half the Romanian international registered his sixth goal of this UEFA Cup campaign to end any lingering hopes PSV had of mounting a comeback. Sébastien Frey saving Timmy Simons’ penalty on 80 minutes summed up what was a frustrating night for Sef Vergoossen’s men.
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9 April 2008
For Immediate Release For further information, contact:
Lisa Cherubini
703.477.6590
executivedirector@cuginisoccer.com
U.S. Soccer School Affiliates with Italian Powerhouse ACF Fiorentina
Great Falls, VA - AC Cugini Scuola Calcio President Fabio Diletti has announced that Cugini was accepted by world-renowned Italian professional club ACF Fiorentina as an affiliated Fiorentina scuola calcio (soccer school). This affiliation makes Cugini the only Fiorentina soccer school in North America.
Written by Steve Amoia. 2 comments
At the beginning of the season, no one expected Juventus to achieve UCL qualification. All the critics (some of them were even Juve fans!!) predicted that La Vecchia Signora would only manage the UEFA Cup.
But they’ve been proven wrong. The question is: can the bianconeri rise from the mist and mount a season-ending title surge against an increasing Roma and a declining Inter? Let’s take a look at the stats:
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It’s been a turbulent decade for Fiorentina, but it’s happy times in Florence again, as the Viola are winning both domestically and continentally.
Along with challenging for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, Cesare Prandelli’s side are set to face three-time defending Dutch champions PSV in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup next week.
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With now only 8 teams remaining in each respective tournament, UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon (Switzerland) will host the draws on Friday afternoon for the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals of the 2007/08 UEFA club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
The UEFA Champions League draw will be made at 13.00CET and conducted by the UEFA General Secretary (David Taylor) and the ambassador for the final in Moscow on May 21st (Russian goalkeeping legend Rinat Dasaev). The UEFA Cup draw will follow at 14.00CET and will be conducted by Mr Taylor and the ambassador for the May 14th final in Manchester (1964 European Footballer of the Year Denis Law).
Soccerlens brought to you the draw LIVE as each of the 4 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches were drawn. FULL RESULTS after the jump
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Written by Marco Pantanella. 30 comments
PSV Eindhoven 0 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur (1-1 agg, PSV win 6-5 on pens)
UEFA Cup Round of 32, Second Leg
Juande Ramos’ grip on the UEFA Cup was finally relinquished at the Phillips Stadion, almost three years to the day the Spaniard first scooped the trophy on this very ground, with former club Seville.
Ramos approached Tottenham’s second leg, round of 16 fixture with PSV Eindhoven still hopeful of leading his side to May’s final in Manchester to fight for his third UEFA Cup title in succession. Unfortunately for manager and team, Spurs were denied progression into the quarter-finals of the competition, despite clearly being the better side on the night. How the north Londoners wish they could have performed as well as they did this evening in the first leg tie with PSV at White Hart Lane last Thursday.
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It finally happened. After 31 straight matches without a loss, Inter were eventually forced raise the white flag on Sunday, courtesy of a near-perfect Napoli team galvanized by the atmosphere of their home stadium. Seems hard to believe doesn’t it? The Nerazzurri had not lost a game since April 18th 2007 (a 3-1 home loss at the hands of Roma) but from then on, Mancini’s boys had accumulated a record of 23 wins and 8 draws, going on to win the 15th Scudetto of their history. Until today, it seemed as if nº16 was pretty much a done deal, but Napoli had other plans.
Meanwhile, things have gone from bad to worse at Juve: after losing against Reggina and tying the important derby vs. Torino, the Bianconeri suffered a come-from-behind victory at the hands of archrivals Fiorentina.
Bringing you the latest news from the Italy, mCalcio.com’s Marco Pantanella looks at Serie A’s two important matches from Sunday.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 4 comments
Images courtesy of AC Cugini Scuola Calcio.
Each year, AC Cugini Scuola Calcio (Football School) takes young players on tours of Italy where they compete against Italian teams. This summer, there will be an added bonus: 5 days with ACF Fiorentina, one of the oldest clubs of the Serie A, and the next opponent of Everton in the UEFA Cup.
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“Messieurs, rien ne va plus“! Scouts/negotiatiors/investors/sporting directors/club presidents have been working their ass off this past month, jumping from table to table in their endless quest for a last-minute star buy, in the traditional carousel that brings players, agents, and club owners all together in a merry-go-round dance. All bets are off now however, because what is known as the “CALCIOMERCATO” back in the old country (or, the January transfer window if your prefer) has officially come to an end as of Wednesday evening.
So for your viewing pleasure, mCalcio.com has arranged a practical table summary for all Serie A INGOING and OUTGOING TRANSFERS of the Winter break, with some great help from La Gazzetta dello Sport. If you’re curious about what other players all these clubs were targeting during this past month (i.e. the “near misses” category), have a look at this post which also includes the PLAYER NEGOTIATIONS.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 4 comments
