In many ways a new year of Serie A doesn’t truly begin until it features one of thee Big Matches. It is often said that over the course of the season it’s the the “little games”, those against teams battling for relegation, that pave the road for a championship title. Often true, but the “little games” certainly are not those everyone is waiting to see. And thanks to Lega Calcio’s new fixture drawing system, this year we have the opportunity to see two ‘Big Games’ as early as Matchday 2, starting with Saturday’s Derby della Madonnina.

And what a derby it was. With 4 goals against their most bitter rival this match featured a true display of power by Inter Milan, highlighted by the shining performances of Thiago Motta, Eto’o, Diego Milito and with and a clear clear message to their harshest critics: Zlatan who?

As for Milan, to quote Gazzetta Inter were “giants without an adversary”. AC Milan cannot hide behind their good performance of today’s first 15 minutes. A team which completely disintegrates both tactically and psychologically (see Gattuso’s red card) at the first sign of trouble cannot, for lack of a better phrase, call themselves a “team”. At least for the moment. Until Leonardo figures out a solution out of this mess.

Tactically, it was surprise-time on Inter’s side. No sign of Santon or Muntari (recuperated from his post-Ramadan health issues), instead José veered new signing Wesley Sneijder right from the start, placing the Dutch midfielder right behind his two strikers Eto’o and Milito, in a “trequartista” role. On the other hand, Leonardo fielded the same eleven from last week’s win against Siena (including Ronaldinho behind Pato-Borriello) without too many alternatives available really, save perhaps for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on the bench.

Based on the first 15 minutes, the final result really does not do justice to Milan. Flamini and Pato seemed to be particularly inspired tonight, dribbling with ease on Inter’s right side in a night which, seemingly, did not feature the best Maicon of recent years (notice how I put “seem” in italics). Ronaldinho and Borriello had fairly good opportunities, without causing too many worries to Julio Cesar however. The point being: this was a real game, both teams responding “here” to the roll call (Inter with a nice one-time effort by Sneijder well saved by Storari).

Until the half-hour mark that is. The moment when Thiago Motta, Eto’o, and Milito combined with surgical precision and finalized a three-touch play with an on-the-run finish by the Brazilian midfielder, right where Storari could not reach. 1-0 Inter, and plenty more where that came from.

Indeed, 7 minutes later a deflected free-kick by Pirlo launched a lightning-fast counter-attack by Eto’o who, through on goal on the right wing, ended up being fouled by Gattuso inside the Milan box. Penalty, and first yellow for “Ringhio”, who on the occasion could consider himself quite lucky (referee Rizzoli judging that Nesta’s presence close-by made this not a “clear goalscoring opportunity”). No matter for Inter, because Gattuso red card was only postponed by minutes. In the meantime, Milito made it 2-0 from the spot.

Before the half-time mark, Inter found the time to increase their goaltotal to three, thanks to a trademarked penetrating run by Maicon on the right wing (well set up by Milito). 3-0 Inter, but not before Gattuso earned his second yellow for an unnecessary midfield tackle on Sneijder. In his defence, he had picked up an ankle knock and had asked to be substituted just minutes earlier (Seedorf wasn’t ready to step in right away). Effectively, it was game over for Milan at that point, even though the embarassing ease with which they had allowed the Nerazzurri to move forward could only be *partly* attributed to Jankulovski’s “oh-why-did-I-get-up-from-bed-today” day.

The second half saw some Milan changes, predictably. Leonardo inserted Ambrosini and Seedorf for Flamini and Borriello. With little effect. Inter relaxed and stepped their foot off the gas pedal, proceeding at times with a classic pig-in-the-middle display, much to the dismay of Milan players but amply supported by the San Siro’s “OLE’s” (and to think that despite this being a derby, the home crowd was supposed to be primarily Rossoneri partizans). Huntelaar made his debut (substituting a non-factor Ronaldinho), although it’s likely he’d have preferred remaining on the bench. Especially when Dejan Stankovic 25-yard howitzer made it 4-0 for Inter. José can smile. Leonardo’s got a lot of work to do.

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	MILAN-INTER 0-4 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 29’ Thiago Motta (I), 36’ pen. D.Milito (I), 45’ Maicon (I), 67’ Stankovic (I)
MILAN (4-3-1-2): Storari – Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovski – Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini (46’ Seedorf) – Ronaldinho (64’ Huntelaar) – Pato, Borriello (46’ Ambrosini) (bench: Roma, Onyewu , Abate, F.Inzaghi). Coach: Leonardo
INTER (4-3-3): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu – J.Zanetti, Stankovic, Thiago Motta (60’ Muntari) – Sneijder (74’ Vieira) – D.Milito (79’ Balotelli), Eto’o (bench: Toldo, Cordoba, Santon, Suazo). Coach: Mourinho
INFRINGEMENTS: Bookings for Flamini, Samuel, Gattuso, Chivu; red card for Gattuso (min. 40, double yellow)

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Five days have passed since Italy’s whopping 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brazil, a match which put an an end to Lippi’s South African countryside scouting (one year before the big tournament) and sent the Azzurri home among general shrugs of indifference, frowned eyebrows, and sincere worries in the ranks of Italian supporters.

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Confederations Cup… Confederations schmuck

Something should be established right from the get-go in this article, and that is one has to take the FIFA Confederations Cup for its true value: a tournament of prestige, played to fill the gap between Euro and World Cup Summers and to make a certain FIFA mogul (whose name starts with S and ends with …epp Blatter) happy. Happy at proclaiming his love for the beautiful game, the continued globalization of football, the athletic clashing of cultures, and blah blah blah. All that is great for sports unity, but in terms of true football competition no one (certainly not the big teams) takes this tournament seriously. Certainly not to the extent of a Euro tournament, a Copa America, or the master of them all: the FIFA World Cup.

Reading a few of the message boards after Italy’s elimination, I saw comments going along the lines of “where was Italy’s pride? where was Gattuso’s legendary determination?”. I mean seriously… pride? Determination? Are these the words we should be using to qualify the Azzurri’s elimination? Pride & determination are qualities which are stimulated when the going gets tough and when the stakes are high. In terms of international football, they are their greatest when a team is competing for Silvio Gazzaniga’s golden trophy, not for a tournament who many consider a chore and few really care about. Dead-on to Julian from the Offside World Cup blog for expressing it in one of his poll options: “it’s always embarassing to lose to Brazil and Egypt, but it was a minor tournament and now we know where we stand and what has to change“.

That being said, there are some vital conclusions to be drawn from Italy’s South African performance this month, so let’s have a look at them.

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The AGE Factor

Unless the Azzurri want their team nickname changed into “Rossoneri”, some of their oldies gotta go. Experience counts yes, but a large part of the WC 2006 veterans are way past their prime. In the collective shamble that was Italy vs. Brazil few players saved themselves, and among the names of the “guilty” stood high & those of Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Toni, and Gilardino.

The first two, once incredible rocks of solidity & energy, have never been quite the same since that 2005-06 season ended. Cannavaro’s hoping to re-conquer his pre-World Cup glory by re-acquainting himself with Serie A at Juve, but at 35 years of age can we really expect the same miracles from him as he displayed during the march to Berlin? As for Zambrotta (32), he looked truly embarassing during certain portions of the Brazil game and it’s time bow to the evidence: the workaholic dynamo of Italy’s right wing is no more.

Concerning Toni, his descent into the flames of hell has been truly painful to watch this past year. At its peak of his goalscoring career in the 2007-08 season (40+ goals at his first season with Bayern), the Swiss-Austrian Euro tournament flipped the ex-Fiorentina striker right on his head. Incapable of scoring a goal for the Azzurri since God knows when, “abysmal” doesn’t even begin to describe his performances this season. Unless his form rapidly changes, Toni will have to be content to watch the World Cup in a Munich pub, drinking Jägermeister to drown his sorrows. Gilardino’s another story since his year with Fiorentina has been more than satisfactory. But just as everyone was quick to use words like “rebirth” and “second life” in the early part of the season, his goalscoring form slowly declined during the months of April & May. In South Africa, he was often inadequate.

Who’s to save? Despite his age, Grosso always put in decent performances for the Azzurri. Camoranesi is really the only Italian player (Cassano excepted) capable of taking opponents one-on-one, Gattuso (coming off from an injury this month) can always be relied upon for sheer determination & aggression. As for Pirlo, well… can anyone really imagine Italy without Pirlo just yet?

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The REPLACEMENTS

Between now and South Africa 2010 still many things can take place, and as De Rossi & Buffon collectively expressed to the press (”show us the players, even the youngsters, which according to you are stronger that those they should substitute“) the replacements identified by the Italian public still aren’t ripe for the big jump. However, there are certain players which Lippi should focus on progressively bringing into the senior group this coming year. I have only selected a few because God knows the list is never exhaustive.

GOALKEEPERS: Buffon is still number one, no question, but his heirs are slowly showing their face. Marchetti seems to be the elected choice, as well as Consigli who, in the current U-21 Euro tournament, already saved the Azzurrini’s hide many times.

DEFENDERS: Santon almost seems to be a certainty. If he repeats his recent year at Inter, there’s no doubt Italy are looking at their starting right/left-back for the next decade. Motta will soon be joining him, capitalizing on his AS Roma and U-21 captaincy experience. Criscito, Bocchetti, De Ceglie, and Santacroce are question marks.

MIDFIELDERS: The hot topic right now is Gaetano D’Agostino. To avoid the classic flash-in-the-pan scenario I say “wait”, but the quality (set-pieces included) is definitely there. Marchisio is progressively taking a real leadership role at Juve and the Azzurrini, and along those same lines we find Luca Cigarini of Parma. If there’s anyone who should be the likely back-up for DDR/Gattuso it’s one of those two. Then there’s also Brighi (not really a youngster anymore), the true revelation of Roma’s midfield this season.

FORWARDS: In terms of U-21 context, three names come to mind in this section: Giovinco, Balotelli, Acquafresca. The former needs to find continuity & playing time at Juventus, but we all know what he’s capable of on a good day. The latter scored 3 goals at the Sweden U-21 tournament, litterally taking the Azzurrini to the top of the group (but then flopping in the semi-final). Can he repeat himself the coming year? As for Super Mario, discipline problems seem to be his only Achilles’ heel. If he finds a way to correct them, his power, technique, and mobility make him one of the most feared strikers of Serie A. Need I even mention that with Giovinco & Balotelli Italy would also have two very dangerous set-piece specialists?

I will add two three more names to this list (once again, not really youngsters but possible replacements nonetheless). The first are both Sampdoria players: Pazzini (who’s had a fantastic rebirth in the Ligurian capital) and Cassano. For the latter, compatibility problems with Lippi seem to be the only real obstacle and one which, so far, has proven insurmountable for the Talent of Bari Vecchia. Who knows… As for the third player, his possible call-up will undoubtedly become headline material again in September, when his Italian citizenship finally goes through and he starts his new season at Juve. I am talking of course about Amauri.

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TACTICS: 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1… Can Someone Explain?

Making a short analysis of Azzurri-tactics from 2006 up to this point, Italy essentially played 4-2-3-1 for the majority of the tournament (despite originally starting with a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1), a formation which was then shifted into a 4-3-3 during the Donadoni era. Post-Donadoni Lippi seems to have embraced this tactic as well, often proposing Di Natale, Iaquinta, Camoranesi, and Pepe in the roles of external wingers, keeping one striker (Toni, Gilardino) isolated up front.

Clearly, while the 4-3-3 formation has been going fairly well during qualifiers, it did NOT work in South Africa. With the almost certain promotion of Giuseppe Rossi to a starting position in 2010, Lippi needs to find a way to make his plans work, possibly with the addition of a second striker or the re-shuffling of his midfield positions. Clearly, the 4-man backline is very unlikely to be modified anytime soon, but I foresee a progressive re-emergence of the 4-2-3-1 formation, with De Rossi/Pirlo/Gattuso defensive mids and Rossi/Giovinco/Balotelli occupying any of the OM positions. Who occupies the striker position is a much more difficult guess to make.

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LIPPI: That “Sly Silver Fox”…

The Italian manager got under some pretty heavy flak in the post-elimination mood (including from Facebook users, read this article in Italian for a funny story). According to a Gazzetta poll, the majority of Italian supporters are putting Lippi on the chopping block for the Italy 0-3 Brazil shamble, “both because of pre-tournament call-ups as well as in-game tactical changes”.

For me, one English expression clearly expresses my feelings concerning this view: BOLLOCKS. While Lippi is obviously directly responsible for the people he brought to South Africa with him, this was part of a long-term plan. As Fox Sports analyst & blogger Bobby McMahon said in the FSC report Monday, Lippi is one “sly silver fox”. He is using the Confederations Cup to have a final test at some of his World Cup champions from 2006, and to his reasoning seems to be along the lines of (to quote Bobby) “If you do well, great, if not, I finally gets the freedom to bring in new players to replace you“.

There is a small fallacy in Bobby’s theory, which seems to be suggesting that Lippi is somehow looking to justify himself in the eyes of the Italian public. I don’t believe that to be true. Lippi’s a manager who never felt the need to justify himself or explain his choices in front of anyone. But I do agree on the fact this Confederations Cup was an early 2010 test for the Azzurri, a test which some of the players clearly failed and who therefore might have their place in the team be seriously put into question in the coming months.

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CONCLUSIONE

At the end of the day, I look at this tournament and say to myself: “You know what? Good! We took those losses against Egypt and Brazil a year early. We will learn from them, and when the REAL tournament comes next Summer we’ll be ready”.

Say whatever you want, but when the nº1-ranked team in the world loses 2-0 to the USA I’m actually somewhat glad we got to go home one week early.

When liberty returns, I will return.
Victor Hugo

And so… we return.

Dear mCalcio readers, it has been a rather sad couple of months. As you can see, the latest post before this one is dated 13 April 2009, for it has been more than 60 days that mCalcio.com has been absent from the general public. At first, the homepage subsisted, waiting for an igniting spark of inspiration from its creator. Indeed, it was lack of imagination and motivation which first drove me away from sports blogging, the banality of its routine having substituted itself for the original excitement fuelling my desire to write.

Quite simply dear readers, I had become tired of it. It had become “work”, but work which you do because you’re obligated, not because you take pleasure in it. At some point I realized: “wait a minute! I’m not really obligated at all”. And so I decided to take a break.

Then, events outside of my control (akin to a nuclear explosion, hence the post image) further prolonged this break.

In early May, mCalcio.com was taken offline by my hosting company (those of you wondering what that “suspended” page was all about, this was it). I will not bore you with too much of the details, but suffice it to say they (who will remain nameless, although you can Google search “blue canadian hosting” and see if you get a hint) decided to screw me over. After repeat occurrences of an incident quoted to me as “CPU abuse” (apparently a script on my site was causing to overload their servers) my account was suspended permanently. Instead of helping me solve the problem, they tried to sell me a dedicated server for an obscene monthly fee, an offer which I had neither the intention nor the financial means to accept.

After repeatedly getting jerked around between the billing & tech departments, receiving cryptic one-line emails to make even the most patient man in the world blow a gasket, I had enough. I wrote a long letter to the head of the company telling him what I thought of their customer care program, and moved to a different host. Hopefully a better one (although given how low the bar has been set, my expectations are fairly optimistic).

In any case mCalcio is back now, hopefully for good. To all those who patiently waited for this moment I can only say one thing, and that is:

“THANK YOU”

Your fidelity is very important to me, particularly in the moments where I lack inspiration: the journey through the wonderful world of soccer (Serie A especially) is one I’d like to share and continue to to keep sharing with you.

There will be some changes over the near future, particularly pertaining to our article format and blog design. I am hoping for a major overhaul of the site in the next month, which I think after two years of existence is long overdue. All these changes will be for the better I hope, but when the moment comes you can judge for yourselves.

So stay tuned, and… a warm welcome back to mCalcio!

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For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
Leonardo da Vinci

In Italy we have a saying that goes “the sadness of one makes the happiness of the other”. One being Juventus and the other being Genoa in this case.

For all extents and purposes, the Bianconeri’s Scudetto dream is over. I know I already said that last week but that was my own personal prediction. This week’s loss, which effectively pushes Inter’s lead to +10, pretty much makes the demise of Ranieri’s team official, limiting the usefulness of next week’s Juve vs. Inter clash only to bragging rights.

From a neutral point of view, Saturday’s evening match was an action-packed, entertaining affair, features which have started to become common with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side. It’s still fairly early to be talking about “Champions League football” for Genoa, but surely the Rossoblu and their president Enrico Preziosi must be fancying their chances by now: if the team continues to play like they are currently doing, they are sure to feature prominently in next season’s European scene.

Genoa started the stronger of the two sides, with the Rossoblu showing no sign of missing injured Diego Milito, which is perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to manager Gasperini. Their attacking trio, as unusual as it was effective (especially on the wings), immediately pushed the Bianconeri to the ropes, in particular Molinaro and Zebina who had to deal with Sculli and Palladino, two ex-Juve members in their own right. The latter former Bianconero was precisely the one coming closest to breaking the deadlock, with only a timely on-the-line clearance by Legrottaglie stopping Genoa from taking the lead. The home team continued to dominate the first part of the match as Juventus seemed happy to break on the counter, but still struggling to feed the ball through to Iaquinta and Del Piero.

Iaquinta’s disallowed goal in minute 9, after a good counter-attack initiated by Poulsen, was the very first incident of a long line of dubious refereeing decisions. It was later followed by Thiago Motta’s non-penalty on a Legrottaglie handball, as well as Nedved non-red cards first for receiving a foul from Bocchetti, then for committing for a dangerous elbow-jump on Mesto, later forced off the field. Interesting to note the mere sight of blood had cost Pazzini an early shower two weeks ago, in the match against Ireland.

Before he was substituted however, Mesto had contribued to Genoa’s lead goal a few minutes earlier: dribbling in front of the Juve box, getting fouled on the edge, but managing to slip the ball to Thiago Motta for the first-post low finish. 1-0 Genoa. The only snag? Referee Gianluca Rocchi had already blown the whistle before the ball entered the net, but decided nonetheless to apply the advantage rule. Wrong call.

Almost to make up for it, Juventus were given a chance to equalize a few minutes later. A missed pass gifted Del Piero with a good counter, neutralized inside the box with a clean on-the-ball tackle by Matteo Ferrari. Rocchi however did not hesitate to award the penalty, which the same Del Piero coolly dispatched for his tenth goal of the season. 1-1, and one bad reffing decision a side.

Before the half ended however, Genoa were once again back in the lead: an inspired Thiago Motta claimed his second goal of the game with a fine headed corner-kick, anticipating Zebina and casting further doubts on the concentration of the Juve defense. 2-1 Genoa, which in terms of ball possession and chances created could be considered a deserved lead.

The visitors upped the tempo in the second half, Del Piero inspiring his troops to move further up the pitch. In the first of a number of Juve chances the Bianconeri captain did well to find Iaquinta, who served the ball to Nedved and allowed the Czech star to unleash a shot: good on-the-line clearance by Biava. Then Del Piero again saw a cross-shot saved by Rubinho, failing to see Iaquinta alone in the box. The pressure was on, but Genoa immediately replied on the other end forcing Buffon to miraculous save on Sculli, then seeing Bocchetti’s effort hitting the base of the post and bouncing clear. Where Juve got their legs really cut from under them was with Camoranesi’s red-card dismissal, after a dangerous foul on Giuseppe Sculli.

With one man down, Ranieri opted to change his team: on came Grygera and Marchionni for Legrottaglie and Zebina. Juve reverting to a three-man defence and increasing their offensive solutions to create the equalizer, which eventually arrived through in-form-man-of-the-moment, Vincenzo Iaquinta: well served by Nedved, the Azzurri international scooped the ball over Rubinho for the 2-2 tally.

Juve’s heart & “never-give-up” mentality seemed once again to have bailed the Bianconeri out of some poor playing. Raffaele Palladino had other plans however. Deemed Juve surplus by at the end of last season, the Genoa winger got himself at the end of a well-orchestrated Rossi-inspired counter-attack, getting his foot on the winning goal and refusing to celebrate against his old team-mates. Commendable, but making no difference on the damage dealt: 3-2 Genoa, and final nail in Juve’s Scudetto coffin.

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	GENOA-JUVENTUS 3-2 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 29’, 45’ Thiago Motta (G), 44’ pen. Del Piero (J), 84’ Iaquinta (J), 88’ Palladino (G).
GENOA (3-4-3): Rubinho – Biava, Ferrari, Bocchetti – Mesto (43′ M.Rossi), Thiago Motta, Juric, Criscito – Sculli (79’ Papastathopoulos), Jankovic (79’ Olivera), Palladino. (bench: Lamanna, Modesto, Polli, Vanden Borre). Coach: Gasperini.
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon – Zebina (73’ Grygera), Legrottaglie (73’ Marchionni), Chiellini, Molinaro – Camoranesi, Marchisio, Poulsen, Nedved – Iaquinta, Del Piero. (bench: Chimenti, Mellberg, Tiago, Giovinco, Trezeguet). Coach: Ranieri.

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These are dire days in Italy, as an entire nation mourns the losses from the Abruzzo earthquake earlier this week. Hundreds of casualties and thousands of homeless people in central Italy, but as they say in sporting terms, “the show must go on”.

And what a show it was today at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome, really everything you could desire from a tense, heart-felt Roman derby: goals, drama, and the inevitable yellow/red cards. Yes, we can all hide under a politically-correct façade and claim “no one wants to see those in soccer” but the truth is, sending off offences are a testimony to how much a derby victory represents for these teams. In particular two teams who, let’s be honest, can safely call the 2008-09 season a failure.

Lazio can be doubly satisfied with their victory today. Not only did they reacquire a bit of pride after three consecutive league losses, but they triumphed over their arch-nemesis, Roma, increasing their positive “home” trend in the Derby della Capitale to three (after the 3-0 and 3-2 victories in 2007 and 2008) and effectively nullifying the Giallorossi’s Champions League hopes for next season. Just the right kind of victory Delio Rossi needed to keep his job.

It’ll be a very happy easter in the Biancocelesti manager’s home, no doubt.

Note: Once again, I find myself in the position of having to apologize for the lack of recent updates. I’ve been having a rough time this week on a personal level, and to make matters worse I sustained a sprained ankle Wednesday (playing soccer, what else) which will keep me sidelined for a few weeks. My heart & mind’s just not been “in it”. Hopefully things will get better soon, so thank you for your fidelity and your patience.

Tactically, Rossi confirmed pre-match expectations by fielding his now adopted 4-4-2 line-up and leaving Tommaso Rocchi (scorer of the Biancocelesti’s last three league goals) on the bench. Full confidence to Zarate and Pandev up front therefore, with Foggia supporting on the left side of midfield. On the other end, Spalletti replied with Perrotta-Baptista-Totti as the offensive trio and Brighi-De Rossi-Pizarro in front of the backline.

As far as surreal matches go, the first 15 minutes of Lazio-Roma were something to behold. Not even 250 seconds had gone by after the ref’s kick-off whistle, that the Biancocelesti were finding themselves already 2-0 up. It all stemmed from a non-existent Lazio corner-kick (Mexès tackle on Zarate and last touch by the Argie striker) which was rapidly fed by Brocchi to Pandev, ready to arm the rotating volley into the bottom-right corner. Two minutes later, Mauro Zarate inebriated his two markers on the left side, and slammed an incredible 25-yard shot straight into Doni’s top-right corner. Exactly the kind of goal for which Zarate had marvelled Serie A viewers early in the season, and which had somewhat been lost in translation these last few months. 1-0 and 2-0 Lazio. To think that before tonight, the Biancocelesti had scored only 11 first-half goals (out of 39) in the current season.

Roma were obviously under shock, but Spalletti told his troops not to give in to panic. Putting Totti and Baptista slightly more on the wings (right and left respectively, to give Perrotta more space for his central incursions), the Giallorossi fought right back and forced Muslera to a super-save on Panucci in minute 10. On the following corner, Baptista’s parried effort was picked up by Philippe Mexes for the 2-1 goal. Roma were back in it.

The Giallorossi had momentum back on their side, controlling the plays thanks in particular to… Baptista (hard to believe, I know). In truth, the physical confrontation between “The Beast” and Lichtsteiner left no doubts on the winner, which in turn forced Brocchi to pull back very often, in order to give the Swiss full-back a hand. The last big scare for the “home” team in the first half, arrived when Baptista slammed a powerful header onto the post in minute 38, and De Rossi missed the winning tap-in. It was 2-1 at the break.

The second half resumed without Luciano Spalletti on Roma’s bench (sent off during the interval, after a tunnel argument with Lazio’s team manager Ighli Tare). Jeremy Menez came on for Perrotta, trying to somewhat justify the immense hopes put into the French talent (no luck today either, I’m afraid). Lazio came very close to their third goal through Pandev (wasted counter-attack), eventually finding it through Stephan Lichtsteiner: good work from Foggia on the right wing, cross for the Swiss international and free header to beat Doni. 3-1 Lazio.

Then, nerves and tension started to get the upper hand on beautiful plays. Minutes after his goal, Lichsteiner was once again in the spotlight for a mini-altercation with Panucci, after a latter’s foul on Zarate. Both players received yellows for their “efforts”, which meant red card and an early shower for the Roma center-back. 10 vs. 11 rapidly turned into 9 vs. 10 for Roma, after a Mexès-Matuzalem argument resulted in another two red cards being shown by the referee. Not the greatest way to end a Derby della Capitale, especially considering the delicate situation in Italy a hundred kilometers away.

The reduced roster complement certainly didn’t mean game over for Roma however, and Daniele De Rossi took care of returning hope for his team when, in minute 80, he placed an accurate header where Muslera couldn’t reach. 3-2 with more than 10 minutes to go. Alas, hope didn’t last for longer than 5 minutes for the “visitors”, because Aleksandar Kolarov had other plans. Grabbing the ball close to his own box, the Serbian defender proceeded to make a 50m run, dribble a couple of defenders, and apply a cool right-footed finish for the final 4-2 Lazio tally.

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	LAZIO-ROMA 4-2 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 2’ Pandev (L), 4’ Zarate al 4 (L), 10’ Mexès (R), 58’ Lichtsteiner (L), 80’ De Rossi (R), 85’ Kolarov (L).
LAZIO (4-4-2): Muslera – Lichtsteiner (74’ De Silvestri), Siviglia, Rozenhal, Kolarov – Brocchi, Ledesma, Matuzalem, Foggia (80’ Mauri) – Zarate (65’ Rocchi), Pandev. (bench: Carrizo, Diakhite, Dabo, Meghni). Coach: D.Rossi.
ROMA (4-3-2-1): Doni – Motta, Mexès, Panucci, Riise – Brighi (65’ Tonetto), De Rossi, D.Pizarro (89’ Taddei) – Perrotta (85’ Menez), J.Baptista – Totti. (bench: Artur, Loria, Diamoutene, Cassetti). Coach: Spalletti.

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Thank you Mauricio, the Isla(nd) of Inter bliss.

I could find no better way to open this article. I tried. Not too hard, but I tried. When faced with the sad reality of the unstoppable gears of fate (that is, even when Inter play poorly they still manage to win), imagination tends to leaves its place to facility. Writing facility in this case, and all its associated bad puns.

In seriousness though, if Sunday’s win vs. Udinese doesn’t virtually clinch the Nerazzurri’s 17^th Scudetto for you, you must still believe in fairy tales. And to make matters worse for Juve (as if their 3-3 draw vs. Chievo earlier in the day wasn’t enough) is that Inter’s winning goal didn’t come from one of the many superstars at José Mourinho’s disposal. No. It came from an Udinese player.

Poor Isla. In the day where, due to his team’s injury problems, he was forced to backtrack to the defensive line (he’s a midfielder), he ended up being the unlikely and unfortunate protagonist for his opponents, as well as the annihilator of all the good work (and many scoring chances) obtained by the Bianconeri in the first 60 minutes.

Tactically, Mourinho put Santon back in his old right-back position, with Maxwell on the other side and Chivu-Cordoba in the middle. After many injuries, the Portuguese manager was finally able to select a line-up that (on paper at least) was close to the ideal. The reality however, was that the Udinese players were pointing their nose in front of Julio Cesar far too often, especially when one considers this match pitted the best defence of Serie A against a team with almost half the points in the standings.

Without a doubt, the best chances of the first half belonged entirely to Udinese. The Bianconeri were making full use of Kwadwo Asamoah’s runs (at 20 years of age, keep an eye on this Ghanaian youngster) and D’Agostino’s playmaking. If only Marino had strikers just a little more cynical than Pepe, Floro Flores, and Quagliarella (who nonetheless forced Julio Cesar to a real super-save), his side would certainly have ended the first half in the lead. Especially since Inter’s plays seemed to be in slow-motion, limiting themselves to a single chance worthy of that name by Muntari, his shot only missing the target by inches.

The second half script was pretty much the same: Udinese attacking, Inter resisting. First, Cordoba closed down Quagliarella after a good Pepe through ball, then Inler fired his usual howitzer of the week (narrowly wide), immediately followed by Quagliarella yet again, who called Inter’s keeper into action. It seemed only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken… and so it was. In the most unpredictable of fashions.

Halfway through the second half (min. 65), Stankovic was just wide with a chance created by Balotelli and Ibrahimovic. Twelve minutes later Inter were in the lead, accepting Isla’s kind gift. The suicidal deflection by the Chilean midfielder (turned defender for the occasion), who challenged Vieira’s run in the box after yet another excellent Zlatan-through ball, was as clumsy as it was unlucky (although to be honest, there would have been a clear penalty on Vieira had the ball not gone in). And with the three championship points that came with it, the goal allayed the concern caused by the injury to Julio Cesar, replaced by Toldo 18 minutes from the end.

Before the match was over, Inter opened up and created a couple of dangerous situations thanks to corners taken by Figo and finalized by Ibrahimovic (just wide). There was room for Udinese to score the equaliser, but Obodo’s header from Asamoah’s cross was poor, going over the bar. The scoreline stayed stuck on 1-0, sealing win number 22 in the Serie A for Inter and giving then a 9-point lead over Juventus with 8 rounds to play. Isla’s own goal will not only be remembered for a long time in Udine, but also at Appiano Gentile.

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	UDINESE-INTER 0-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 77’ Isla o.g. (I).
UDINESE (4-3-3): Belardi – Isla, Zapata, Felipe, Pasquale – Inler (83’ Obodo), D’Agostino, Asamoah – Pepe, Quagliarella, Floro Flores (85’ Ighalov). (bench: Koprivec, Sala, Sissoko, Zimling, Bradaschia). Coach: Marino
INTER (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar (73’ Toldo), Santon (69’ Vieira), Córdoba, Chivu, Maxwell – J.Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari – Stankovic – Balotelli (69’ Figo), Ibrahimovic. (bench: Samuel, Materazzi, Cruz, Crespo). Coach: Mourinho.

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Bye bye Scudetto. Yet again.

There’s no point in denying it: seeing Juventus dig themselves out of their 2nd-place pit, and overtake Inter in a feat of extraordinary sporting grandeur, will not happen. I have ceased to believe in it. As illusory as that concept might have been for the past 2-3 months, I had continued to keep the faith: it was my duty as a Juventino. But after Sunday’s match vs. Chievo I just feel that fate is against us, and that the Serie A standings yo-yo has been going on for long enough. With 8 matches left to the end, Inter only need only 15 points to clinch their title. That’s 5 wins out of 8… you think the Nerazzurri can’t pull that off?

On the upside for Juve, the infirmary ward is slowly emptying itself: Zebina, C.Zanetti, and De Ceglie have all resumed full training and oh yes, there’s that little Ita-Argie guy. One Mr. Mauro German Camoranesi, the player the Bianconeri so crucially missed during their UCL campaign and who can change the face of a match in a flash: three (well, two and a half) assists Sunday, and 70 minutes of healthy playing time. It’s small potatoes, but a good way to recover from Sergio Pellissier’s hat-trick (bravo to him).

The first 25 minutes of the match were rather drab. Tactically, Ranieri had placed Tiago-Marchisio in central mid, supported by Giovinco-Salihamidzic on the wings and Del Piero-Iaquinta up front, but the Juve players struggled to get any type of real play going. Tiago was slow in execution, Giovinco unassisted, Del Piero uninspired. To make matters worse Hasan Salihamidzic picked up a knee injury (an injury? at JUVE?) with 24 minutes on the clock, forcing him off in favor of Camoranesi (whose last appearance had been February’s unfortunate loss at Stamford Bridge).

As the Juve player himself joked after the match, his entrance had the adverse and almost immediate consequence of Chievo taking the lead. As has often been the case this year, Juve’s defense (solid, but often caught too far up the field) was surprised by the speed and execution of the Flying Donkeys’ counter-attack, finalized by lightning-bolt-Sergio-Pellissier: burning Chiellini on the run, the Chievo striker even managed to avoid Buffon’s challenge to deposit into the empty net. 1-0 Chievo.

It didn’t take very long for the Bianconeri (Chiellini in particular) to redeem themselves however, in pure Juve-pride-reaction style. On the developments of a corner-kick the ball was kept alive inside the Chievo box, and following a marvelous backheel assist by Camoranesi, it was slammed on the underside of the crossbar by the Italian center-back. 1-1, and cue another “Giorgio of the Jungle” celebration for Chiellini.

Juve picked up the pace. Del Piero and Giovinco provided some danger (the former on counter-attack, the latter on free-kicks), and it seemed as if the Bianconeri would slowly build towards picking up an inevitable lead. Not so. Sergio Pellissier (yes, him again) had other plans, and in an almost-xerox-copy of the first goal proceeded to burn the Juve defense (Mellberg in this case) with pace and beat Buffon for the second time, inside the far post. 2-1 Chievo at the half. The Olimpico was livid.

The second half started off with immediate Bianconeri changes (off with Grygera and Del Piero, enter Zebina and Trezeguet) and it seemed that Ranieri’s troops had absorbed their boss’s message quite well. This was a different Juventus, angry and determined, adamant at obtaining an immediate equalizer. And so they did: deep pass by Marchisio on the right wing, header towards the goal by Camoranesi and unfortunate own-goal deflection by Mario Yepes. 2-2. With rage.

The Bianconeri continued to harass their opponents, particularly through Iaquinta and Trezeguet (who needed no warm-up time to immediately get into the heat of the match) finding only the ready hands of Sorrentino (and little bit of bad luck) to deny them the joy of a goal. Chiellini himself got close to scoring his second of the day, hitting a Tiago cross just narrowly wide of the post. A goal was in the air.

And it promptly arrived. With 11 minutes left on the clock, Zebina launched Camoranesi on the right wing, who after a couple of jukes and dribbles delivered a perfect cross for Vincenzo Iaquinta on the far post: slamming header and 3-2 Juventus, with the first lead of the match for the Bianconeri but a well-deserved one. Game over?

Far from it. Speed decidedly was not Juve’s friend today because right into stoppage time, a sudden burst of pace from Antonio Langella (who had just come on for Marcolini) allowed the on-loan Udinese winger to get rid of Zebina, and cross the ball for an oncoming… yup you’ve guessed it. Sergio Pellissier. Hat-trick for him, and 3-3 final score.

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	JUVENTUS-CHIEVO 3-3 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 25’, 44’, 91’ Pellissier (C), 34’ Chiellini (J), 53’ Yepes o.g. (J), 79’ Iaquinta (J).
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon – Grygera (46’ Zebina), Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro – Salihamidzic (24′ Camoranesi), Marchisio, Tiago, Giovinco – Iaquinta, Del Piero (46’ Trezeguet). (bench: Chimenti, Marchionni, Nedved, Poulsen). Coach: Ranieri.
CHIEVO (4-3-1-2): Sorrentino – Sardo (70’ Mandelli), Morero, Yepes, Mantovani – Luciano, Rigoni, Marcolini (83’ Langella) – Pinzi – Pellissier, Bogdani (65’ M.Esposito). (bench: Squizzi, Scardina, Colucci, Italiano). Coach: Di Carlo.

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Italy has given the world so much: Peroni lager, pizza, garlic bread, pasta… Yes, my knowledge on the matter is solely restricted to gastronomical contributions, but the list could be as long as you like. In football however, much like in the English and Spanish game, the talent tends to stay at home rather than take itself to new places. This is probably due to the strength of each respective league: why leave when you already speak the language and already play the top football in Europe? There are a few shining examples however who have taken their Serie A principles, packed them in a suitcase, and spread them across the globe. This is the first in my three-part installment of the best exports of the Italian game, in no particular order, I’ve decided to start with one of my favourite Italian footballers – Gianfranco Zola.

The Sardinian genius began his career with local side Nuorese, way back in 1984. After securing his first professional contract, Zola then moved to Sassari Torres before finally securing a move to Serie A when Napoli came calling in 1989. This was where the Zola we know and love today really began to develop under the stewardship of perhaps the World’s greatest ever player – Diego Armando Maradona.

As far as I’m aware Zola and Maradona were not great friends but the young Zola was used as a substitute for the Argentine maestro and as every good footballer does, Zola learned from those better than him.

“I learnt everything from Diego,” said Zola in an interview with British broadcaster Chanel 4 some years ago. “I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him. After one year I had completely changed. I saw him do things in training and in matches I had never even dreamed possible. He was simply the best I’ve ever seen. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have been a good player if I had not played with him at that stage of my career but I do know I wouldn’t be the player I am now.”

In his first season at Napoli, Zola won a Scudetto before eventually moving to Parma after four moderately successful seasons in Campania. In his time in Northern Italy, he won the UEFA Super Cup in 1993 and a UEFA Cup in the 1994-95 season, before coach Carlo Ancelotti (now the AC Milan boss as we all know) decided Zola was surplus to requirements. At the time the Gialloblu had a formidable attacking line-up made up of Hristo Stoichkov, Enrico Chiesa and Hernan Crespo, so the player decided to join Ruud Gullit’s Chelsea in a £4.5m deal. A move which Blues fans would be relishing for many years to come.

Taking his first steps in the English Premier League, Zola really began to shine especially through Chelsea’s exploits in Europe. The club commanded by Roman Abramovich may now be one of the major forces in European football but back then, before the Russian magnate and his gazillions of rubles arrived, the Blues were at best a Top 7/8 side in England. Zola’s magic ignited English football and sometimes, his skill would have even rival fans applauding the plucky Sardinian. During his time in England, the player earned his famous nickname Magic Box.

At Stamford Bridge, Zola scored many memorable goals for Chelsea. A free-kick against Barcelona in the 1999-2000 Champions League was particularly special, but perhaps the best was in an FA Cup tie against Norwich City where he somehow managed to back-heel the ball past the keeper in mid-air.

VIDEO: Gianfranco Zola goal vs. Norwich City, January 2002

I have still no idea how he did that.

In the 1997-98 season, Zola helped to defy the sports betting odds and was instrumental in Chelsea’s success in the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring a goal in his first few touches after coming off the bench as a substitute in the final vs. VfB Stuttgart. This was at a time when no one would have been betting on English success outside of home soil, as the English were fairly useless on the European stage. Zola also helped the Stamford Bridge side pick up two FA Cups (when they won it in 1997, it was the first time in nearly 30 years they had lifted the FA Cup) and a League Cup. Zola was also named Chelsea’s player of the year twice, in 1997 and 2003.

To cap a wonderful career and a great love-story with the Blues, Gianfranco Zola was also voted Greatest Ever Chelsea Player and received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) – something very few non-British nationals achieve.

Zola ended his career with Sardinian side Cagliari, helping them achieve promotion out of Serie B. He spurned the chances to move to bigger clubs and opted for his home island side, to help them get back into the Italian top division: it was at a time when Zola could have continued playing at the highest-level but opted for a choice of the heart.

Despite hanging up his boots Magic Box has not finished with football yet. After a two-year experience as assistant coach to Italy’s U21 side (under the guidance of former Azzurri teammate Pierluigi Casiraghi), Zola was named manager of Premier League side West Ham United in September 2008. The Italian has already got the Hammers playing some particularly attractive (Zola-esque) football, and transformed the team from mid-table obscurity into serious European contenders, all in less than a season. Indeed the Chelsea fans called for Zola to be appointed as Blues manager when Luis Felipe Scolari was sacked earlier in the year, though that was never likely to happen.

In his time at West Ham Zola has already brought David Di Michele (ex-Udinese) to the Premier League, and I’m hoping he sticks around for a bit longer and brings a bit more of his unique, yet very Italian, flair to the English Premier League. Gianfranco, you are truly one of the greatest exports of the Italian game.

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Admit it people. At the first sight of Giampaolo Pazzini’s 3^rd minute red card, most of you immediately connected your minds to World Cup 2006. That bloody (litterally) game vs. USA, where Brian McBride was the unfortunate recipient of Daniele De Rossi’s elbow fury. After that incident DDR apologized for his behaviour, immensely regretting that moment of craziness which nearly terminated his World Cup adventure right then and there.

In this case however, Pazzini has absolutely nothing to apologize for. He went for a high ball, extended his arm to balance himself, and accidentally hit John O’Shea in the temple -a very sensitive area with high capillary concentration. Translated: lots of blood flow in that region, the same blood which induced German referee Wolfgang Stark to take out the red card of his pocket and unjustifiably upset 87 minutes of World Cup qualifying football. In the words of Marcello Lippi: “We’re always complaining about referees in Serie A, but look at the foreign ones. We were down to 10 men for 90 minutes because of an interpretation of violence that we can all judge with our own eyes.”

After such an early incident, it almost makes the match retelling trivial by comparison. Italy could have easily panicked, folded under the pressure, given in psychologically. They did not. They held their heads high, fought back, and even scored the first goal through Vincenzo Iaquinta. A victory was the right compensation for Pazzini’s injustice. Buffon & the Italian fort held on. Until the 88^th minute, when Ireland’s Robbie Keane decided to spoil the party.

As previously stated, everything changed after 3 minutes of play: Pazzini went for an aerial challenge, his arm hit Man Utd defender O’Shea in the face, blood poured out. It wasn’t a rough foul, and it certainly wasn’t intentional. Pazzini, at his first international match as a starter, still saw red.

Italy regrouped into an emergency 4-2-2-1, with Pirlo and De Rossi as defensive midfielders and Pepe and Brighi as outside “wingers” supporting lone striker Vincenzo Iaquinta. In the 11^th minute, cries of outrage turned to joy as the Juventus man opened the score: Pirlo scooped it for Grosso on the left, the Lyon man went deep and crossed to Iaquinta 5 yards in front of the net. Easy tap-in and 1-0 Italia, also the striker’s second goal for the Azzurri after his famous first one against Ghana in Germany.

Minutes later, Italy almost made it two: Grosso (a constant threat on the wing for the Irish defense) tried it again from the left, a cross that wasn’t deflected by Given and eventually landed to Pepe, who sent a good chance wide of the post. Then, the match turned into a defensive battle as Italy held the fort. Ireland were strong in attack because Trapattoni had added a third striker to maximise their numerical superiority, but other than a great pace and an endless stream of corner kicks, the boys in green couldn’t materialise a goal, thanks in part to Chiellini and Cannavaro’s perfect timing in defence. In fact, the most dangerous player in the Irish squad was Stephen Hunt, whose long-range effort from 30 yards would have made a nice bed-time story for his grandchildren. Buffon kept guard with a spectacular one-handed save.

The rain started to pour. Pouring was also the applause from the San Nicola crowd at half-time: Italy were one man down and one goal up.

Lippi’s lads returned to the pitch with Angelo Palombo for Pirlo: less technique, more muscle. Pepe and Brighi swapped sides, the Udinese winger eventually leaving his place to Andrea Dossena: a pair of “Trapattoni-style” substitutions, as Gazzetta would call them. Speaking of Trap, the Irish boss placed Hunt on the right (to hold Grosso’s progress on the wing) but not without giving him freedom to roam forward himself. In fact, when the Reading midfielder was brought down inside the box by Buffon, Italy could consider themselves lucky: a penalty wouldn’t have been scandalous. It probably made up for Pazzini’s ridiculous red card.

The match carried on at a slower pace, with the Italian side suffering in part from the consequences of numerical inferiority and unable to do more, and Ireland attacking to their hearts’ content but without achieving anything other than a collection of rugby-like scrums. As usual, Buffon was instrumental in keeping the score unchanged by parrying Kilbane left-footed diagonal effort.

It looked like a done deal…until minute 88, when former Inter Milan player Robbie Keane (who had been invisible up until then) picked up a Folan-redirected long-ball from Shay Given, and scored the equaliser inside the right post. 1-1. A great result for the guests, one putting them 2 points behind the Azzurri, who still remain top of the group with 13 points. Also a “fair” result for Ireland assistant coach Marco Tardelli.

Sorry Marco, but I beg to differ.

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	ITALY-IRELAND 1-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 11’ Iaquinta (I), 88’ Rob.Keane (I).
ITALY (4-2-1-3): Buffon – Zambrotta, F.Cannavaro, Chiellini, Grosso – De Rossi, Brighi – Pirlo (46’ Palombo) – Pepe (54’ Dossena), Pazzini, Iaquinta (90’ Quagliarella). (bench: Amelia, Gamberini, Motta, G.Rossi). Coach: Lippi.
IRELAND (4-4-2): Given – McShane, O’Shea, Dunne, Kilbane – Keogh (22′ Folan), Whelan, Andrews (53’ Gibson), Hunt – Doyle (63’ N.Hunt), Rob.Keane. (bench: Kiely, Foley, Kelly, Miller). Coach: Trapattoni.

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Three points in the bag, and thank you Bulgaria. Italy’s week-end couldn’t have started better: a win against Montenegro (courtesy of Pirlo and Pazzini) and the Berbatov boys neutralizing Trapattoni in Dublin, Marcello Lippi must be rather satisfied & smiling at his boys’ performance: Saturday’s was match which, for lack of a mind-blowing performance, the Azzurri dominated from start to finish, and after which they are now topping group 8 of the World Cup qualifiers. A good omen to prepare for Bari’s fixture against Ireland.

And what can be said about Giampaolo Pazzini’s first-ever match with the senior team? Any ball this kid touches these days turns into goals…

In the first half, one the one hand you had Montenegro (lively but ineffectual, more smoke than fire), on the other Italy (exemplary in their cynicism). Technical skills certainly weren’t lacking among the hosts (Jovetic was, as Gazzetta suggested, as beautiful to watch as a museum painting), but the absence of Mirko Vucinic in attack made itself felt deeply. The Cannavaro-Chiellini duo made mince-meat of Djalovic up front, with Keyser Giorgio playing the “masked man” role to perfection (in pure comic-book superhero style, the Juve defender was wearing protective face-gear). Italy took full advantage of their greater experience, and this without working up too much of a sweat: limiting their opponents’ initiatives and responding with dangerous countersset up by De Rossi/Pirlo, as usual playing a key role in pass distribution.

Speaking of Pirlo, the Azzurri lead came precisely through the Milan playmaker (today utilized almost as a trequartista by Lippi, with De Rossi & Palombo operating defensive mids). After a right-wing cross which Batak brilliantly spiked into the ground in the penalty box (too bad they weren’t playing volleyball), Pirlo transformed the spot-shot given by the referee to put the visitors in the lead. 1-0 Italy and not a minute too soon, especially since Di Natale had just busted his left cruciate ligament (something which will keep the Udinese man out for the rest of the season, at the very least).

ADN’s replacement, Simone Pepe (another from the Azzurri “Udinese connection”), immediately got to work by exploiting yet another missed clearance by Batak, but wasted his chance over the bar. But Italy were defending their lead well, only putting themselves at high risk when a Palombo backpass was intercepted by Jovetic, which “forced” Cannavaro to bring the Viola striker down with a trip. Yellow card, although in truth a red colour would have been more appropriate. Lucky break for Italy, and 1-0 at the half.

Italy took the pitch in the second half with the same 11 players, but Quagliarella and Pepe had swapped flanks. Iaquinta was moving well, finding himself alone in the box exploiting an excellent Pepe pass, but wasted the “moving penalty” chance with a terrible effort. Then the Juve striker picked up a little knock himself, making way for Giampaolo Pazzini, at his first international call-up. The Sampdoria player immediately sought a fairytale start to his Azzurri adventure, but his right-footed effort from close range was saved by Poleksic (former Lecce goalkeeper, for those trivia experts out there).

On the other end Chiello/Canna kept close guard and they were wonderfully complemented by Buffon, on the rare occasions in which the Azzurri defense was indeed broken. Super Gigi made a wonder one-handed save on Djalovic, after a good cross from the left by Boskovic had eluded Chiellini’s intervention (the pass was offside by 1 yard however, even though the flag has stayed down). But what about Pazzini? Well, his near-miss was rapidly followed with a goal, in beautiful Azzurri-trademarked counter-attack style. Pirlo launched an inch-perfect long pass for Pepe on the right side, the Udinese man turned, crossed it for “Il Pazzo” in the middle, completely unmarked and ready to apply a diving header finish. 2-0 Italy and three points in the bag. Also a dream debut for Pazzini, who just seems to score whenever he gets the chance these days.

Now if only we could get him and Cassano reunited…

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	MONTENEGRO-ITALY 0-2 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 11’ pen. Pirlo (I), 74’ Pazzini (I).
MONTENEGRO (4-3-2-1): Poleksic – Pavicevic, Batak, Basa, V.Bozovic – Drincic, Pekovic (79’ Vujovic), Boskovic – Vukcevic (89’ Zverotic), Jovetic – Djalovic (71’ Beciraj). (M.Bozovic, Pejovic, Tanasijevic, Novakovic). Coach: Filipovic.
ITALIA (4-2-3-1): Buffon – Zambrotta, F.Cannavaro, Chiellini, Grosso – Palombo, De Rossi – Quagliarella, Pirlo (81’ Brighi), Di Natale (9’ Pepe) – Iaquinta (59’ Pazzini). (bench: Amelia, Gamberini, Motta, G.Rossi). Coach: Lippi.

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