The second group in the 2008 Fangirls' Guide to Serie A:

Chievo
Fiorentina
Genoa
Inter

If you don’t know how it works, have any queries or suggestions for twos on the attractiveness scale (I might be bribed persuaded if you give me pictures. Oh yes.) you can find all the details right here. Part One (Atalanta, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania) can be found here. Also, if you spot any errors, please let me know. All the detailed charts in notebooks in the world are worth nothing when one typos liek whoa. *grin*

( All behind the cut )

[link]
I only have the faintest grasp of what's going on here, but even I can tell that Hernan is defending the shit out of Inter, and that he deserved copious thanks from everyone at the club after this show. &hearts &hearts &hearts

Anyone want to tell us exactly what's going on?

aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepeaslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe aslantepe

Just like the name says - A Galatasaray fan community.

It is awesome. Join now, y/y?

The first group in the 2008 Fangirls' Guide to Serie A:

Atalanta
Bologna
Cagliari
Catania

If you don’t know how it works, have any queries or suggestions for twos on the attractiveness scale (I might be bribed persuaded if you give me pictures. Oh yes.) you can find all the details right here. Also, if you spot any errors, please let me know. All the detailed charts in notebooks in the world are worth nothing when one typos liek whoa, and relying on Wiki for national cap figures is a convenient, but not foolproof method of evidence collection. *grin*

( All behind the cut )

I don't know why they care, but FIFA apparently require that national team coaches submit periodic lists of players they're considering for their World Cup rosters. The lists are in no way binding, but they're nevertheless a nice peek at what the coaches are thinking right now, just under two years before South Africa 2010.

Lippi's most recent list of 50:

PORTIERI: Buffon, Amelia, Roma, De Sanctis, Abbiati, Sereni

DIFENSORI: Zambrotta, Bonera, Barzagli, Grosso, Cassetti, Legrottaglie, Dossena, Chiellini, Cannavaro, Gamberini, Materazzi, De Ceglie, De Silvestri, Criscito, Santacroce, Zaccardo, Moretti, Diana

CENTROCAMPISTI: Camoranesi, Perrotta, Gattuso, Pirlo, De Rossi, Aquilani, Palombo, Montolivo, Nocerino, Ambrosini, Conti, Semioli, Gobbi, Marchisio, Donadel

ATTACCANTI: Iaquinta, Gilardino, Toni, Del Piero, Di Natale, Rossi, Cassano, Palladino, Balotelli, Giovinco, Quagliarella

Obviously, a lot can and will change between now and then, but it's really nice to see so many kids from the U-21s on the list (Mario!). At the other end of the age spectrum, meanwhile, I cannot BELIEVE he's got Matrix in there still. Surely he's jut being nice?

Thoughts? Anyone getting shafted, two years ahead of time? And who the heck is this keeper Roma?

['I am dischuffed']

So, all my teams conspired to outdo each other in suck this weekend. Le sigh.

Udinese 3 - 1 Palermo
Di Natale 9, 33 (U), Bresciano 69 (P), Inler 70 (U)

Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Coda, Lukovic, Pasquale; Inler, D'Agostino (Tissone 73), Isla (Nef 78); Pepe (Motta 65), Quagliarella, Di Natale
Palermo: Amelia; Raggi, Dellafiore, Bovo, Balzaretti; Migliaccio (Simplicio 78), Liverani, Nocerino; Jankovic (Bresciano 46), Cavani (Lanzafame 75), Miccoli

( +40-ish. But they're pretty big. )



Cagliari 1 - 4 Lazio
Larrivey 31 (C), Zarate pen 60, 70 (L), Foggia 74 (L), Pandev 84 (L)

Cagliari: Marchetti; Pisano (Lazzari 73), Lopez, Canini, Agostini; Fini, Conti, Biondini; Cossu (Magliocchetti 63); Jeda (Matri 78), Larrivey
Lazio: Carrizo; Lichtsteiner, Siviglia, Rozehnal, Kolarov; Brocchi (Foggia 46), Ledesma, Matuzalem, Mauri; Pandev (Manfredini 88), Zarate (Makinwa 91)
Sent off: Lopez 60 (C)

Reverting to type, the Sardines managed to throw away a lead. [In style, I might add. *grits teeth*]

( +20-odd, as no-one seems to care about them but me )

</div>

It’s that time again. The mercato has closed, the squads are finalised. Now we need to cherry-pick the pretties, amirite?

Over the next few days, I will be posting a run-down of all twenty Serie A squads for this season. Four a day. Each and every squad member will be listed, with a photograph and a rating on the following three categories:
Attractiveness
Nationality
National Caps

( Here's how it works )

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter today presented the very first 'FIFA World Champions Badge' to reigning world champions Italy. The Azzurri are the first national team to receive this badge, which from now on will be awarded after every FIFA World Cup™ finals competition. [via source ]



The reigning world champions will be able to wear the badge until the next FIFA World Cup.

( kit presentation + training photos )

(He plays for Milan now, don't you know?)

Not what you would have called an ideal start to the season, being beaten by a newly-promoted team; but on the other hand (or, 'clutching at straws', if you prefer), all those new faces need time to gel together, amirite? I sure hope I'm rite.

Milan 1 - 2 Bologna
Di Vaio 18 (B), Ambrosini 42 (M), Valiani 79 (B)
Milan: Abbiati; Zambrotta, Maldini, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Shevchenko 46); Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini (Emerson 85); Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Inzaghi (Pato 69)
Bologna: Antonioli; Zenoni, Moras, Terzi, Bombardini (Castellini 88); Mingazzini, Volpi; Adailton (Marazzina 60), Amoroso (Mudingayi 60), Valiani; Di Vaio

( +70-odd more, most of them featuring a buck-toothed, poorly-coiffed Brazilian. You have been warned. )

I'm not getting any Italian football on TV for at least another few months, so for now I have to settle for reading about games and seeing goals and other important stuff on Youtube. That, however, will not stop me from spreading the Juve love here, so I come bearing match pictures, quotes and other peculiarities that I collected from around the net. Enjoy.

First of all, you might have figured out the result of the game already. It ended in a 1:1 draw, which was a shame from Juve's point of view, since they were up 1:0 until the 89th minute or thereabouts. In fact, Fiorentina even managed to equalize after being reduced to 10 players, so it's no wonder that Juve's coach Ranieri was upset at the draw. He even called his squad "a bunch of dummies" for allowing 10-man Fiorentina to equalize.

Yes, he really said that.

Now, let's have a look at the pictures:

( 20 of them behind cut )

It's finally official. *weeps with joy*

The rumor is he won't have his presentation til Tuesday (hopefully that's not true), but he's expected at the airport in Milan any second now. There damn well better be pictures.

ETA: Quaresma AND his bling have landed!

Here's Ricardo Quaresma at the airport of Linate: the wing Portuguese arrived between delirium of supporters, dressed in jeans and tshirt beige, ingellati hair and chain around her neck.

Nothing like some ingellati hair.

ETA2: Arrival video. &hearts

I'm stopping now, I swear.

Quaresma tag, please, mods?

I expect you'll all have heard by now that Jojo drew his first Italian league match. Not much point going into it here, since I'm sure there'll be a match report at ahh_serie_a soon, so I'll just post the bit that tickles me (from here):

The inheritance from predecessor Roberto Mancini is an intimidating one – three straight scudetti represent quite a legacy, even before Mourinho starts tackling demands to make Inter European champions for the first time since 1965 – so it was unfortunate he had to be introduced on the big screens in Genoa as 'Jose Mancini’.

XD I was right to slash him with Mancini; they're married already. (Or perhaps he's got something going on with Roby? José, you animal!)

PS There is quite a good fawning article, my favourite type, at the Belfast Telegraph.

*Scratches head* Do we link to fic here?... Oh well, I vote we do. José/Chivu/Mancini, R.

We've all seen The Cesc Fabregas Show, si? Well, it's the Italians' turn to take over the Nike tube-- this time putting the spotlight on Fabio Cannavaro to create a star-studded TV event with elite Azzurri guests such as Marco Materazzi, Gianluca Zambrotta, fellow Napolitani Marco Borriello and Ciro Ferrara, and last but not least, Marcello Lippi. In true Italian cracked-out fashion, the notorious Trio Medusa (of Le Iene fame) host the show. And no, they didn't tie Canna to a chair this time.

Synopsis (in 5 parts):
I - Canna on ritualistic revelations. [Relax, it's not cult-related; although, biting Ringhio Gattuso was mentioned.]
II - Actor!Canna in a segment wherein he pretends to be a ballboy coach. Your sides will split.
III - Matrix [in clothes borrowed from Dejan Stankovic] and Borri showcase their hammering skills...
IV - Zambro [in full work-out mode, might I add] enumerates why Canna is all-that
V - Lippi reunites with the Azzurri guests of honour to reminisce about WC '06. Good times.

( Videos with English sub-titles, alleluia )

(O hai Rui!)

The Honduran international David Suazo is player of Benfica. In 28 years, the talented forward, who was in the service of Inter Milan during the last season, arrives at Benfica on loan for one year.

It's sad that he's going, but at least a)it's not to Roma, and b)he'll get to play. (I find myself oddly excited to see him in the Benfica kit.)

And, also: His son Eduardo will be sorely missed. *sniff*

I usually call my picspams "The Many Faces Of..." but in honour of Miguel Veloso, it shall be renamed, "The Many HAIRSTYLES Of..."


Who's a hottie?

( +100 )

Special koala glomps going out to AJ for the pics ♥♥

Y’all probably have seen it by now, but still.

Premiership teams in bold. Because I’m annoying.

Group A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, CFR Cluj. 

Group B: Internazionale, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta. 

Group C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel,
Shakhtar Donetsk 

Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid 

Group E: Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg. 

Group F: Olympique Lyonnais, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina 

Group G: Arsenal, FC Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev 

Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, Bate Borisov