Italy have just concluded their final friendly before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and it seems like the Azzurri have been asleep for these friendlies. While a 1-1 draw is certainly better than the 2-1 loss they suffered to Mexico, the current World Cup champions seem pretty ordinary before the tournament kicks off. […]

Lippi has announced his final squad of 23 he will be taking to South Africa, while there aren't too many major surprises, there were two exclusions in the attacking department which seem a bit strange. Here's the final 23-man squad: Goal-keepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari) Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci […]

Last year, I was lucky enough to do a fabulous series on English football legends, which saw me delve back through history to cover 11 players that perhaps never get the credit they deserve. Football is such a fickle sport that these days, people forget just how many great players passed through the annals before […]

Juventus keeper, and Italian World Cup hero, Gianluigi Buffon is reportedly looking for a way out of Serie A and Manchester looks to be his destination. The only question is whether he'll end up in blue or red. Juventus is reportedly asking for around £30 million and both clubs seemed poised to make serious offers. […]

The news started coming through early on Saturday morning and as the information became clearer, it was soon apparent that the whole African Cup Of Nations would now be tainted. When the dust had settled, 3 members of the Togo party were dead and several were seriously injured. Angolan rebels had attacked the team bus […]

For every Ronaldo, there's a Shevchenko. Sometimes, great reputations come at a great cost yet fail to deliver. Shevchenko is a great player to start with. Feared throughout Europe, his performances for Dynamo Kiev and A.C. Milan saw him become one of the most lethal strikers in the world. Once he arrived at Stamford Bridge, […]

Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski titled the American version of their new book Soccernomics (review is here), but their title for the release in the UK is Why England Lose. In the book, Kuper and Syzmanski identified the US as a rising power in soccer and England as a permanent disappointment to their rabid fans. With […]

There you have it, Italy in Group F, drawn with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. A relatively simple group and one Marcelo Lippi should take the Azzurri through with comfort. Group F Italy New Zealand Paraguay Slovakia They begin the defence of their crown in Capetown at the Greenpoint soccer stadium on June 14th 2010 […]

As it's World Cup draw week, I thought I'd share one of my favourite football stories with you, about the first ever World Cup, though it was only for domestic sides at the time.I heard this story for the first time when I was nine, due to it being made in to a television drama […]

One positive to come out of Italy’s disastrous Confederations Cup adventure was the emergence of Giuseppe Rossi. Having been on the fringes of the Azzurri squad for some months, he finally made his breakthrough against the nation of his birth, putting himself firmly in the shop window this summer. Having begun his career in the […]

As the final of the Confederations Cup approaches, the tournament for one team in particular has been an unmitigated disaster. Coming into the competition, as World Champions would surely mean an easy route to the semi-finals at least, however Italy capitulated in almighty fashion. A somewhat fortuitous victory over the USA followed by an embarrassing […]

Goal.com and SI.com's South American guy Greg Sica will chat with the guys about the upcoming CONMEBOL qualifiers as we as the most recent developments in Copa Libertadores play. Juan also interviewed former ESPN International play-by-play man Randall Álvarez to talk about the upcoming CONCACAF quallies as well as his latest project back in his […]

GolTV has acquired the U.S. TV rights to the 2009 European under-21 Championship, scheduled for June 15-29 in Sweden. The eight countries competing in the tournament will be England, Italy, Serbia, Germany, Finland, Belarus, Spain and Sweden. The draw for the tournament takes place on December 3rd. For connoiseurs of the beautiful game, the European […]

It was supposed to be a classic. Two of the top teams in Europe, Italy and Spain, with some of the best footballers in the world on display. But what we saw was a dire game featuring two teams more focused on avoiding defeat than trying to win. Other than the Romania against France game, […]

One of the pleasures of going to see a live match in England and continental Europe these days is the lack of fan segregation. After leaving Wales in 1984 and returning to England in 2006 to attend a professional match again, I was shocked by how fans were allowed to mingle together in the streets […]