Fabio Borini was born in Bentivoglio, Italy, on 29th March 1991. His father had brought him up to be an avid Bologna supporter. He joined his boyhood side, aged 9 years old, in 2001 and played for their youth sides. Premier League side Chelsea came hunting for the young Borini’s signature in the summer of 2007; managing to convince the Italian to enhance his development in London. 2008-2009 saw Borini promoted to a starting role in the reserves, leading the [...]
Following Italy’s shock 1-0 loss in Genoa to the USA on Wednesday night, Gigi Buffon told reporters, “there’s no need to get worried” and that “we absolutely did not deserve defeat tonight”. The Juventus ‘keeper was absolutely correct. The Azzurri dominated proceedings at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris from start to finish and as Giorgio Chiellini opined, “we deserved at least a draw from this performance.” Still, with any loss, no matter the significance, questions will always be raised. But, Italy’s [...]
In the modern game of football, 600,000 Euros is an extremely insignificant price to pay for a player. It is a low risk, high reward situation for the club. If the player ends up as a failure then the loss was very minimal. However if the player goes on to be a success, than it looks like a genius move. Andrea Barzagli came in during last season’s slump and has made the most of his opportunity at Juventus, becoming the [...]
On October 11 last year in the provincial city of Pescara, Italy ended their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland. It was the perfect ending as Italy finished top of their group. It was also just reward for coach Cesare Prandelli who managed to rebuild a strong Azzurri from the wreckage of the 2010 World Cup disaster. The undoubted star man for Prandelli’s new look Azzurri was Milan’s Antonio Cassano. A player who came to prominence at [...]
If you are ever planning a party, don’t invite Uruguay. They famously scuppered Brazil’s World Cup festivities back in 1950. And, on a much more minor scale, they burst the balloons blown up for the match to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification in Rome. It brought the Azzurri back down to earth after a victory over one of the hosts of next year’s European Nations a few days earlier. In truth, nobody was getting too carried away about [...]
Italy and Uruguay face off in just a few hours, and, providing the two sides don’t resort to the type of defense necessary in a match termed a “friendly”, this one promises a bit of excitement. Think about it: Mario Balotelli and Luis Suarez on the same pitch, facing off against each other. The possibilities for an epic showdown involving biting, kicking, tantrums and possibly a choreographed dance routine featuring ribbons, darts and balloon is immense. Now, if you’ve come [...]
Guest writer/Matthew Coccoluto With international break again upon us, a few European countries will be squaring off in the Euro 2012 playoff rounds. The rest will be using these upcoming friendlies to further prepare for the tournament in June. Cesar Prandelli will be without some key players as they face Poland on Friday and host Uruguay on Tuesday. The big news leading up to the international break was the loss of Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano for six months. Rossi [...]
Gazzetta dello Sport Ranieri in Gazzetta
On Friday, Italy will travel to Belgrade to play Serbia in their penultimate Euro 2012 qualification match. The game comes just under a year since the events in Genoa on 12 October 2021 which saw Serbian hooligans forcing the game to be called off, and leading to harsh punishments being meted out against the Serbian National team. The Italians have come a long way since then and under Cesare Prandelli have secured qualification swiftly - Italy’s best ever performance in [...]
Gazzetta dello Sport Euro Pazzo Pazzini goal: Italy qualify for Euro 2012. And what a Balotelli! Spain are OK Capello almost Trap draw Cavani: “Mazzarri, a Scudetto man” Juve, a show to baptise the new stadium Tuttosport Cairo: “Ogbonna, the new contract is ready” “It’s a great stadium. Now a great Juve is needed” Lippi: “I remember the emotions at the Nou Camp, and I returned to Berlin alone to relive the World Cup moments”. Practice [...]
The good news is that Italy, with a 1-0 victory, have secured qualification to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine next summer. The bad news - it’s not that bad - is that the they haven’t been living up to the hype recently. Italy have been compared with Barcelona an awful lot during Cesare Prandelli’s tenure in charge of the Azzurri, but any viewers tuning in to see a Catalan imitation tonight will have been left feeling unsatisfied, confused [...]
guest writer/Frank Tigani This week the Azzurri recorded a highly impressive victory over reigning World and European Champions Spain. Sure, it may have just been a friendly, however, considering the strength of the two line ups it was clear that neither Cesare Prandelli nor Vicente del Bosque took to the contest lightly. The Azzurri’s triumph in Bari was a statement of intent that this Italian team is back. South Africa is now a long time ago and since then, under [...]
