Saturday, 28 April 07, 07:26 AM
Per i non romani e non tifosi di una squadra romana che, come me, vivono a Roma, il derby può sembrare un momento di follia collettiva, una questione di vita o di morte, una partita che può rafforzare una supremazia cittadina oppure vanificarla. Per dirne una, la Roma al 99,9% arriverà davanti alla Lazio, ma se la Lazio non dovesse perdere domani potrà vantare di essere la migliore squadra della città.
Una quarantina di giorni fa, in una TV locale davano un programma deedicato ai biancocelesti. Il conduttore fa partire un sondaggio: fuori dalla Champions League e vittoria nel derby o in Champions e derby di ritorno perso. Beh, ci crederest se vi dico che i laziali hanno scelto l'opzione uno? La domanda per un po' ha riguardato il secondo posto, ma da quando se n'è cominciato a parlare la Lazio è calata, la Roma invece ha avuto la soddisfazione di espugnare per la seconda volta San Siro e ora ha due obiettivi stagionali.
La Coppa Italia, ovviamente, che però per la stragrande maggioranza dei romanisti è secondaria rispetto alla partita di domani: anche qui, un sondaggio evidenzierebbe senza problemi il fatto che i giallorossi vogliono vendicarsi di un 3-0 dell'andata pesante e senza attenuanti. Purtroppo, non vedrete immagini simili a quelle qui sopra: non si gioca in notturna per motivi di ordine pubblico. Come dare torti a chi ha preso questa decisione? Io tre anni fa c'ero, fu una manifestazione del peggior teppismo, con gli ultras che fecero interrompere la partita, non credendo a quanto detto dall'altoparlante, che non c'era nessun bambino ucciso.
Quello è stato il punto più basso del tifo romano, domani si spera le cose vadano bene e che la partita non sia condizionata dal gran caldo. Totti sì o Totti no? Quale formazione metterà in campo Delio Rossi? Qualcuno farà un -stavolta salutare- tuffo nel fontanone del Gianicolo? Domani, più o meno alle cinque, lo sapremo. E gli abitanti di Roma "neutrali" come me sorrideranno nell'ascoltare i discorsi degli amici, quasi fosse una finale di Coppa del Mondo.
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Inter: fifteen!
Monday, 12 February 07, 12:36 PM
Inter scored after 41”, with Adriano from a very difficult angle, then Chievo tried to make life difficult to Julio Cesar but in second half Crespo (with a suspect handball before kicking) scored for the final 2-0.
Roma won at home vs. Parma (3-0, all goals in second half), but we have to remark that before the match (an open door match, we have to specify) AS Roma fans did not participate in a silence minute in memory of policeman Raciti. There were also slogans against police, a shame one week after Catania events. And it’s been the proof that if the stadium is ok, but you fill it with stupid people, violence problem has not been solved.
AC Milan had to face a difficult test, Livorno is a very good team, even more today with Stefano Fiore and Cesar Rodriguez, two former Lazio players. Ronaldo played in second half, but the decisive goal has been scored by Czech left back Jankulosky. At the end, in Milan San Siro stadium season tickets could watch the match, showing that at the end Italians find compromise between “zero tolerance” and anarchy. Everything went well, and we think they will go well next Sunday for Inter-Cagliari.
All matches started at 3 pm, for security reasons, as we already said. But at the end not every match started on time: Messina-Catania, another risky Sicilian derby, started at 4pm due to heavy rainfalls. An important win in Palermo, and Empoli now is fourth and will have to fight against Milan and Lazio (0-0 in Bergamo behind closed doors vs. Atalanta) for the Champions League qualifying round. Fiorentina had a very good afternoon: Toni and Mutu could not play, but their substitutes Reginaldo and Pazzini scored: Fiorentina is officially one of the candidates for fourth place!
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If the battle for fourth place can be exciting…
Tuesday, 30 January 07, 06:54 PM
At that time, if Roma doesn’t get the 3 points, can we really consider the Italian championship finished with 16 games still to play? Maybe yes, maybe not. Of course yes for bookmakers, if we consider that another one is just accept stakes only on the final gap between Inter and the second, probably Roma.
The Romans tried to put some pressure yesterday by beating Siena, while Inter had to face Sampdoria in the evening. It’s already so tough, to meet Inter this year. And Sampdoria did its best to make its life more complicated when Delvecchio tried to become the new Zidane, though this time his head butt hit Materazzi’s chin. Red card to him, yellow for Inter’s defender, and everything easier especially after Ibra’s header and Maincon goal after a counter attack.
Now, Inter –as we said- is eleven points clear at the top, but also Roma is now 7 points over Palermo. It looks like the most exciting story is the battle for fourth place the last that give Champions League qualifying stage. Now, Lazio and Catania have 30 points, Empoli and Udinese 29, Atalanta 28, Milan 27. Team that can go through are these, for less than a sensational second half by Fiorentina. Lazio –very good in Palermo even after Oddo went away- and Milan for its strength are the teams that can have more chances.
Milan would have even more chances, of course, with Ronaldo. The Brazilian is not available for Champions League, but could be helpful to reach next season’s qualifying round. But…is Ronaldo already an AC Milan player? Not at the moment. Galliani is in Madrid, but there’s still a mismatch in terms of player’s value and also of payment conditions. Tomorrow is the day. Anyhow, in place of Galliani we wouldn’t risk loosing Ronaldo for half a million euro, after that last summer Milan signed Oliveira for many millions more!
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Serie A preview: Inter-Fiorentina, Livorno-Roma, Lazio-AC Milan
Monday, 22 January 07, 05:45 AM
Roma travels to Livorno and it won’t be easy: Spalletti has to think up a new midfield, as De Rossi, Pizarro and Cassetti won’t play. The Tuscanian coach is thinking of Chivu as midfielder, let’s see. Livorno away is a hard nut to crack, especially after what happened this week: the heavy defeat in Bergamo (1-5), the president who sacks coach Arrigoni and players’ riot that makes Spinelli change his mind (we already talked about this, here). It’s obvious today the Amaranto of Livorno will do all their best to prove Spinelli’s decision was wrong.
The Sunday night game is at Stadio Olimpico in Roma, where Lazio and Milan will play for a place in UCL qualifying rounds (ok, maybe it’s too early, but we think this could be the duel for forth place). Here main issue is the decision taken by Lazio technical staff not to put Massimo Oddo in the players’ list for the match. The reason is: AC Milan probably will sign him already in January, so Lazio coach Rossi doesn’t want him to play against his next club. It’s absurd because it sounds like questioning his professionalism, especially foe the captain, meaning that he is respected by the club more than any other player. “Oddo won’t play because he asked to go away, not because is dealing with Milan” Delio Rossi says. Should we believe? He already asked to go away, even before other matches, but he always played.
Here you have the complete list of today’s matches (3PM CET), in brackets the first round result:
Inter-Fiorentina (3-2), Livorno-Roma (0-2), Catania-Cagliari (1-0), Siena-Chievo (2-1), Udinese-Messina (0-1), Empoli-Sampdoria (2-1), Parma-Torino (1-1). This evening (8.30PM CET) Lazio-Milan (1-2). On Saturday, Atalanta won away at Ascoli (3-1), draw without goals between Reggina and Palermo.
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All together, at three o’clock
Saturday, 23 December 06, 07:10 PM
Really, we’re not so nostalgic, anyway we like to remember a way to live football in the past, especially from the media point of view. Recently, we also had a couple of books celebrating this legendary TV show, “Quando c’era 90° minuto” (Once upon a time 90° minuto) by Antonio Dipollina, and “Il meglio di 90° minuto” (The best of 90° minuto). The peculiarity was that highlights were not commented by Sport-Journalists, but by reporter of the local office of Italian public TV. Necessarily, they were also fans of the local team, and some times they were sending each other messages as if they were ultras or something similar.
After two decades, we look back with tenderness, and we’re conscious that -despite many people say they are disgusted by modern football- evolution and progress is always welcome. Personally, I am absolutely happy about media coverage of football events now, and it’s not because of the overdose of football on TV if we have less people going to the stadium. Maybe here in Italy we could improve stadiums architecture, making them similar to the English ones, while now they are uncomfortable and dangerous.
Ok, I was almost forgetting that this afternoon there is day 18 in Serie A. So, let’s say that new “Winter Champion” Inter would like to finish 2006 with a win, but Atalanta is a test-bed for Mancini’s boys, especially for the absence of Ibrahimovic, Materazzi, Samuel, Cordoba. 20 y.o. defender Marco Andreolli could be in the starting 11. Atalanta is a newcomer but they play a very good football. AS Roma faces Cagliari at home, AC Milan has Udinese away after doping scandal of its forward Marco Borriello, suspended by FIGC, waiting for counter analysis. Siena-Palermo, Reggina-Empoli, Fiorentina-Messina, Catania-Sampdoria, Ascoli-Chievo, Parma-Lazio and Livorno-Torino are the other matches.
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ANTI_MADRIDISTA said:Johny, that is completley wrong when you say that Robinho is the best player at...
US Commentary said:The US B team lost to the Argentinian A team, as most B teams from any country ...
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Gabriele
Roma, IT
Un posto diverso da Calciopoli, molto più bello!
On Wambach-Boxx-Lilly, and the US go to the semi-final!