Ok, we’re addicted to football, but three weeks without it are really too much for anyone. Here in Italy, we do not have the good British tradition to play more than usual during Christmas holidays, but we have never had such a long stop. It’s really a nonsense to play three-time in a week, between Dec. 17th and 23rd, and then hole up. We understand that playing friendly matches in Bahrain or in the Arab Emirates can make you earn some millions of Euro, but Italian fans are certainly unhappy about that.

Consequences of a long stop. We don’t have to be surprised if Serie A –a long time ago number one in Europe- is now fourth in attendance, after Bundesliga, La Liga and Premiership. Christmas holidays are a nice period, schools are closed and so a lot of offices. People have a lot of time to spend in fun, and go to the Stadium for a football match is supposed to be a leisure activity: unfortunately, players are elsewhere. This is just one of the reasons (others are uncomfortable stadiums, without parking, etc., and violence everywhere) of a fall that seems to go on.

Transfers. “Calciomercato” is occupying a large part of the newspapers, not only because of January window, but also regarding next season. You can read a lot of bullshit, and it’s not easy to understand if there is something true, or at least seeming. Consider that a club like Juventus, which is a glorious club but now in Serie B and still fighting to be promoted, according to the sport press could have this team next year: Buffon, Zapata, Grygera, Barzagli, Heinze, Amantino Mancini, Malouda, Mavuba, Nedved, Klose (Claudio Pizarro), Ronaldo…
Roberto Mancini is still waiting for his contract renewal at Inter Milan, and incredibly coach and chairman Moratti are discussing about…the doctor: Mancini had an argument with doctor Combi and wants his dismissal as a condition to accept a new contract. Let’s wait and see, Josè Mourinho could join Inter together with Cristiano Ronaldo. 2008 is the centenary year, Massimo Moratti has 100 million Euro to spend for signing new players, and the Portuguese is one of the candidates to wear the black and blue jersey.

Sexual doping, or just an excuse? The lack of football matches makes us talk also about gossip. AC Milan striker Marco Borriello has recently tested positive for prednisolone, a banned substance based on cortisone, after AC Milan-AS Roma. Now Argentinean showgirl Belen Rodriguez, Borriello’s girlfriend, says it wasn’t doping, but only love. She states doping was due to an unprotected sexual love, as she took an ointment to heal an infection, but also the AC Milan forward caught same infection and took same ointment, which contained the banned substance. Some doctors say this is not possible, as this kind of medicine are not absorbed by the liver. So, as Borriello is wating for counter-analysis, this seems to be an excuse, such as Fernando Couto’s shampoo, containing –according to the defender- a little bit of nandrolone.

Looking at “Renzo Barbera” Stadium in Palermo, and all the streets around at about 7 pm, it was clear that Palermo-Inter would have been the main event in the long history of the “pink and black” team. Unfortunately for Palermo, the match was the most beautiful of the season, but Inter deserved the victory even more than it was at the end (2-1).

After Juventus' relegation, there are four teams that can compete with the Milanese in a single match: AS Roma, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Palermo. Well, it has been 12 points for the “nerazzurri” against them and – except for the derby - all matches were away. Tonight, in front of about 40,000 in attendance, with no empty seats and viewers in more than 180 countries watching the game on TV, Palermo was one of the starts in a spectacular “Sunday Night” match. Mancini made the surprising choice of playing Adriano ahead of Crespo. Cruz and Dacourt for Inter, and Biava and Di Michele for Palermo were injured, and among the Sicilians' starting 11 was the young defender Paolo Hernan Dellafiore, an Italo-Argentinean that Palermo signed last Summer, coming from Inter in exchange for Grosso.

After six minutes, Ibrahimovic shot from 30 meters and Palermo’s goalie Fontana (four years at Inter) made a big mistake, letting the ball pass under his hip: 1-0 for Inter. Palermo is suffering, and Inter have incredible ball possession, and then Adriano, after a chip pass from Ibra, comes very close to scoring the second goal, but his strike is out. Minute 45, a cross from the left, a header by Bresciano, and Amauri scores with a volley that hits the goal-post and goes in: 1-1. Maybe Materazzi could have been closer to the Brazilian striker, but his mistake is just a spot on his perfect first half. In the beginning of second half, the two scorers have to leave for an injury, Crespo and Caracciolo replace them. Adriano shows that, when he plays for the team and not for himself, he’s the valuable player we used to know. The problem is that, after his long absence, he cannot run for 90 minutes, but the injury of Ibra complicated Mancini’s plan.

Materazzi hits the same goal-post of Amauri, but he’s not as lucky as him and Corini saves on the line. An Inter counter-attack gives a new advantage to the “nerazzurri” at minute 60’ with French captain Vieira. Palermo is KO, but in the last five minutes Inter suffers and Caracciolo hits another goal-post, but it’s not enough and Inter wins. The MVP is Dejan Stankovic: a wall, not a midfielder!
Now the ranking says: Inter 33, Roma 29, Palermo 27.

Sampdoria-Roma in the name of Totti. The AS Roma captain runs twice with a thumb in his mouth (his way to exult for a goal after his baby’s birth) to celebrate his double to Sampdoria. The “blucerchati” just try to resist, but at halftime Roma is already ahead 3-1, with its leader in a very good shape. Final score is 4-2 for the “red and yellow” team. Everybody in “Ferraris Stadium” clapped to Totti’s second goal (a fantastic volley from the left), even Sampdoria fans: after today’s match the discussion about his refusal to play for Italian National Team is still open. In fact, Totti dedicated his two goals to Platini and Matarrese (Italian League Chairman) that recently criticized his choice. We think that – though National Team should not be refused by anybody - Totti has the right to say no, but at the same time coach Donadoni has the right not to call him once he’s ready. Anyway, now AS Roma is second in the Serie A rankings, and nobody could bet a single Euro for the final win of a third team which is not Inter Milan or Roma.

After the “Calciopoli” scandal, that sent Juventus to “Serie B” and gave an 8 point penalty to AC Milan, everybody claimed Inter Milan would be the team to win the Italian League. The overall opinion is that only AS Roma of World Champions Totti, De Rossi and Perrotta can cause problems to the “nerazzurri”, while all other teams will fight for third place.

On the contrary, after day 12 Inter is on the top with 9 wins and 3 draws, but on the second step of the podium we don’t find the Romans, but the “pink & black” jerseys of Palermo, just 3 points below Mancini’s team. Obviously “Renzo Barbera” Stadium is sold out for Palermo-Inter, the main game of day 13 scheduled for tomorrow, November 26th at 3pm (GMT +1): 850.000 Euros at the box office, a record for Palermo! Everybody is crazy, and the 37,000 seats capacity of the stadium won’t be enough to satisfy the huge amount of requests from the whole Sicily, and the rest of Southern Italy. No problem, it will be possible to follow the match live in two different pay TV Stations (Sky and Mediaset) and a couple of Web TVs.

Inter went through the “Final 16” of the Champions League last Wednesday, after winning a home match against Sporting Lisbon, while Palermo has been heavily defeated by Fenerbache, in a UEFA Cup match where its main players took a rest. Missing tomorrows match because of a "red card", just midfielder Fabio Simplicio played in Istanbul. Chairman Zamparini gave the media a very optimistic forecast: "Palermo will win 4-1" he said. On the other side, World Champion Fabio Grosso keeps a good memory of the two years spent in Sicily, but now he wants to win at Inter. By the way, the Milanese team, after being assigned the "Scudetto" by the Italian FA last July because of the relegation of Juventus, has quickly become the most hated one in the country, replacing the "black and white" of Turin. That's why everybody but the Inter fans root for Palermo tomorrow. Especially people around Juventus - like Del Piero - hope that finally the Sicilians will win the championship. Coach Guidolin says "thanks", but we bet he is not thinking of the “scudetto”, focusing just on the match vs. Inter. Will David defeat Goliath tomorrow? Let’s wait and see…