About... a half-hour ago, the Scotland-Italy game ended. The score was 2-1, for Italy. I'll get right down to the point and save the details for someone else to provide. 

It was a rainy day in Glasgow, at Hampden Park, but that didn't stop Italy from scoring, via Luca Toni. The Bayern Munich man had recieved a quick pass from teammate, Antonio Di Natale and with the outside of his foot, he one-timed the ball into the back of the net. 1-0, Italy. But, right before the break, Scotland could've equalised, as a Scottish player had headed the ball, from a corner kick, and it was definintely headed gol-bound. But with Gigi Buffon out of position, an Italian defender had cleared it, well, off the line.

As we went into the second half, the rain seemed to let up a touch, but the pitch was still very slippery. Scottish and Italian players didn't really have a good grip on the grass, as they were sliping and sliding all over the field. In the 65th minute, Scotland had gotten a free-kick, just outside the area. The ball was struck with some menace from James McFadden, but the ball had deflected and went straight through the wall. Lee McCulloch gave a hard kick at it, but Gigi Buffon was able to save it... only to see the ball slip out of his grasp (mostly due to the wetness on the ball) and Barry Ferguson got the rebound. He kicked into the gol for the equaliser. 1-1, Scotland. As us TV viewers saw the replay, Ferguson looked to be off-side, but nothing was given. The ref said it was a perfectly legal gol.

As time was winding down, the game looked as if it were going to end as a tie. Scotland looked poised to celebrate, as the game was already in the 90th minute. But when the referee had called, what looked to be, an un-necessary foul, Italy had a chance to score a late, late, LATE winner. The free-kick was a few yards ahead of the corner flag, so it did look kind of like a mini-corner. With a genius like Andrea Pirlo on the field to take the kick, Scotland had to be very careful. Andrea Pirlo is not only a free-kick specialist, but is one of the best "curlers of the ball", in the entire world.

He kicked the ball. It seemed as if his free-kick was a bad one, but as the ball curled towards the back post, Christian Panucci (who had a chance to make it 2-1, a few minutes earlier) ran onto the ball and headed it home from 5 yards out. 2-1, Italy in the 90th. The whistle blew and the game was over.

With the win, Italy have now quailifed for the Euro 2008 championship. The funny thing is, with the Italian win, France have also qualified... without having to even kick a ball. They still have to finish their last 2 games, but they have already qualified, all thanks to Italy.

Meanwhile, Scotland's dream of making it to the European championship, next summer in Austria-Switzerland... are now over.

Scandals, violence and, even worse... innocent people killed. This is the sad state of 21st century for Italian football.

Some 500 years ago, peasants, vagabonds, ill-mannered and uneducated, ignorant people began a movement which would evolve into the modern game. It seems like half a millennium later the same people are trying their best to end football, well at least for Italians anyway.

The shooting of a Lazio fan is the latest in a long list of shameful incidents which have plagued the Italian game. The Italian football authorities still try to cover up the mess which has seen Calcio being shunned and laughed upon by the world.

What the Italians have to realise is that World Cup and Champions League victories will not wipe away a tarnished image and replace it with a shiny one. Everyone associated with Calcio - the clubs, the authorities and the fans have to wake up and face the reality.

The president of the Italian F.A, Giancarlo Abete, described the tragic events on Sunday as “nothing to do with the sport.” It’s pig headed arrogance like this which explains why the Italian game will never manage to climb out of the cess pit.

When fans and policemen are killed because of football-related violence then it has everything to do with the sport but, of course, Abete will never admit to this. It is because of poor rules and regulations that incidents like this happen.

In April a new list of rules were implemented to help eradicate the “violenza negli stadi.” The new rules were made, after Italian policeman, Filippo Raciti, was killed during the Sicilian riots, back in Feburary.  Apart from the tragic shooting that day, the world witnessed the game between Atalanta and AC Milan being abandoned because the so called "Ultras" insisted the game should be called off in respect of the Lazio fan, Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey, who was sadly killed.

Later in the evening there was chaos in Rome as property was destroyed and scores of vehicles burnt by hundreds of Roma and Lazio fans who wanted to show solidarity with Sandri.

One could argue that this is fair enough but it shows that really, the people who have the power in Italian football are the Ultras, and not Mr. Abete and the Italian football authorities.

One of the rules stated that clubs should break all ties with the Ultras, and violent fans would be banned from Italian stadiums - however every Sunday around Italy we see Ultras taking part – these are the people who are supposed to be banned from the stadia.

Yes there are people out there who don’t care about the game and are hell bent on causing trouble in grounds around Italy. But one asks the question: why are they still allowed in following decades of violence which continue to affect Calcio?

As we saw on Sunday the Ultras seem to be winning the Calcio battle. Sadly it seems as if they are the ones who have the powers which influence the Italian game, and this isn’t a new thing, it’s been like this for years.

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 Image: Both, players and security officials try to stop fans from breaking the glass barrier of the Stadio Atleti Azzuri d'Italia, during the Atalanta-Milan match.

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The sad reality is we will never see a trouble-free Calcio while the Ultras continue to dictate how football should be run in Italy.

In the end this will just cause people to stay indoors and watch football on the television. And who can blame them?

Here is a list of people who have died in the past 30 years in Italy due to domestic football violence, mostly involving Ultras:  

28, October 1979: Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli (33) died during the derby against AS Roma after being hit by a missile fired by a Roma Ultra. 

22, March 1982: Roma fan Andrea Vitone (14) died in a train fire after Roma Ultras had set a carriage on fire following a defeat to Bologna.

8, February 1984: After clashes between Udinese and Triestina supporters, Sandro Furlan was arrested and questioned by police. He was released but then fell into a coma and died three weeks later. 

30, September 1984: Milan fan Marco Fonghessi died after being stabbed by another Milan supporter. The murderer thought Fonghessi was a Cremonese fan. 

7, December 1986: Sambenedettese fan Giuseppe Tomasetti died after being stabbed with a knife.

9, October 1988: Ascoli fan Nazzareno Filippini, 32, died eight days after being attacked by four Inter Ultras.  

18, June 1989: Fiorentina Ultras throw a Molotov Cocktail into a car with travelling Bologna supporters. Nobody dies, but a 14-year-old is left with horrific and permanent facial disfigurement.  

10, January 1993: A 22-year-old throws himself off a train after being attacked by four Messina Ultras and dies. 

29, January 1995: Genoa fan Vincenzo Spagnolo (25) died after being stabbed by a Milan fan outside the Marassi-Stadium. The match was aborted at halftime. 

17, June 2001: Messina-Fan Antonio Curro died due to a self-made bomb that exploded during the Sicilian derby against Catania. 

20, September 2003: Napoli fan Sergio Ercolano (20) died during clashes in the derby match against Avellino. 

27, January 2007: Club-Manager Ermanno Licursi from Sammartinese died because during fan clashes. He died trying to divide both fan-groups. 

2, February 2007: Policeman Filippo Raciti (38) died after a blunt stone was thrown into his car during the derby between Catania Calcio and US Palermo. 

And now... 11, November 2007: Lazio-Fan Gabriele Sandri (26) dies.

When is all this violence and murder going to end and who can stop it? 

What are your views on this topic?

Alexandre Pato, or Alexander the duck, has just signed with the current European Champions, AC Milan, of the Serie A, in Italy, for an undisclosed fee. He is transfering from Sporting Clube Internacional of Brazil, where he made a name for himself. It has to be said, that the Milan fans have bragging rights, as this Brazilian kid, was wanted by, practically everyone, from Barcelona to Chelsea. Pato definitely has the skill and the talent to become the next Ronaldo, the next Kaka, or the next Ronaldinho. I am, very much, looking forward to seeing him play for Il Rossoneri, in the seasons ahead, but we won't be seeing him play, until Janurary, because he is a non-EU, minor, which means he is not a European citizen. So...

What are your thoughts on this??

      Most of you won't care about this, but my question to everyone is simple. It is not a big signing, but with Ludovic Giuly's departure from FC Barcelona of Spain to AS Roma of Italy, do you think that Giuly will be a great asset for the Romans and help them win more trophies OR do you feel that some other club in Europe will still put 7 (goals) on them again?

Ludovic Giuly, when he first arrived and was presented as a Barcelona player.

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