This week on Forza Futbol Mando and Hannah are joined by Gene and Kevin in a Serie A Round Table. Together we discuss what is going on in the world of Serie A. Get the whole episode here, direct download here or subscribe in iTunes.

 Italy Squad for Brazil Friendly

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray/TUR)

Defenders: Daniele Bonera (AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid/ESP), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool/ENG), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Fabio Grosso (Lyon/FRA), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Giuseppe Rossi (Villareal/ESP), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich/GER) 

Spain Squad for England Friendly

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) and José Manuel Reina (Liverpool/ING)

Defenders: Raúl Albiol, Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Álvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Juanito (Real Betis), Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol (Barcelona) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Albert Riera (Liverpool), Sergi Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Santiago Cazorla, Marcos Senna (Villarreal) and David Silva (Valencia).

Forwards: Daniel Güiza (Fenerbahce), Fernando Llorente (Athletic), Fernando Torres (Liverpool) and David Villa (Valencia).

Forza Futbol

Gol TV strikes again ladies and gentlemen. Rather than getting a bit of Spanish classicism from the best league in the world, I get stuck watching U-20 South American kids; which I’ll say is perfectly good if you like living in that head space where you watch a player and wonder whether he’ll be any good in 4 years, when you barely remember him, but right here right now you just wonder why you’re bothering to watch sub standard football.

So rather than watch Real Madrid at a decent hour, I’m watching it at 1 in the morning right before bed. Some reflections early on:

• Soria is a very small venue to watch a first division game. I wonder if they can build a sustainable model of top flight football at Numancia with that small stadium?
• Fernando Gago continues to be late reacting to the ball and continues to come in late for tackles. He’s no Fernando Redondo, no matter what people say about resemblances.
• I don’t like to criticize people covering games, but Phil Schoen on Gol TV made me laugh when he mentioned the great players that Real Madrid have in their “cantina”. No wonder they all play sluggishly.
• Wesley Snejder is a great talent but there’s something wrong with him still. He should have waited to make his comeback. He’s great on the set pieces but he’s lost a step in the run of play.
• Numancia don’t play like a promoted side looking for a break. They dominated possession in the first half and should have scored off the header by Javier del Pino.
• The first goal, the record breaking one by Raul, was set-up by a darting inside run by Robben who layed it off to Higuain who shot, it was blocked and Raul poached it. Nice form for a guy who doesn’t have the skill anymore of a quality support striker but isn’t physical enough to really handle the #9 role all by himself. The forgotten man though was Lass. It was he who won the ball for Robben, who I assume realizes that if he stays by Lass, he’ll get the ball soon enough.
• The second goal was typical Robben. He may not be Lionel Messi but he’s the only player they have that can break a man down all by himself and he showed it. Higuain comes close, but this is the real failure of Pedja Mijatovich, he continues to bring in players that have no business wearing the classic white shirt.

The story of  the match was Raul’s reaching for Alfredo DiStefano’s club record for goals. “It is a beautiful thing”, he remarked to himself primarily, as DiStefano was nowhere to be found. I realize he’s getting on in years but Don Alfredo’s been a constant presence there for decades. I wonder if there’s a bit of crankiness there for a man known for his crankiness. Wouldn’t surprise me. That's Real Madrid.

Aupa: La Liga

This week Hannah, Mando talk about the happenings in Spain and look at the games from the weekend. Kevin joined us to talk about the weekend's action in Italy. Get the whole episode here, direct download here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out our new site ForzaFutbol.com and follow us on Twitter.

This week Hannah and Armando talk about Kaka to Manchester City, trouble at Real Madrid and trouble at Espanyol. Get the whole episode here, direct download here or subscribe in iTunes.

This week’s episode of Forza Futbol we talk about last weeks action. We also bring you an interview with Tim Vickery. Get the whole episode here, direct download here or subscribe in iTunes.

This week on Forza Futbol Mando and Hannah are joined by Gene and Kevin in a Serie A Round Table. Together we discuss what is going on in the world of Serie A. Get the whole episode here.

This week on Forza Futbol Mando and Hannah review the latest from Serie A and La Liga. We hope everyone had a good holiday season!

1. Vicente del Bosque, new Spain coach does not rule out the return of Real Madrid's Raul to NT. Do you think, on current form that he deserves the role instead of Villa or Torres on their current form?

2. Should Amauri play for Italy or Brazil?