Diego Ottaviano, Author at The Cult of Calcio

Inter Chasing Vidal, Vrsaljko to Complete Roster

July 28, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Calciomercato, Inter Milan, Italy, Serie A, Transfer Market

Their roster is still incomplete. This is what their transfer market session is showing, with Inter still looking for at least one defender and one midfielder - Sime Vrsaljko and Arturo Vidal being the top names. But comparing to the last season, the impression is that the Nerazzurri have already reduced their gap versus top Scudetto contenders Juventus and Napoli.

Napoli from Sarrismo to Ancelotti’s Football Vision

July 24, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Calciomercato, Italy, Napoli, Serie A, Transfer Market

How could Napoli improve a roster already abundant with quality? Well, first of all, by changing their coach. To replace Chesea's new manager Maurizio Sarri, President Aurelio De Laurentiis acquired Carlo Ancelotti, the most winning coach in Europe. Players Simone Verdi, Fabian Ruiz, and Alex Meret were also acquired to reinforce Napoli's squad.

Serie A Transfer Market: What’s Happened So Far?

July 22, 2018 Diego Ottaviano AC Milan, Calciomercato, Inter Milan, Italy, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Roma, Serie A, Transfer Market

Juventus' signing of Cristiano Ronaldo will go down as the big hit of this summer's transfer market. But other Serie A clubs have not been sitting on their hands. Napoli secured the services of coach Carlo Ancelotti, and now dreams of bringing back Edinson Cavani. Inter stole some key players from their direct opponents, whereas Roma decided to bet on fresh forces.

Meanwhile In Moscow: The Final Top 11 of World Cup 2018

July 19, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Belgium, Croatia, France, Meanwhile In Moscow, Russia, World Cup, World Cup 2018

The France squad that just won their second World Cup title didn’t make our jaws drop. Beauty and appearance were rather left to the Gioconda’s smile and to Napoleonic conquers. But in football, those who win are always right. And so, The Cult of Calcio’s final Top 11 lineup could not but feature many French – pardon, World Champions – representatives.

Meanwhile In Moscow: The Top 11 of the Eighth and Quarter Finals

July 9, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Meanwhile In Moscow, World Cup, World Cup 2018

Here is our new selection of the most impressive players seen during the Round of 16 and the Quarter Finals. We did have a few doubts, if truth be told, especially among the posts and on the sidelines. Therefore, we chose to keep some experience in the key roles, and leave room to those who have the age and the skills on their side to complete our ideal lineup.

Meanwhile in Moscow: Maimed Uruguay Bend Knee to France

July 7, 2018 Diego Ottaviano France, Meanwhile In Moscow, Uruguay, World Cup, World Cup 2018

Et voila! Without Edinson Cavani’s genius – kept at bay by an injury – Uruguay evidenced their limits, and bent their knee to France. Les Bleus won 2-0 their Quarter Final match in Nizhny Novgorod with goals by Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann, showing cynicism and team solidarity. France's next opponents in the Semi Finals will be Belgium.

Meanwhile In Moscow: The Top 11 of the Second and Third Round

June 30, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Meanwhile In Moscow, World Cup, World Cup 2018

The Group Stage ended two days ago, featuring among other things the shocking elimination of Germany, much disappointment on the part of Poland, and the win by the Red Devils of Belgium over Harry Kane’s England. The Cult of Calcio offers you a new Top 11 of players that left their mark during the second and third round games of the Group Stage.

Meanwhile in Moscow: Vamos a Ganar, Argentina!

June 26, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Argentina, Meanwhile In Moscow, Nigeria, World Cup, World Cup 2018

Argentina put their heart beyond criticism tonight, as they prevailed 2-1 over Nigeria to sneak into the World Cup Round of 16 from the second place of Group D. An extremely important win for coach Jorge Sampaoli’s selection, which came at the end of some pretty stormy days. Goals by Lionel Messi and Marcos Rojo vanified Victor Moses' penalty equaliser.

Meanwhile in Moscow: Mbappé Punishes Peru

June 22, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Iceland, Meanwhile In Moscow, Nigeria, World Cup, World Cup 2018

For the second time in a row, France overcame their opponents by one goal difference. The French are a young team, which however can rely on the experience of coach Didier Deschamps. It is not a chance that the winning goal over Peru yesterday came from the youngest striker in this World Cup, 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint Germain.

Meanwhile in Moscow: CR7’s Poker Pushes Portugal Forward

June 21, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Meanwhile In Moscow, Morocco, Portugal, World Cup, World Cup 2018

We were just writing about Cristiano Ronaldo making it to our Top 11 of the first round, and – bang! – here he is, again. Cristiano scored another one and made poker: It’s 4 goals in two games for him, and his first victim is done: Mehdi Benatia’s Morocco are out of World Cup 2018. It took just 4 minutes for the Champion of Madeira to tear the North Africans down.

Meanwhile In Moscow: The Top 11 of the First Round

June 20, 2018 Diego Ottaviano Meanwhile In Moscow, World Cup, World Cup 2018

The first round of games in World Cup 2018 showed that the traditional powerhouses’ domination is being threatened by multiple outsiders. On that note, such victories as the one of Japan, Mexico, or Iceland's draw are pure joy to those like us who love football in its pure expression. So bear with us as we take you through our very personal Top 11 Team of this first round.

Serie A Round 32 from A to Z

April 21, 2018 Diego Ottaviano From A to Z, Serie A

High hopes were put on the Derby della Capitale, which Roma and Lazio approached with totally different moods: The Wolves exalted at their exploit over Barcelona, the Eagles shot down by their shocking Europa League elimination. It ended with no winners, no goals, and few emotions. The other match-clou Napoli-Milan also followed a similar pattern, so Serie A Round 32 ended up in favor of Juventus, which widened their gap over the Partenopei to six points.

Author: Diego Ottaviano