Italian Football Serie A News and Stories in English
Gennaro Gattuso has so far proved a success with Napoli, and with the Azzurri taking a slightly different approach to appointing managers, could it mean that the ex-Milan hero could be one of the next-in-line for Italy’s top management job? His career has seen him climb the Serie A, and if that trajectory continued he could yet find himself as Italy’s boss one day.
For some reason, very few Spanish players who tried their luck at the Serie A have managed to perform at their best while in Italy. So, we took a look at what the reasons for these unsuccessful transfers might have been and came up with a Top 11 of Spanish players who have played in the Italian top-flight. Do you agree with our choices?
Players from Argentina have been a long-standing presence in Serie A since the league opened its frontiers to foreign players. With so many names to choose from and a couple of spots filled with no explanation needed (did anybody say Maradona?), we are sure our all-time Albiceleste selection in Italian sauce will spark some healthy debate.
Ever since the ‘70s, Brazilian players have been migrating from their home league towards European football and the Italian Serie A has been one of their preferred destinations. So why not make a Top 11 of Brazilians players in Italy? Boasting names like Cafu, Falcao, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo, this sensational lineup will make your jaw drop!
This week we look at UEFA Euro 1968, a year of firsts, a year of chance and a very different competition to the tournament we know today. Italy were the host nation and went on to win their only European championship to date in a pretty unconventional manner – making their way past the USSR by means of a coin toss and beating Yugoslavia in a Final that was played twice.
Joaquin Peiró passed away today at 84. He was a striker for the Grande Inter, an invincible lineup that won everything possible between 1962 and 1966 – Three Scudetto, two European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. The goal Peiró scored to Liverpool in a European Cup Semi-Final invariably grabs one of the top spots in any Nerazzurro’s hall of fame.
The Premier League is home to hundreds of overseas players, but go back twenty years or so and there were much fewer in the English top-flight than there is today. Foreign players were seen as exotic, flamboyant and simply different from what English football fans were used to. One player who was certainly different, but for all the right reasons, was Gianfranco Zola.
Matchday 24 of Serie A witnessed another round of net busters that were absolute crackers. Ashley Young registered his first goal with the Nerazzurri, Paulo Dybala took the free-kick duties in Ronaldo’s absence, and it took Mario Pasalic of Atalanta just 19 seconds to score his fifth goal of the campaign, and more importantly, his team’s winner against Roma.
“Out with the old and in with the new.” This is Roma’s new year’s resolution. The Italian capital-based club is on the verge of a change of ownership as American billionaire Dan Friedkin is set to buy it from his fellow countryman James Pallotta. The Wolves issued a statement on Monday confirming that they are in talks with The Friedkin Group.
And so, Milan it is. Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided to continue his seemingly-endless career with another stop in the red-and-black side of Milano. But while Ibra’s Second Coming is surely a hit for Serie A, the signing of a 38-year-old looks more like a temporary Band-Aid than the fruit of some calculated planning on the part of the Rossoneri management.
The year is 1999. In the South of Sweden, Malmo FF prepare for a new season, and looking to bring more firepower to their attack they choose to give a chance to a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Fast forward 20 years, and the same man is still making headlines: After terminating his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy, Zlatan seems to be looking for a new challenge.
Ciro Immobile is a particular kind of striker. He has always scored, in every team he played. At the same time, he has also always shown some limits, especially when he tried to take his career to the next level. That is one of the reasons why public opinion never seems to have ever considered him a top striker, even though his scoring stats with Lazio are impressive.