[TRANSFER TALK] While Thierry Henry completed his $32 million transfer from Arsenal to Barcelona on Monday when he passed a physical and was introduced to a Barca crowd of 20,000, David Trezeguet, with whom he broke into the professional ranks at French club Monaco in the 1990s, has made an about-turn and extended his contract with Juventus until 2011.
Tag: italy
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
AC Milan and Inter tussle over Honduran Suazo
[TRANSFER TALK] Honduran David Suazo, arguably the best striker ever to come out of Central America, is involved in a tug-of-war between Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. Days after the 27-year-old Suazo was reported to have joined Serie A champion Inter from Cagliari, AC Milan said it had signed Suazo.
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Real Madrid and Barcelona, what’s next?
After a thrilling La Liga campaign in which Real Madrid edged Barcelona for the title, presidents of both clubs were quickly forced to turn to the future. Madrid president Ramon Calderon must decide what to do with Coach Fabio Capello. Barcelona president Joan Laporta said his club will undergo an overhaul during the offseason. For all the details on the possible moves Real and Barca will make …
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Beckham is happy to be with the lads
David Beckham set up two goals in his first competitive game for England since the 2006 World Cup and his 96th international appearance. Beckham’s promising comeback set the stage for more England appearances late in the summer and into the fall — just as the Galaxy moves into the stretch drive of the MLS regular season. With England still fourth in Group E, Coach Steve McClaren will be counting upon Beckham to play for England in its five remaining qualifiers.
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Inzaghi saves Italy from embarrassment
[EURO ’08 QUALIFYING WRAPUP] Filippo Inzaghi, the hero of AC Milan’s recent UEFA Champions League triumph, saved world champion Italy from embarrassment as his two first-half goals were barely enough to give the Azzurri a 2-1 victory over the Faeroe Islands in Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier. The win was good enough to move Italy into second place in Group B behind France, which beat Ukraine 2-0, but the Azzurri came in for harsh criticism in the Italian press. For complete Euro ’08 qualifying results and goalscorers …
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Powers limp into key Euro 2008 qualifiers
[TV PREVIEW] Saturday is a key day for powers Italy, Spain and Portugal, who are all fighting to stay in contention in Euro 2008 qualifying. Unfortunately, they find themselves depleted of firepower at the end of a long season. Italy is fourth in Group B with 10 points, two points behind leaders Ukraine, Scotland and France, and it will be missing many key strikers for its trip to the Faeroe Islands on Saturday and Lithuania on Wednesday. Spain is third in Group F, four points behind leaders Northern Ireland and three behind Sweden, and also has problems up front. With Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres injured, uncapped Osasuna striker Roberto Soldado may start up front with David Villa against Latvia on Saturday. Portugal is second in Group A, five points behind Poland, going into its game at Belgium on Saturday, but Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is suspended and Benfica attackers Simao Sabrosa and Nuno Gomes are injured. The biggest clash takes place at the Stade de France, where 2006 World Cup runner-up France hosts quarterfinalist Ukraine. Both teams will be without their scoring aces. Nicolas Anelka should fill in for Thierry Henry, out with a groin injury, in the Bleus’ attack. Andriy Voronin will be the main Ukraine threat in the absence of Andriy Shevchenko, who underwent hernia surgery last month.
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Chievo’s Flying Donkeys crash in Serie A finale
Chievo Verona, one of the best small clubs in recent European history, was relegated from Italy’s Serie A on Sunday, the final day of the season, after a 2-0 loss to Catania and Siena’s 2-1 win over Lazio. Five sides were battling to avoid the final relegation spot on the last day, but Chievo was the only team that failed to win and was thus condemned to the drop. Siena was five minutes from going down when Paolo Negro tapped in their winner. Parma (3-1 winner over Empoli) and Reggina (2-0 winner over a depleted AC Milan) also survived.
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OFF THE POST: Hard time for hard-up soccer fan
“I tried to take the satellite dish because I wanted to see the Champions League final,” an Italian man told the judge, who showed little sympathy and sentenced the foiled thief to six months in jail and fined him $500. The 46-year-old explained that the Italian Alps near his home in Lecco blocked the terrestrial signal told. But his attempt to remedy the problem by heisting the satellite dish from a campsite went awry when the owner of the campsite restaurant heard him as he tried to detach the equipment.
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Inzaghi delivers for Milan in Champions League final
Filippo Inzaghi repaid AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti for his faith in him by leading Milan to a 2-1 victory over Liverpool Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League final. At 33, Inzaghi was considered washed up, having scored just two goals this season for Milan in Serie A, but he matched that total with two goals in the final to give Milan its seventh title in Europe’s most important club competition.
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AC Milan given edge over Liverpool in the remake
[TV PREVIEW] Six months ago, no one would have expected Liverpool and AC Milan to be meeting Wednesday in Athens in a remake of their 2005 UEFA Champions League final thriller. Liverpool and Milan had gone so far as to schedule a friendly game in Milan for their respective reserve teams. That game, of course, has been canceled as their “A” teams square off in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final. AC Milan began the 2006-07 season in crisis as it was slapped with an eight-point penalty for the 2006-07 Serie A season because of its role in the widespread Italian match-fixing scandal. Liverpool, for its part, was never in the hunt for the English Premier League title. But as has so often been the case in recent years, the finalists were allowed to concentrate on Europe’s top competition without the distraction of a domestic title race.
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Liverpool-AC Milan, the protagonists
Liverpool and AC Milan meet Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League final in Athens. The game is a repeat of the 2005 final Liverpool won on penalty kicks after the Reds trailed, 3-0, at the half. Here’s a look at some of the key figures in this year’s final.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Prep star Angulo passes on college game for Europe
Perennial No. 1 national boys prep program St. Benedict’s has produced some of the nation’s top college players. After starring at the Newark, N.J., school, Tab Ramos (N.C. State), Claudio Reyna (Virginia) and Gregg Berhalter (North Carolina) all went on to have tremendous college careers and represent the USA at the World Cup. Now, the top Grey Bees are taking a different path — foregoing college soccer and MLS for the European pro soccer. Colombian-born forward Jose Angulo is considered one of the best forwards to ever play for the Grey Bees, and he has decided to pass on the college game — his first choice was Connecticut — to try his luck in Europe.
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Sochaux wins first French Cup in 70 years
[EUROPEAN ROUNDUP] Sochaux twice fell behind Marseille on goals by France international Djibril Cisse but recovered to win the French Cup for the first time in 70 years, beating OM, 5-4, on penalties after their thrilling final at the Stade de France ended, 2-2, on Saturday. Anderlecht (Belgium) and Fenerbahce (Turkey) clinched league titiles, while Juventus is on the brink of returning to Italy’s Serie A.
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Sevilla and Roma win domestic cup matches
Roma scored four goals in the first 30 minutes to beat defending champion Inter Milan, 6-2, in the first leg of the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday. Sevilla reached the final of Spain’s Copa del Rey for the first time in 45 years by beating Deportivo Coruna, 2-0, at home to cruise into the final, 5-0, on aggregate.
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Forza Milan!
AC Milan put on a display of attacking soccer reminiscent of the great Milan teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s and crushed Manchester United, 3-0, on Wednesday night to advance to the UEFA Champions League final. All but forgotten as a European contender after last season’s Calciopoli scandal left it reeling, Milan was far the better team over the two legs of its 5-3 aggregate victory over United, which had been the toast of Europe for its 7-1 demolition of Italian club Roma in the quarterfinals. Milan moved into the final against Liverpool on May 23 in Athens, which will be a rematch of the 2005 final in which Milan blew a 3-0 halftime lead and lost to Liverpool on penalty kicks.
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Milan-Liverpool, championship ledger
AC Milan and Liverpool, who meet in the final of the UEFA Champions League on May 23 in Athens, have a long history of success in Europe. Before they met in the 2005 final, they had won a combined 11 European Cup titles in 14 appearances in the final. Milan’s six championships rank second behind only Real Madrid’s nine. Liverpool’s come-from-behind victory over Milan in Istanbul was the Reds’ fifth title in six appearances in the final.
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4. EUROPEAN RACES: Dutch title on line Sunday
The Dutch Eredivisie will be decided Sunday with outsider AZ, which has not won the title since 1981, favored over defending champion PSV and Ajax because of its better goal difference. The teams go into the game tied with 72 points.