The 'Team X' Files

The Italian football season restarts this weekend amid turmoil and a lot of confusion.  For once this isn’t a Serie A problem.  This year it is the turn of Serie B.

The season begins with only 21 teams after Siena’s liquidation earlier in the summer.  

The season’s fixture list was finally unveiled on Wednesday and organisers were forced to refer to the missing club as ‘Team X’.

'Team X’ were due to stage the opening game of the competition at home to Latina on Saturday evening, although that will now be postponed.

The league was initially cut to 21 teams as part of a long-term plan to eventually reduce it to 20 teams.

However, Novara, the highest placed of the four teams relegated last season, protested and an Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) tribunal ruled that Serie B must continue with 22 teams this season.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was asked to find the 22nd team and declined to automatically include Novara as they are among the clubs who have had points deducted in the last two years over the Calcioscommesse match-fixing scandal.

Instead, the FIGC chose to use a complex ranking system to choose a team from among those who were either relegated from Serie B last season or finished in the top half of the third-tier Lega Pro.

The FIGC will award points based on each team’s position in the league last term, their city’s “sporting tradition” and the team’s average attendances over the past five seasons.

It appears that Pisa and Juve Stabia are the best placed teams, although Novara, who would have finished top of the rankings, have appealed against their exclusion.

At least 12 teams are in the running for the vacant spot which means with the season days away none of them know which division they will play in.

The FIGC is expected to announce its decision on Thursday, although that could be postponed by further appeals against clubs who think they have been hard done by.

At the time of writing the 21 teams due to compete are –

Avellino, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Carpi, Catania, Cittadella, Crotone, Frosinone, Latina, Livorno, Modena, Perugia, Pescara, Pro Vercelli, Spezia, Ternana, Trapani, Varese, Virtus Entella and Virtus Lanciano…and Team X!!

Unsurprisingly, ahead of the new campaign, the bookmakers have Catania, relegated last season from Serie A, as slight favourites to win the title ahead of the two other relegated sides Bologna and Livorno.  It is hard to see past these three sides for promotion, but they will face stiff competition from sides like Bari, beaten in the Promotion Play Offs last season, and Pescara.

It could be a long season for Virtus Entella and Pro Vercelli.  Entella, last season’s Lega Pro Prima Divisione champions ,will compete in Serie B for the first time.  Pro Vercelli are also back after promotion.  This famous club has 7 Scudettos to their name, sadly the last title was won in 1922. 

As the season unfolds, there are bound to be many twists and turns. Who knows, Team X could be the team to gain promotion to Serie A.

Ciao

Follow me on Twitter @insearchofluca

AC Siena.....no longer with us.

After surviving for 110 years in the Italian football league system, it was announced yesterday (15/7/14) that AC Siena would be no more.  Declared bankrupt, they had reached the end of the road.

A statement from the club read ' Despite multiple, frequent attempts carried out in order to procure the registration of the team to the new football season, it was not possible to achieve this objective.'

It is a sad end for the club from the Stadio Artemio Franchi, although the writing has been on the wall for the last few seasons after yearly financial struggles.  Their main backer, Banca Montepaschi di Siena, had to be bailed out by the Bank of Italy after a financial scandal in 2013.  Former president Massimo Mezzaroma served a 20 day suspension last season as he was found guilty of 'not informing the relevant federal agencies of the withholding of income tax and wages owed to players.'

The Bianconeri competed in Serie A as recently as 2013, relegated in that season.  They narrowly missed out on the play offs in Serie B in 2014, a points deduction from the start of the season was too much to make up in the end.  This prompted Mezzaroma to resign in order to 'help the sale of the club as bankruptcy loomed'.  

After having spent 55 years playing in the lower divisions, Siena were promoted to Serie B for the start of the 2000/2001 season.  They were promoted to Serie A for the first time in the club's history in 2003/2004 and finished in a respectable 13th place.

Over the years Siena have had some famous managers.  Ferruccio Mazzola, son of legendary Torino captain Valentino Mazzola, managed the club in 1988/89.  Antonio Conte, until recently Juventus manager, was appointed in 2010 and led the side to promotion in 2012.  Other ex managers include Marcello Lippi, Ottavio Bianchi, Luigi De Canio and Serse Cosmi.

Notable ex players include Rodrigo Taddei, Tore Andre Flo and Enrico Chiesa.

I have decided to write this post from a personal viewpoint as well.  In 2004 I went to Tuscany on honeymoon, and visited Siena a few times.  The ground is just outside the town centre and I paid a visit.  Purchasing various memorabilia, I decided that I would 'adopt' them as one of my teams and have followed their results from afar ever since.

I hope a new buyer can be found soon and the rebuilding of the club can begin.  It's the supporters and the town that will suffer in times like these.  A long road lies ahead.

Grazie

Follow me on Twitter @insearchofluca 

My best Italy 11 ever... from 1990 onwards.

The World Cup is upon us once more and it seems anyone and everyone is picking their World Cup 'Greatest Ever XI’…so I thought I may as well jump on this particular bandwagon.

But I have decided to pick mine slightly differently.  Since this blog is about all things Italian, mainly calcio, and the reason I started it in the first place was by reminicising about Italia 90 , my ‘Greatest Ever Italy XI’ will consist of players who have represented the Azzuri from 1990 onwards.  

Italia 90 logo

That obviously means that some of THE greatest players ever to represent the famed Azzuri will not appear here – players like Gianni Rivera, Guiseppe Meazza or Valentino Mazzola (Captain of Il Grande Torino)

Nor will previous World Cup heroes likes Marco Tardelli or Paolo Rossi.  This XI is picked solely on my memories and experiences of following these players since 1990.

Marco Tardelli scoring in 1982 World Cup final

I have picked a 3-4-3 formation and these first four will probably feature in the majority of ‘Greatest XI’ teams.  All four are born leaders and instantly command the respect of team mates and opposition alike.  -


1 Gianluigi Buffon (139 Caps)


2 Paolo Maldini (126 caps, 7 goals)

3 Fabio Cannavaro (136 caps, 2 goals)

4 Franco Baresi (captain) (82 caps, 2 goals)

My midfield four has a mixture of grit, determination and flair….oh and a wizard (Pirlo) when it comes to taking free kicks -

5 Gennaro Gattuso (73 caps, 1 goal)

6 Roberto Donadoni  (63 caps, 5 goals)

7 Andrea Pirlo (108 caps, 13 goals)

8 Gianfranco Zola (35 caps, 10 goals)


The front three have been the main stay of the Azzuri frontline for the majority of the past 20 years, maybe not as profilic for the national team as they were for their club sides, but I have picked them on reputation and influence alone -

9  Alessandro Del Piero (91 caps, 27 goals)

10 Roberto Baggio (56 caps, 27 goals)

11 Francesco Totti (58 caps, 9 goals)

Roberto Baggio (L) and Alessandro Del Piero

Manager - Marcello Lippi.  Italy have had some great managers over the past 24 years such as Arrigo Sacchi and Giovanni Trappatoni, but Lippi winning the 2006 World Cup for the Azzuri, especially in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal of 2006, assures him of the job.

Over the last 20 odd years I have only watched these players via television and appreciated their skill, passion and leadership from afar.   I was lucky enough to be in Rotterdam for the Euro 2000 final, sat amongst the Italian fans.  Playing for the Azzuri that day were Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero.


Some obvious choices, some not so obvious as well. No room for Marco Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Costacurta or Pippo Inzaghi.  No room either for older heads like Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli or Guiseppe Bergomi.


Whatever your thoughts on my selection, it would have been one hell of a starting 11!!


Over to you….what would your XI be?

Grazie mille


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Championship Manager Italia

A few months ago I read a book called ' Football Manager Stole My Life - 20 years of the beautiful obsession'.  A trip down memory lane ensued as I began to recall all the different versions of the game I have played over the years.  I started off, like most, with the original series on the Commodore Amiga back in 1992 and came back year after year to buy the latest version of the game.

In therapy terms, I had been doing really well in recent times.  I had not touched the game in a number of years and I was leading a 'normal' life.  But, after reading the book, my willpower finally broke.  I reloaded an old version to my laptop, whilst at the same time vowing never to get sucked into playing into the wee hours like I did in my youth.  Then I remembered playing a version of the game which co-incided with the start of my passion for calcio in the mid 90's....Championship Manager Italia.

Based on the 93/94 series of the game, this version was purely for the Italian leagues Serie A and Serie B.  The format was exactly the same, you chose a team to manage in either league and were responsible for the buying and selling of players and winning as many games as possible to avoid the dreaded sack.  A nice little twist on the potential buying of players meant you could try to buy 'foreign' star names like Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer or a youthful Ryan Giggs.

Whilst researching this game I found an example of the Roma squad of that time which includes a 17 year old Francesco Totti and other big names stars from that era like Abel Balbo (age 27) and Aldair (age 28).  Italian football was enjoying a golden age in the mid 90's and most of the teams had superstar names in their ranks who were at the peak of their in-game playing powers.

The beauty of this game was in it's simplicity.  The main screen was a series of boxes (eg Continue Season, Find Player or View Tables).  Each box did exactly what it said on the tin, and as a result the experience of playing the game was very enjoyable.  It all looks very basic graphically now, but this was like nothing I had experienced before in the Football Management gaming world.

If memory serves, you also received a handbook which listed the teams and gave a brief history of each club for those gamers not familiar with Italian football.

The most recent versions of the series (now called Football Manager) are packed full of information which has led to criticism that the game is no longer about the simple playability of the old versions like Championship Manager Italia.

Technology has moved on but with the introduction of Amiga Emulators and websites dedicated to older games it is possible to download this (and other) games and enjoy the simple things once more.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane and it has rekindled your love of the Championship Manager series.  Will you be tempted to dust that old copy off and have 'just one more game'.....for old times sake?

Grazie....

Follow me on Twitter @insearchofluca

Alberto Ascari

The 2013 Formula 1 season draws to close this weekend, with the final race being held at Interlagos, Brazil.  The World title was decided an age ago it seems, with Sebastian Vettel clinching a fourth world title in a row.  Vettel has also won eight races in a row, to hold the record for the most consecutive wins in a season.

One record remains though.  This record has stood for over 60 years and is currently held by an Italian driver, Alberto Ascari.  Ascari is one of only two Italian World Champions in the history of the sport (the other was Giuseppe Farina in 1950), and the only one to win his two championships in a Ferrari. 

Ascari in a Ferrari.  Image courtesy of www.listal.com

Ascari won nine consecutive races across two seasons during 1952 and 1953 securing two World Championships in the process.

He won his first drivers' championship for Ferrari in 1952, after making his debut in 1950.

He won the remaining six rounds of the season to clinch his first title and recorded the fastest lap in each race.  Three more consecutive race wins at the start of the 1953 season gave him nine straight championship wins before this run was ended when he finished fourth in France.   Two more wins later in the year clinched a second consecutive World Championship.

A switch to Lancia in 1954, after leaving Ferrari due to a pay dispute, was not a success.  Numerous problems with the car meant it was not ready for racing until the end of the season.  But when the Lancia D50 was ready, Ascari showed it's potential by taking pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix and leading the race until clutch failure saw him retire from the race.  

At the start of the 1955 season excitement was building as the battle between Ascari in the Lancia D50 and Juan Manuel Fangio, widely regarded as one of the best drivers in the history of Motor Racing, in a Mercedes looked set to dominant the sport.

A positive start to the season came to a halt in the Monaco GP, as Ascari crashed into the harbour, escaping with a broken nose.   Four days later, on 26 May, he went to Monza to watch his friend Eugenio Castellotti test a Ferrari 750 Monza sports car.  

Ascari, being the fiercely competitive person he was, decided to test the car out over a few laps.   Ascari was very superstitious, he always insisted on using his distinctive pale blue crash helmet.  On this occasion his usual helmet was being repaired after the accident at Monaco and he stepped into the car wearing shirt sleeves, ordinary trousers and Castellotti's white helmet.  On the third lap the car suddenly skidded, turned on its nose and somersaulted twice.  Ascari was thrown from the car and suffered multiple injuries and died a few minutes later.  The crash occurred on the Curva del Vialone, one of the circuits high-speed corners. The corner has been renamed in his honour.  It is now know as Variante Ascari.

Alberto Ascari.  Image courtesy of  formula1.sporting99.com

Ascari was laid to rest next to the grave of his father in Milan.  This tragedy is compounded by some eerie similarities between the deaths of Ascari and his father.  Ascari died on 26 May 1955, aged 36.  His father was also 36 when he died on 26 July 1925.  Both were killed four days after surviving serious crashes, both on the 26th of the month. The final similarity is they both crashed at the exit of left hand corners and both left behind a wife and two children.

Italian fans nicknamed Ascari 'Ciccio' (chubby).  Enzo Ferrari described Alberto Ascari as being 'virtually impossible to overtake' when leading.  He added "Ascari had a precise and distinctive driving style".

This was a man who, for a period, dominated grand prix racing.  Parallels in this respect with Vettel are easy to make.  Like Schumacher before him, Vettel is consistantly performing to a high level, and the rest of the field are left in his wake.

Ascari established records for the highest percentage of wins in a season and for the most consecutive wins from races started, both of which remain unbroken almost sixty years later.

From a career cut short by his death in 1955, and which covered only a total of about three seasons in five years, he started 32 races and won 13 of them - a win ratio of more than 40%. That is second only to Juan Manuel Fangio.

Championship rival, Mike Hawthorn, was quoted as describing the Italian's talent by saying: "Ascari was the fastest driver I ever saw.  And when I say that, I include Fangio."

"I have lost my greatest opponent," Fangio said after Ascari's death in 1955.  "Ascari was a driver of supreme skill and I felt my title last year lost some of its value because he was not there to fight me for it.  A great man." 

Ascari will forever remembered as one of the greatest racers of all time.

His record in Formula 1 racing was - 

World Championships  -   2

Grand Prix Starts          -  32

Grand Prix Wins             - 13

Pole Positions                - 14

Halloween - Italian traditions.

October 31^st.  That means it is Halloween (or Hallowe'en).   The name is derived from "All Hallows' Eve", the eve or vigil before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints), which is observed on November 1.

Halloween, as we know it today, has slowly evolved from the United States of America and has been adopted in Europe, especially Italy.  Italians still carve pumpkins, children still dress up in costumes (“Dolcetto o scherzetto?” (Trick or treat?)  and, in some cities, you will find Halloween tours of medieval towers, castles and other 'spooky' sites.  But tradition goes a long way in Italy, and many people still prefer to think of the next few days for different reasons.

'Ognissanti'.  Image courtesy of it.wikipedia.org

Halloween falls just before two important religious holidays in Italy at the beginning of November.  The first day of the month (November 1) is Ognissanti or Tutti i Santi (All Saints’ Day) and is a day dedicated to honouring all the saints and martyrs who have died for the Catholic faith.  Ognissanti is a national holiday in Italy, and most businesses close for the day.   

In the Roman Catholic Church, All Saints' Day is a Holy Day of Obligation in many countries, meaning going to Mass on this day is required.  Traditionally Italians, across the country, attend Mass and celebrate the day together with family.

Then, on the following day (November 2), is the celebration of All Soul’s Day (“Il Giorno dei Morti”).   The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on November 2, or, if this falls on a Sunday or a solemnity, the feast is celebrated on November 3.  On All Souls’ Day Italians visit the cemeteries and bring flowers for their departed loved ones.  Chrysanthemums flowers are traditionally laid at the gravesides, as this symbolises death in Italian culture.  

All Souls Day in Italy.  Image courtesy of www.italylogue.com

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are celebrated with the family and Italians make a point of getting together for a special family lunch where they celebrate the feast and eat traditional ,and regional, food.

For example, in Romagna, a region famous for its cuisine, the “piada dei morti”, a round flatbread filled with nuts, almonds, raisins and red wine from Romagna, Sangiovese, is prepared.  Another sweet prepared during this time is the “fava dei morti”, a little biscuit made of almonds.   The Fave dei Morti recipe goes back to pre-Christian time when fava beans were used as a ritual offering to the dead and the gods.  These cookies are shaped like fava beans and are baked in the Marche region.

Fave dei Morti biscuits.  Image courtesy of www.leitv.it

Sicilians traditionally eat “pupi ‘i zuccuru”, a sweet bread shaped like little dolls.  In Lombardia, the locals will eat Pan Dei Morti (or Bread of the Dead), these are cookies made to remind everyone of dead men’s bones. In Trentino, bells ring to call the dead and the table is left set with the fireplace lit for the whole night and in Abruzzo lamps are left lit and the table is left set while children go to bed with a bag of broad beans and sweets to symbolise the link between the past and present generations.

Together, All Saints Day (Tutti i Santi) and All Souls Day (Il Giorno dei Morti) are still important dates on the calendar for Catholics and Italians alike.

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Rugby League World Cup 2013 - Italy

Azzuri badge. 

The World Cup is just round the corner.  No, it really is.  Forget about the football World Cup in Brazil next summer, you can experience the Rugby League World Cup (http://www.rlwc2013.com/) which begins this weekend (26 October) in the United Kingdom.

14 teams do battle to see who will be crowned World Champions, and one of those teams is Italy.  Yes, the Azzuri has a rugby league team and they play in the opening game in Cardiff against Wales.

Rugby League isn't a hugely popular sport in Italy, especially having to compete with calcio and Rugby Union but it has been played, sporadically, in Italy since the 1950's.  Initally struggling to gain popularity, it virtually disappeared during the 1970's.  The game was revived in the mid 1990's and Italy began to compete internationally with varying degrees of success, culminating in the Azzuri qualifying for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Italy sealed their place in the tournament after topping their qualification group by beating Russia, in front of 2,500 in Padova.  Another victory against Serbia and a draw with Lebanon saw the Azzuri safely through.


In 2010, the Italian Rugby League championship was launched as a semi professional competition. It is made up of three conferences, with a total of ten teams.   The teams that competed in this year's Italian Championship were: North West Roosters, XIII del Duomo, XIII del Ducato, XIII del Bresà, Arieti Este, Padova RL, Grifons Padova, XIII della Ghirlandina, Firenze RL and Sharks Tirreno.  The championship went to XIII del Ducato, who beat North West Roosters in the final.  Italy is still an emerging nation in Rugby League terms and, as a result,the current World Cup squad is made up of Australians of Italian descent.

Anthony Minichello.  Image courtesy of www.rlwc2013.com

Italy, currently ranked 13th in the world, are coached by Carlo Napolitano and are captained by the Australian full-back (of Italian descent), Anthony Minichello.  Minichello is a legend of the game in Australia, and is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation.  He plays for the Sydney Roosters, who play in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition in Australia and has scored 122 tries in 275 games for his club side.

Alongside Minichello is another vastly experienced player in Anthony Laffranchi, who plays for St Helens in the English Super League competition.  Laffranchi will add much needed experience to the forwards in the tournament, having played over 230 first team games in his career.  Other players to look out for as the tournament starts are winger Josh Mantellato and hooker Ray Nasso, both scorers in the famous 15-14 friendly victory over tournament hosts England on Saturday 19 October 2013.  Veteran halfback Craig Gower, with 14 caps, has been ruled out of the tournament through injury.

Italy begin their campaign against Wales in Cardiff, then face Scotland and finish with a tough game against Tonga.  It will be very tough for the Azzuri to progress, and the task is made even more difficult as only the group winners progress to the Quarter finals.  If Italy do make it through they are likely to face the current world cup holders, New Zealand,  in Leeds.

Odds of around 500/1 to win the tournament speak volumes, but this will be a huge learning curve for them, and can only help to enhance the game in Italy for many years to come.  Hopefully when the next tournament comes around in 2017, the Azzuri will have some born and bred Italians representing their country.

Alessandro Del Piero and Minichello.  Image courtesy of www.foxsports.com.au

Follow the fortunes of the Azzuri here http://www.firl.it/  and on Twitter @ITALIA_RLXIII

Forza Azzuri...

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