Montella Bids Farewell To Calcio

First Paolo Maldini, Pavel Nedved and Luis Figo now Vicenzo Montella. This year has seen some universal football stars bid a final farewell to calcio and it looks like Montella is set to follow from his fellow veterans.

The "Aeroplanino" started his career in Serie C with Empoli before moving up to Serie B with Genoa where he scored 21 goals in his first and only season with the club. His impressive goal scoring ability saw him move to cross-city rivals Sampdoria where he lit the Marassi alight with his passion and trade-mark goal celebrations.

It was his eight years with Roma that saw him win over the fans especially with his four goals he scored against rivals Lazio in their 5-1 drubbing of the biancocelesti. Despite his public disagreements with Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Capello, Montella remained a vital protagonist in their third Scudetto triumph.

In 2007 he was sent on-loan to England where he played for Fulham. His English career only lasted a short six months, as he returned back to Sampdoria where he partnered up with Cassano for a short while.

Last season he managed to only make appearances off the bench leaving him already having played his last game in May, with the fans not having the opportunity to say a formal good-bye.

It is believed that he will be brought in to be part of the coaching staff for Roma's youth teams.

It is another sad farewell to calcio and this giallorossi hero will not be forgotten. Grazie Vicenzo!

Vuvuzela In or Out?

Throughout the Confederations Cup tournament there has been much debate about whether the Vuvuzela should stay for the World Cup or be banned. It has caused a lot of controversy between fans and players as the buzzing noise is not only annoying at times but a huge distraction to the players; leaving it difficult for the players to hear the whistle of the referee and making it difficult for them to communicate for between one another.

The Vuvuzela has only come to the attention of the public now, despite it being around for over a two decades, in this year's Confederation Cup: a run-up to the 2010 World Cup. FIFA are considering banning the instrument for various reasons mentioned as well as it being used as a possible weapon for hooligans. It also causes huge problems for TV producers as they have to filter the sounds differently now so the audience can here the whistle on the TV too as well as the commentators.

The big questions remains; Should the Vuvuzela stay or go?

South Africans have argued that this instrument adds or if not creates the lively atmosphere seen in their stadiums. It is part of their culture and helps to real their teams on, just like the songs do for the teams in Europe, the drums in Brazil etc etc Why should South Africa have their soccer symbol taken away from them?

The African culture is one that is loud, crazy, chaotic and buzzing, it is one that is passionate about life. This is exactly what the Vuvuzela portrays when blown by the fans. It captures the whole meaning of African culture.

It would be wrong to take away the Vuvuzela from the people. After all no one wants to come in to a country and not witness a football festival without life and culture. Keep the Vuvuzela!!

Why Italy, Why?

Many Azzurri fans were left asking that question after their elimination in the Confederations Cup last night against Brazil. How did they manage to play so badly in a tournament which- on paper- they should have passed through easily enough even without beating Brazil?

It simply doesn't make sense whatsoever as the Azzurri struggled to get a win against the USA, they were outplayed by Egypt for most of the game and were not only beaten by Brazil but were outplayed, outclassed and had circles run around them by the Samba boys. They failed to score goals in two of the three games and conceded goals like it was going out of fashion.

A team that can so proudly host names such as Pirlo, Cannavaro, Buffon and Toni should not have struggled so. After all they are the World Cup winners!

It was Luis Fabiano that stole the show with his two goals but it was the whole team that deserved the credit as their pin-point passing, their perfectly timed interceptions, their passion to succeed saw them, and rightfully so, top group B. The USA progressed after their shock win over Egypt.

Now when one looks back at the history of La Nazionale it is clear that the Azzurri would never go far in this meaningless tournament. The Italians have a tendency to put in dull and sloppy performances after achieving a high honour and this is exactly what they did.

In the Euro they had no motivation to play for the Azzurri and helped sent Donadoni packing after just two years at the helm. They are also a superstitious bunch as they believe; should they win this tournament they would have no chance in success next year.

Nevertheless, that doesn't provide an adequate excuse for their dismal and embarrassing display last night. The excuse of being World Champions, so their is no need to perform in silly competitions, doesn't stand any more as they have to prove that they deserved that title and can just as easily regain it again next year.

A lot of lessons have hopefully hit home after those scary 90 minutes and maybe Lippi will now take a close look at the team. Some players are just too inexperienced to fill the shoes of Gattuso, Cannavaro and Toni. While some players who won the World Cup with Lippi might need to be dropped from the side as they are failing to deliver the goods.

Nevertheless when times are tough and the Azzurri really need to deliver the goods they know how to put in a meaningful performance and get the job done. After all no one will remember this tournament in years to come...

Review: Egypt 1-0 Italy

As promised here it is; rather late than never!

The excitement could not be contained as we arrived at the stadium a -somewhat three hours prior to kickoff - there were a handful of Italians and a group of Egyptians. The gates had not been opened yet so we were subjected to stand and wait as we eyed our opponents out. Each set of fans looked at each other giving a subtle smile but weary that they would be our rivals that tonight. It was like Apartheid all over again... segregation occurred as if it were the norm; the Italians stood on the one side and the Egyptians the other.

The Egyptians were in good spirits as one of them had a huge flag, he continued to wave it while his fellow Pharaoh supporter blew on the much criticised Vuvuzela as they huddled and discussed the game.

Us Italians kept to our own as we occasionally stood up to take some photo’s, flags, scarves, shirts the works, the Azzurri support dressed up to the max. The Pharaoh’s saw the photo opportunity and pounced. They came to us, shook our hands, and we exchanged flags as the group of us gathered: Egypt and Italy united for those brief minutes.

Entering into the stadium was easy enough provided one got their early. There had been complaints that should you arrive an hour or an hour and a half before the game you could quite possibly miss kickoff so it's best to rather get there a good few hours before and enjoy the fan parks. The fan park consisted of eateries, dancing competitions, Sony promotions, Football Trivia competitions, and several Official Fan Shops which added to the buzzing atmosphere.

The vibe in the stadium was buzzing and quite literally so, the Vuvuzela's were in full force as the locals found every opportunity to blow the buzzing trumpet whenever Egypt had possession. South Africans generally favour the winning team but when the underdog wins, they tend to adopt that team as their second nation. A prime example was a man that kept on shouting "Gattuso! Gattuso! Gattuso you are the best!" and once Egypt scored he did a typical South African style and did a three-sixty and started cheering on Egypt.

In the second half "Egypt! Egypt!" echoed around the stadium as the Italian supporters remained shut. Boos towards De Rossi were not held back as he was surprisingly found to be the most unliked Italian player despite the raving reviews coming into the competition.

Upon exiting the stadium it was chaotic as it was practically a stampede to get out, but once on the streets one could not get anywhere fast as the thousands of fans had to wait for their relative buses to take us back to the park-and-ride. Fans were pushing and shoving as the lack of transport saw thousands of people still waiting for two to three hours after the game to be transported.

All in all it was an amazing experience despite the loss. South Africa still has a lot of work to do in terms of jacking up the transport system, getting the fans through the gates at a steady pace before kickoff, and improving the city as a whole. Moreover, the stadium is in good condition and is definitely prepared to host the World Cup games. The stewards in the actual stadium are extremely helpful in finding one's seats despite it all being well signposted and in general everything went well with just a few minor glitches.

Pictures will be posted up next week or so...

Tomorrow is the day!

I can't believe the day is almost upon me. Tomorrow morning I will be waking up at the crack of dawn to catch an early flight to Johannesburg where I will be staying there for a week to watch Italy play Egypt and Brazil, and both semi-final games.

I am going to try my hardest to get great pictures of the teams and will post them up along with a report about the game, giving you the full detail about the atmosphere, the stadia, the news: the full throttle.

The first game I will see will be Italy v Egypt at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, a ground full of negative history regarding fans violence, and it will host the final of the World Cup next year. The Brazil game will be in Pretoria at Loftus Stadium where the Azzurri played their first game against the USA. Loftus have had a great turn out of fans so far in the tournament and it already has a sold out all the tickets for the game on Sunday.

Excitement is slowly starting to creep in and the Azzurri shirt with Pirlo's name on it is already waiting to be packed in the bag, along with the flags, and perhaps a vuvuzela...

Lets see how things go. FORZA ITALIA!!!

Confederations Round Up: Day 1

Kickoff:

South Africa 0- 0 Iraq

Pure frustration to watch as both teams battled it out in a not-so- spectacular opening game. Iraq managed to obtain their first ever Confederations Cup point but failed to deliver the goods. The game will undoubtedly be remembered for Parker preventing the ball from going in his own goal as he unintentionally shattered the dreams of his whole nation.

New Zealand 0-5 Spain

Two words... WORLD CLASS. That is how you can describe Spain's display against New Zealand on Sunday. Yes, one can say the All Whites are not exactly a cut-above-the-rest but they deserve some respect after all they did win the Oceanic Cup.
Spain out played them in every respect and when you find your leading man scoring a hatric in the first 17 minutes of a game you know this team is worth that number one ranking they so proudly occupy.

Egypt 3-4 Brazil

Did the Egyptians cause a scare or what for the Brazilians? By far the better Africa team out of the two, these boys caused a stir as they shook Brazil to come from 3-1 behind to get a 3-3 draw. It was only cancelled out by a Kaka penalty after the Pharaoh's man was sent off for handling the ball on the line.
They played Brazil's game against them and the Selecao looked confused and fatigued at times as the game drew to a close. Some say the USA are the underdogs, I say look out for Egypt!

USA 1-3 Italy

For the World Cup winners this should have been a walk through, the score line suggests it the game says another thing. The first half the USA dominated play and caused many problems for the Azzurri as they failed to grab hold of their few chances. It was the controversial sending off that could have provided Italy with that extra adrenalin in the second half or the colossal presence of the tiny Guiseppe Rossi that did the trick, but the second half had another story.
The Azzurri came from 1-0 behind to win 3-1 with two goals from Rossi. Rumours are suggesting he is the next Paolo Rossi, could it be so? Sure looks like it!

Milan to sign Cissokho tonight!

Milan have reported that they are set to sign Aly Cissokho from Porto this evening in what is the start of the rossoneri revolution. The French-Senegalese defender is set to be the first signing of the "Leo Era" and he surely will not be the last.

The 22-year old started his career in the second division for Gueugon on the last match of the 2006/2007 season. He moved on to the first division in the Portuguese league where he signed for Vitoria di Setubal where his performances earned him a transfer to Porto.

He made an immediate impact with the Portuguese outfit and helped them win their third conscutive title.

Cissokho is a promising young talent and he is set to try and replace the major void left by Maldini, after his retirement.

It is believed that the transfer will be around 15 millions Euro's. This money will no doubt come from the transfer fees Real Madrid payed for Kaka but one wonders shouldn't the rossoneri be using that money to replace Kaka?