Lecco 0- 4 Milan!!!!

Milan cruised to a 4-0 victory in their first game of the their preseason preparations against Lecco. The task certainly was not a difficult one for the European Champions, but last season Milan only managed a 1-0 win with a goal by the Dutchman, Clarence Seedorf.

Seedorf once again proved to be pivotal in the game today, by getting two assists and a goal. However, it was Ronie who lit up the score board first, as he netted the only goal in the first half. The Brazilian has been working hard throughout the holidays and he certainly proved that he is getting into shape.

After the break the magnificent Kaka extended the rossoneri's lead, followed by goals from Christian Brocchi and Clarance Seedorf. This win will certainly play a part to boost the confidence of the players, as four goals scored and none conceded leaves many smiles on the players' faces.

MILAN- TU SEI TUTTA LA MIA VITA

Milan are back in action :)

Milan will take to the field this evening in what is to be their first game of their preseason campaign. They will play Lecco in a friendly match just like last year, where Milan went on to win 1-0 with a goal from Clarence Seedorf. This friendly will come before the European SuperCup against Sevilla on Tuesday evening, and a win will do well to boost the spirits of the rossoneri.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti has already revealed his starting line-up with some surprises in the line-up. There shall be no Nesta, Oddo, Jankulovski, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Inzaghi nor Gilardino tomorrow night, but this is mostly due to the fact that they will be rested for the game against Sevilla. However, Gilardino is still recovering from his knee operation, while Inzaghi is feeling a bit tired.

The starting line-up shall include:

Dida, Cafù, Bonera, Kaladze, Serginho, Gattuso, Brocchi, Gourcuff, Kakà, Seedorf, Ronaldo

It comes as a relief to see the return of Serginho who missed out on most of last season with a hernia problem, there is no doubt that he wil make an impact on the game. While Gourcuff, who recently extended his contract until 2012, will also start and he will have to fill in Andrea Pirlo's boots for this game. Ronaldo will act as a loan striker due to the lack of options up-front, but it is likely that Willy Aubameyang will come on too.

Even if this game isn't too important or a big friendly, it is welcomed with open arms to the Milanisti, after a long holiday without watching Milan, it is a relief to see the rossoneri step out onto the field again.

Up date on the "Rosa"

Many have complained about Milan's transfer market a lot this summer and it is understandable. Billy Costacurta had left leaving a whole in the defence after 23 years of wearing the rossoneri shirt. No one of any great significance was brought in to rebuff the defense but it has now come to be known, that Digao has been added in Milan's team, after spending two seasons on loan to Rimini. While Matteo Darmian has graduated form the primavera team and he now finds himself in the first team. Digao has yet to feature for Milan, however Darmian has had a handful of serie A games under his belt, and even made the bench for a few Champions League games for the rossoneri.

While in midfield some alterations have taken place, though none particularly fantastic as some fans would say. The return of Ibraham Ba came as a shock to all as the Senegalese has been out of action for some time now. Kaka has also been moved from being a midfielder to a forward, but will most likely maintain the role of the "trequartista"

The fans have more to complain though, by Milans lack of signings up-front after loaning both Borriello and Oliveira to Genoa and Zaragoza respectively. There have been endless names that have been rumoured to Milan, but none seem to be coming, unless one counts Pato who can only join in January. Baptista is the main man to be brought in according to the press, but a signing is yet to be seen.Milan's Trofeo Berlusconi hero, Willy Aubameyang, has followed in the steps of Darmian and has also graduated to the first team from the Primavera side. He too also featured in a few Serie A games for Milan, but he won the fans over with his late winner against Juventus in January.However the fans are still holding their breath for some new fresh blood in the Milan attack, but maybe they will just have to wait until January.

Back to Milanello, and no one new!

Tomorrow Milan will commence their summer training camp at Milanello, where they will have their first training session since over two months and the new shirts will be unveiled. It has been a long well-deserved holiday for the rossoneri who last year suffered a week long holiday after the World Cup. Ancelotti, Tassoti and the newly appointed Costacurta will work hard to prepare the team in the best way possible, seeing as Milan will take part in six tournaments this season.

The Transfer Market- New Players:
Has practically been non-existent for Milan, and many are begining to feel anxious and annoyed, as the European Champions are yet to by a player. Milan are yet to announce that a player has joined the Via Turati outfit, however suggestion's of Kaka's brother, Digao, will play for Milan next season. He will try and replace the unforgettable Billy Costacurta.

Another strong rumour suggests that Milan have brought back Ibrahim Ba, who has been out of professional football for a few seasons now, and many can understand why the Milanisti have not been left smiling with this supposed transfer.

However, no official announcements have been made on these players as yet.

Departures:
This summer transfer period has seen players leave but none coming in to Milanello. The first to leave on loan to Siena was Grimi. Milan have opted to loan him out so the young-Argentine can gain Serie A experience as he battled to find space in the starting line-up.

Borriello has gone to Genoa, but details on this transfer is yet to be revealed as Milan have once again not announced whether a player has come or gone. Pictures of Borriello presenting Genoa's new shirt confirmed the transfer.

One transfer that Milan did announce was the departure of the struggling Brazilian, Oliveira. Oli has a stuggled fulled season, scoring only 3 Serie A goals. It was only right for Milan to loan him out to try an drecapture his form. Oliveira has joined Zaragoza on loan.

And of course as we all know, the beloved Billy Costacurta hung up his boots last season, seeing him play his final match against Udinese, where he netted his 3rd goal of his career from a penalty kick. He will be dearly missed on the field, but at least he joins Milan's coach stuff.

Rumours:

Milan have had many names linked to them in previous season's but none quite like this. With the departure of 2 forwards, and a defender, and Milan are yet to announce they have brought in a new player. Many can only speculate who, if any, join the European Champions.

Pato has been one of the strongest links along with Ronaldinho and Eto'o. However, the latter two have been said to remain at Barcelona, as Galliani has pulled out his bid to try and catch the two stars. Pato however, will most likely join Milan when his age allows him to join a club overseas. The young Brazilian is highly rated by many, and Milan have been following him for a few years now.

The return of Shevchenko has also been a constant rumour that doesn't look like it will go through, as Milan are not willing to pay the amount Chelsea bought him for last June. Though the latest rumour is they will give Chelsea until the end of the month to make a decision on Sheva.
Vanger Love and Baptista are the latest rumours but are also the more constant of all. Italian press do suggest that Baptista will arrive in a few days time. But no one knows as such.

All in all it hasn't been a good transfer season for Milan, seeing the loss of two forwards and a defender some fans have started t worry, as their big-name forward that Galliani has promised to fans for so many years, is still to arrive. The main worry is in attack, with two highly injury-prone forwards (Inzaghi and Ronaldo) and who aren't necessarily young anymore can leave a lot more pressure on Gilardino to deliver the goods, and with six competition to take part in this season.. more depth is needed now more than ever.


Milan's preseason games:
31 Agosto 2007 - ore 20.45 Milan - Siviglia
29 Luglio 2007 - ore 18 Lecco - Milan
3-5 Agosto 2007 - ore 18.30 PSV Eindhoven - Milan
9 Agosto 2007 - ore 21 Real Betis Balompié - Milan
14 Agosto 2007 Milan - Inter - Juventus
17 Agosto 2007 - ore 20.45 Milan - Juventus

90 Minutes for Mandela....

On Wednesday, Cape Town hosted a friendly match in honours of Mandela's 89th Birthday. The match took place at Newlands Stadium and it was the African XI vs the World XI. The players that took part in this charity affair where all retired with the exception of Samuel Eto'o who took the honours of captaining the African XI for most of the game.

It was a fun event that saw a sell out stadium as everyone filed into the stadium with the Vuvuzelas creating the atmosphere. Everyone was in good spirits and all 35 000 people where there to celebrate Mandela's birthday and witness a night of great football.

Pele kicked off the match, but he didn't play the game. It was fun to watch as most of the players where rusty, except for the likes of Gullit, Hassan, Leonardo and of course Samuel Eto'o. The latter pulling off some World class displays (now if only Milan could sign him...)

Unfortunately the game didn't end off in the good way it started, as the referee blew the final whistle, fans from the stands ran onto the field to try and meet, most notably, Eto'o. It took the security a while to react, but the players where managed to get ushered off the field and down into the tunnel. Whilst the streakers where escorted off the field.

This has come at the right time for the South African officials to notice what problems may occur in the 2010 World Cup, and they need to act straight away if these problems are to be resolved.

Some photo's I took whilst watching the game. (I was sitting quite far back, so it was difficult to get a good shot)

Just before kick off, Eto'o and Pelle stand next to eachother with the match officials...

Leonardo (bottom of pic) played most of the game for the World XI

The African XI impressed right from the beginning as they scored their first goal.

The World XI started to attack more in the second half as they once again fell a goal behind.

Ex- Milan player Ruud Gullit warms up for coming onto the pitch for the second time.


A free-kick to the World XI.


As the referee blows the final whistle, fans run onto the field to meet the players.

Totti calls it quits

Francesco Totti announced earlier today that he will no longer play for the Azzurri again. The World Cup winner, refused to play for Roberto Donadoni's Azzurri after Marcello Lippi had stepped down from the post, after his success in Germany. Totti claimed that he would put his beloved Roma first above the National team and he also said he needed time to recover from his injury that he suffered just before the World Cup.

His retirement doesn't come as a shock; after months of speculation on whether or not he will return, his "feuds" with Coach Roberto Donadoni and FIGC officials saw everyone starting to believe that Er Pupone would never bless the Azzurri shirt again.

His fiery attitude saw him land in many situations, his spitting at Christian Poulsen in the Euro 2004 is on the most notable. He received a ban until the semi-finals but Italy failed to reach it that far.

But as much as Totti has his errors he has also graced the azzurri with goals, his most important goal probably coming in the 2006 World Cup game against Australia. He converted a 90th minute penalty to send Italy through to the quarter finals after they had been reduced to 10 men.

Francesco Totti is without a doubt a legend in Italian football and he will forever be remember by all, be it the Italian fans or the Australians that are still haunted by Totti's penalty everyone has some kind of memory of Totti and his unique celebrations in the Azzurri shirt.

Picture of Totti's career for la Nazionale:

Genoa believes in Borriello

Borriello is now a player of Genoa after signing for the grifoni, in what is assumed to be a co-ownership deal with Milan. Milan are yet to announce on their website that Borriello has left the Via Turati outfit, but with the fact that Borriello was one of the players unveiling the new shirts of Genoa we can all safely agree that he has joined the newly promoted team.

Borriello returned to Milan last season, after spells at Sampdoria and Treviso in the 2005-2006 campaign. He returned as a back up striker, as Milan had little time to find reasonable replacements for both the departed Shevchencko and Amoroso.

The season was a difficult one for Borriello, as he battled to get into the starting line-up and like the rest of the Milan players, he battled to score. He did however, manage to net one goal for Milan and a vital goal too. It came against Cagliari where Milan were 2-1 down, and reduced to 10 men after Andrea Pirlo got sent off, the ball fell down and he cooly controlled it to do a kind-of bicycle kick to save Milan a much needed point.

But the season got worse for Borriello, he was handed a 3 month ban for the use of drugs. It is said that the substance he took, was from an anti-infection cream that his girlfriend had. To save him a few blushes, I shall not reveal the rest of the story.

Once Borriello's ban was released it was almost too late to make an impression on his Serie A campaign, but whenever given the opportunity to play he worked hard and always looked for that goal, unfortunately it didn't arrive.

Now that he has joined Genoa, hopefully they will hand him some faith so he can go on to prove why he was one of the most highly rated youngsters. Good luck to Borriello, now it's time for Milan to find replacements for both Oliveira and Borriello.

Oliveira returns to Spain!

Ricardo Oliveira has completed his loan move to Zaragoza, following his disappointing year long spell at Milan. Oliveira joined the Via Turati outfit, on the last day of the transfer market last August, seeing him cost a radical €12 million plus Joann Vogel, but the Brazilian unfortunately failed to impress.

He was brought in as a last resort to replace the unforgettable or unforgivable Andrij Shevchenko. He started off brightly in the rossoneri shirt, after scoring on his debut, hitting home the winning goal against Lazio. But bad news struck Milan and Oliveira, Ricardo's sister had just been kidnapped, the second time this has happened to a Milan player (Kakha Kaladze the other player, to suffer such a trauma).

Oli's self esteem went to an all time low and he, like the rest of Milan's forwards, struggled to find the back of the net. His shots were far from going in, and the closest he got was when he met the haunted cross-bar. Some might find it surreal to hit the cross-bar 14 times in 12 consecutive games, but Oli and Milan can share their story, as it happened to them, and at times it looked as if that was the closest Milan and Oli where going to get to scoring.

Times started to look bright again when he scored against Siena- with an all Brazilian front-line - and he netted a goal in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Roma. But the best news of all, came after months of worrying, he got word that his sister had been released, and Oli's smile soon returned.

But unfortunately for Oli's story of his life, what comes up must come down, and he failed once again to find the back of the net. He netted 3 times in Serie A and twice in the Coppa Italia. One only hopes that his spell at Zaragoza will be a successful one.

IN BOCCA AL LUPO OLI!

The aeroplanino flys back to Sampdoria!

Vincenzo Montella returns to Serie A and he finds himself back to his old roots where he played for the blucerchiati for 3 years. He left Sampdoria for life in the Italian capital 9 years ago, seeing him sign for Roma. However, last year saw a string of injuries hit the striker, which resulted in him loosing his place in the starting line-up. He later fell out with the club and joined Fulham on loan in January of 2007.

Nevertheless, Montella is back and is ready to prove himself as he completed his loan move to Sampdoria earlier on today. He is just as happy as the fans are to see him back, and he claims he has never forgotten them as they formed a special part of his career.

With Flachi suspended, Quagliarella gone to Udinese and Bonazzoli inujured, Sampdoria also netted a few more big names such as Bellucci and Caraciollo. This leaves Sampdoria with a mouth-watering front-line that is going to be one of the most exciting strike forces next season.

Many fans can't wait to see the return of L'aeroplanino, and the blucerchiati tifosi will certainly be hoping that Montella will fly the Sampdorian flag high this season.

Grimi goes on loan to Siena

Leandro Grimi will take part in Siena's preseason training camp that will take place next week, following his loan deal from Milan. The Argentine joined the European Champions during the January transfer period which saw the arrival of Marco Storari, Massimo Oddo and Ronaldo. Grimi struggled to play many games with the return of Serginho and Favalli back to full health. But he has had a handful of Serie A appearances under his belt.

With this, Milan sought to loan him out to a smaller club where he could gain more experience, and he found himself at Siena after rumours of a potential move to Sporting Lisbon. The Tuscan outfit were in need of a left-back after the departure of Molinaro so Grimi could favour his chances of landing in the starting line-up often, due to the lack of players in the left back position.

Siena's training camp will commence on the 17th in Norcia with the following players taking apart in the preseason training camp.

ALBERTO (Do Carmo Neto Alberto V.)
ALBANESE Thomas

BERTOTTO Valerio

CAETANO Prosperi Calili

CHIESA Enrico

CODREA Paul Costantin

CORVIA Daniele

DE CEGLIE Paolo

ELEFTHEROPOULOS Dimitris

FICAGNA Daniele

FRICK Mario

GALLOPPA Daniele

GRIMI Leandro

GUADALUPI Mirko

JAAKKOLA Anssi

JAROLIM Lukas

KONKO Abdoulay

LOCATELLI Tomas

LUCARELLI Alessandro

MACCARONE Massimo

MANNINGER Alexander

PACKER Douglas Ricardo

PAVARINI Nicola

PORTANOVA Daniele

ROSSI Andrea

VERGASSOLA Simone

VERON Matias Ricardo

Gourcuff until 2012

COMUNICATO UFFICIALE A.C.MILAN
10/07/2007L'A.C.Milan comunica di aver prolungato il contratto che lega Yoann Gourcuff alla società rossonera fino al 30 giugno 2012.

http://www.acmilan.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=49346

Yoann Gourcuff has become the first Milan player to extend his contract in the course of the 2007/2008 season. The Frenchman arrived at Italian giants last year, when he had a choice of several other top clubs to choose from, but the 20 year-old made the bold decision of joining Milan. His first season with the rossoneri has come to an end, and Milan have reacted quickly to the press' rumours about a summer transfer for the European Champion by extending his contract until 2012. Gourcuff also becomes the player to hold the longest contract at Milan, with most of the players' contracts ending in 2010 or 2011.

Gourcuff had a mixture of highs and lows at his first season at Milan after joining the Via Turati from Rennes. He started with a high, scoring on his Milan debut and his Champions League debut, which saw Milan secure a 3-1 win against AEK Athens. However, a few weeks later he found himself, along with many of the other injured rossoneri, in the doctors room where he suffered a broken rib, making him sit ou for a month on the sidelines. After his injury he battled to get into the starting line-up, but he forever remained loyal to Milan. He later featured a few times for Milan, seeing him score his first Serie A goal against Udinese in a 3-2 loss. But the best part of all for Yoann, was winning the Champions League. When he arrived at Milanello for his first training session he said: "I chose Milan because I want to win trophies" and he sure did.

Next season will be a season for Yoann to shine, with Milan taking part in six tournaments he is bound to get first team action one way or another. His silky gracious style of play and his versatility to play in nearly any midfield role has won over the hearts of many Milanisti. He fitted in instantly from his first game with Milan, he can only get better once he gets to feature more constantly for the rossoneri.

Grazie Yoann and Happy 21st Birthday for tomorrow.

Un anno fa...

Don't laugh as I try to attempt my first mini-post in Italian. since it's exactly a year after the World Cup, that day we all celebrated like mad I am sure, the azzurri of Marcello Lippi deserve some credit after making so many Italians' dreams come true. GRAZIE RAGAZZI!!

So here it goes:

"Viva la dolce vita", un anno fa tutti gli Italiani hanno vissuto la dolce vita. Quel giorno, 9 Luglio 2006, e' stata una bellissima giornata per tutti gli Azzurri di Marcella Lippi, hanno vinto il quarto mondiale per l'Italia.

Per la durata del torneo, i giocatori del' Italia hanno giocato con la passione, senza l'avidita' e l'unita'.

Con un grande Gigi Buffon, e la migliore difesa nel mondo. Un centrocampo che hanno giocato con la grinta', la personalita' e piu troppo la creativita'. E con un attacco dove tuti i attacanti hanno segnato. Non c'e' stata una squadra migliore di loro... questa e' la ragione che Italia ha vinto.

Ricordo quella giornata come se fosse ieri, e anche oggi, dopo un anno, gli Italiani sorridono sempre.

"CAMPIONI DEL MONDO, CAMPIONI DEL MONDO"

Grazie a

Gianluigi Buffon, Angelo Peruzzi, Marco Amelia,

Andrea Barzagli, Cristian Zaccardo, Gianluca Zambrotta, Marco Materazzi, IL NOSTRO CAPITANO..... FABIO CANNAVARO, Massimo Oddo, Fabio Grosso, Alessandro Nesta

Simone Barone, Gennaro Gattuso, Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo,
Vicenzo Iaquinta, Luca Toni, Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino E MARCELLO LIPPI!!

Some more pics

Italy say goodbye to yet another World Cup winner.

First Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta, then Luca Toni now Fabio Grosso! Serie A says goodbye to yet another World Cup Winner. Fabio Grosso joins the likes of his fellow Azzurri stars to play abroad, where he has left the Italian Champions on a four-year contract for a reported €7m fee to Lyon.

It's a slight blow to the Azzurri once again because with all the Italian World Cup winners playing their football in Italy at the stage of the World Cup, they have now seen their 4th player leave their home country.

Grosso is best known for his astounding form at the World Cup, and even more so for his fantastic goal that killed the Germans to see through Italy to the final, and then for his coolly taken penalty that saw Italy lift their 4th World Cup trophy.

Grosso made a move from Palermo to Inter, where he struggled to find a space in the starting line-up with competition from Douglas Maicon and Javier Zanetti. However, Grosso is most likely to feature in the starting line-up for Lyon following Abidal's departure to Barcelona.

The World Cup hero will be unveiled on Monday, after he passed his medical test for the French Champions on Saturday, where he will be presented with the number 11 shirt.

What will be in store for Milan next season?

With Milan as the current European champions and no calciopoli deductions inhibiting their chances of winning the scudetto next season, many will be favoring the rossoneri to obtain another trophy next season. But we all know there is always some twist to the fairytale stories of Milan and we never quite know what will happen next.

With Juventus, Napoli and Genoa back in Serie A and with the likes of Fiorentina and Lazio without calciopoli deductions the odds of obtaining the scudetto will be tough, as many teams will now have a good chance in obtaining the league title. Once again Inter will be clear favorites to win “lo scudetto”, but who knows what will happen now that the Serie A giants have returned and no calciopoli deductions to increase their chances.

However, even if Milan have won 17 scudetti their main objective is always the most prestigious club championship in Europe and that is the UEFA Champions League. This is where Milan always plays their best football, and this is their home. No other club has been as consistent in Europe as Milan have in recent years, and as some would say the Champions League is in their DNA. They proved this last season, as when all looked dead and buried at the first half of the season, Milan bounced back and proved the impossible and defied all the odds to take home their 7th Champions League trophy, as well as taking revenge on Liverpool.

But what will be in store for Milan? As the transfer market carries on Milan look once again to keep their experienced team rather than add changes to the squad, of the so called “oldies”. But wasn’t it those oldies that won the Champions League? Milan have proved time and time again that age is just a number and their Captain Paolo Maldini is a good example. At the age of 38 he lifted his 5th Champions League trophy and lasted the full 90mins of the final, whilst playing with a knee injury.

As Milan are the current champions of Europe they will look to avoid the latest trend of European winners by being knocked out early in the competition. Barcelona, Liverpool, and Porto have all fallen in the early stages, but none of them quite host the pedigree as Milan do in the Champions League. However, with a busy season ahead for the rossoneri, it will be tough to compete for everything, but nothing is impossible for “I Diavoli” provided the team remain confident and injury free.

Transfers:
Milan looks all set to keep round about the same team they had throughout last season. Ronaldo will be able to play in the Champions League which opens up more possibilities in attack. However, Galliani has said that Oliviera will be sacrificed and a new forward will be brought in, but none such changes has happened just yet. Names such as Ronaldinho, Eto’o Pato, Cassano have all been linked with the Via Turati outfit, the latter being the most recent. But deals with Real Madrid look unlikely as they have been harassing Milan for Kaka and now the rossoneri are reluctant in making deals with the Spanish Champions.
Digao, Kaka’s brother, has been brought in to replace the retired Costacurta and to help settle Kaka at Milan.
In the midfield, Milan are mostly covered, but Emerson and Edmilson where also rumored as a back up to the in-form Ambrosini, who is highly injury prone.

Digao joins Milan, could this be the key to keep Kaka at Milan?

Kaka’s younger brother has expressed his desire to play for last season’s European Champions, Milan. Milan’s site had a statement from Rodrigo Leite or Digao as he preferred to be named, stating his desire to play for the rossoneri as well as declaring his admiration for the Via Turati legend, Captain Paolo Maldini. Milan also hinted that he would be playing for Milan next season; however, an “official announcement” is yet to be released on their official website.

Should Digao join the rossoneri, Milan will be once again fulfilling another one of Kaka’s dreams. Kaka has expressed on numerous occasions that one of his dreams was to play alongside his brother professionally, and Milan can once again provide him with that desire.

Milan signed him at a younger age, and he joined the Milan Primavera (the youth team), in 2005 Milan sent him on loan to Rimini- who had recently been promoted to Serie B football- he spent two years there and may just join Milan for the next season.

Digao will hope to boost Milan’s defense as Milan saw the retirement of Billy Costacurta after 23 years at the club. However, Milan could not only bring him in just to boost the defense they could bring him into to help keep Kaka in the rossoneri shirt.

Rumours of a possible move to the Spanish capital have been circulating more constantly. And with Kaka repeatedly expressing his desire to one day play for the galatico’s has left Milan worried. A move to the Bernabeau is bound to happen for the Brazilian, but it’s more of a matter of when will he leave.

The fact that Digao has been brought into the team, could help keep Kaka at bay for the time being. Kaka is an extremely important asset to Milan’s success in recent years, and seeing him leave will be a huge loss to them. With Digao at Milan, it could help put Kaka’s mind at ease and many hope that he will stay, at least, to see the end of his contract.

Many will be hoping, should Digao join, that he will be just as a hit as his magical- brother is on the field, and with the fans. He is still young and he still has time to develop into a world champion like Kaka. If he is blessed with some of Kaka’s ability, it could be an interesting season once again.