THERE ARE FEW images that evoke memories of Serie A in the 1990s better than the sight of Giuseppe Signori wheeling away with one hand in the air, having scored yet another trademark…
Tag: italy
“I‘m not ready to relax on a beach yet,” quipped Ashley Cole as he signed for AS Roma in the summer of 2014. Cole’s views on the possibility of gracing Major League Soccer…
WHEN VALENTINO MAZZOLA rolled up his sleeves on the pitch, it signalled to the rest of the team that he was about to take over, that the greatest player of calcio was about…
WHEN IT COMES TO LISTING THE GREATEST DEFENDERS OF ALL-TIME, Paolo Maldini is up there with the best there ever was. His calibre is proven in the European Cup and the Champions…
The thought of becoming a football superstar is a childish reverie that most youngsters casually engage in at one point or another. It can be a torturous exercise because plenty will never…
ARRANGING A TRIP TO SAN MARINO IS QUITE THE CHALLENGE. There is no train station in Europe’s third smallest state, let alone an airport. Large pedestrian-only zones mean that parking spaces are sparse,…
“Only those who have the courage to take a penalty miss them. I failed that time. Period.” These are the words of a man who has been forced to defend his reputation on…
For something that is essentially an expendable pastime, football can wield an extraordinary amount of influence. The temporary truce between supporters of fierce rivals Zamalek and Al Ahly helped to overthrow Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak…
FROM THE BANKS OF THE RIVER TIBER rose the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Even today, to gaze upon the wonderments of the age bring about a certain awe inspiring emotion.…
ITALIAN FOOTBALL IS GOING THROUGH somewhat of a transitional phase, with both Milan sides failing to qualify for Europe for the first time in 60 years. At the other end of the scale…
FOR THE GENERATION OF FOOTBALL FANATICS FROM WHENCE I CAME, the summer of 2015 will be a poignant one. Time, it appears, has flown. Now our idols, those we were besotted by –…
The history of football, like anything that hinges on so many disparate variables converging in one place, plays host to innumerable ‘what if’ moments. For all the relentless analysis, the rigorous preparation, the…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City The balding man with whisps of thinning grey-speckled hair looked oddly familiar. His assuredness and graceful movement seemed at odds with his companions…
SOMETIMES YOU HEAR A FACT, notice a name or log a date in your memory in the obscure hope that one day, you’ll be in a pub quiz team, or watching a television…
NICOLA “COCO” CAMPOLONGO WAS EXECUTED, shot through the head along with his grandfather and an acquaintance. Their bodies were later found in a burnt out Fiat Punto on the outskirts of the southern…
As featured on Guardian Sport A FEW WEEKS AGO, THERE WAS A SUDDEN FRISSON OF ENTHUSIASM surrounding Michael Carrick. Having played for Manchester United for nearly a decade and having been capped by…
It was a wet December night at Stadio San Nicola in 1999 as FC Bari played host to Inter Milan in Serie A. Inter were already clear favourites prior to the game as…
Illustration by Soccer Patterns. View more here Just seven short seasons ago, Palermo were the rising stars of calcio. The Sicilian outfit were enriched with young talents such as Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore,…