OlioCalcio

Manchester United annihilated, Barcelona European Champions!

2011-05-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Barcelona - Manchester United, 3-1. Great game, great players. Great Barça.

Their superiority was astounding, they never let the opposing team to catch a breath. Messi was a devil. Pep Guardiola can be honored to say that he was there tonight at the Wembley Stadium and he was the coach of such a great football team. The English Manchester couldn't stand a chanche. Kudos to Rooney, player that tried...but Itagaki said he couldn't.

Barcelona
28' Pedro
56' Messi
71' Villa

Manchester United
36' Rooney

Head of FIFA suspected of corruption

2011-05-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

The head of FIFA Joseph Blatter ends under inquiry. FIFA has in fact launched an internal investigation to determine the ethical behavior of its President, in relation to a case of corruption. The hearing is scheduled for May 29.

About two years ago...

2011-05-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

... Barcelona and Manchester United played the final of the 2008-2009 edition of the Champions' League. The date was May 27th of 2009, which means that tomorrow will be exactly two years after the victory of Barça, so to hype ourselves a bit in view of Saturday night, here are the highlights of the final of two years ago:

Fiat new sponsor of the Italy

2011-05-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

The FIAT, after years of proximity to the world of football with Juventus, will become official sponsor of the Italian national team, with a double purpose.

Surely one of them is to give visibility to the brand in view of future events such as the 2012 European and World Football cups in 2014, while the other one is to point out the Italian membership of the house.
Also because of the World Cup in Brazil everything will be even more strategic, due to the strong interests that FIAT has in the yellow-green country.

Kid football team coach arrested for paedophilia

2011-05-25T03:56:00.000-07:00

Livio Volpi, a 41 years old man ex-coach of an amateur soccer team near San Siro, was arrested for the crime of paedophilia.

The investigations begun in the 2009, after he had began to lure five boys, all around 14 years old, after the training sessions.

With one of those he had had an intimate relationship for a short time; with the other ones Volpi had begun to exchange messages and videos with the webcam. "I'd like to do it live" and "Are you in your bedroom?", he was used to ask to the young boys.

As the rumours on the coach begun to spread, the kids told everything to their mothers, who reported Livio Volpi to the police. In his computer were found all the incriminated conversations and the text messages exchanged with the kids.

When the agents went to his house, he said he didn't expect to be arrested.

By Volturno Caravaggio

Pirlo signing with Juventus!

2011-05-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Andrea Pirlo, one of the symbols of Milan during the last decade, has signed today a 3-year contract with Juventus, thus ending his adventure in the rossoneri. This morning, the player has successfully completed a medical, after which in the site of his new team appeared the news of the agreement. Thus a new era opens in the career of Pirlo, who has recently also regained a place in the Italy national.

FC Barcelona anticipates the volcanic ashes

2011-05-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, an Icelandic volcano has erupted, bringing to mind the similar events in about a year ago, when half of Europe's airports were blocked by ash from a particularly intense eruption. At that time, Barcelona had to play against Inter in Milan, and was forced into a grueling bus trip through Spain, France and parts of Italy to compete in the match, which ended with the victory of their opponents. Today, however, history does not repeat itself, because Guardiola has ordered the immediate departure by airplane for England, where the final of the Champions' League will be held on Saturday night. The show so it's safe, and so is the competitiveness of Barcelona... Now we just have to wait until Saturday!

Pep Guardiola leaving Barcelona?!

2011-05-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

It is very strange to read such a thing, yet it seems that Guardiola could be the future new coach of AS Roma. The idea was born after the words of James Pallotta, co-owner of AS Roma and number two of the new president DiBenedetto, who stated "After the Champions' final we'll talk about the market. And the fans giallorossi will be happy"; and as the only possible connection between the coach of AS Roma and the Champions' League final is Guardiola... let's wait for Saturday night and enjoy the match, and then we'll see.

Italy national football team, players called up!

2011-05-24T03:42:00.000-07:00

Italian national coach has called up 25 players who will face two major football matches: one against Estonia, which will be held on June 3rd, and the other one against Ireland, which will be held on June 7th.

Only the first one, though, has true importance: whereas the match against Ireland is a friendly one, the match against Estonia is for the qualifying in Euro 2012.

Goalkeepers
Buffon (Juventus), Sirigu (Palermo), Viviano (Bologna)

Defenders
Astori (Cagliari), Balzaretti (Palermo), Cassani (Palermo), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Maggio (Napoli), Ranocchia (Inter)

Midfielders
Aquilani (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Inter), Nocerino (Palermo), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pirlo (Milan)

Strikers
Balotelli (Manchester City), Cassano (Milan), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Giovinco (Parma), Matri (Juventus), Pazzini (Inter), Rossi (Villarreal).

By Volturno Caravaggio

The King of AS Roma is not dead!

2011-05-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Francesco Totti, captain of AS Roma, scored the first goal that brought his team to the victory against Sampdoria. This brought to my memory another match against Sampdoria, during which Totti scored an awesome goal; here it is, enjoy it:

Resume of the results of the Serie A league

2011-05-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

Milan: Champion

Inter, Napoli: In Champion's League

Udinese: preliminary of Champion's League

Roma, Lazio, Palermo: Europa League

By Esmeraldo Petrarca

Update: Final results of all the last matches

2011-05-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Here you go:

22.05. 20:45	Finale	AS Roma	3 - 1	Sampdoria
22.05. 20:45	Finale	Juventus	2 - 2	Napoli
22.05. 20:45	Finale	Lecce	2 - 4	Lazio
22.05. 20:45	Finale	Udinese	0 - 0	AC Milan
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Bologna	0 - 4	Bari
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Brescia	2 - 2	Fiorentina
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Cagliari	1 - 1	Parma
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Genoa	3 - 2	Cesena
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Inter	3 - 1	Catania
22.05. 18:00	Finale	Palermo	1 - 3	Chievo

That's all for this year folks!

By Esmeraldo Petrarca

This evening the Italian league "Serie A" Will end for this season

2011-05-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here the matches at the moment:

22.05. 20:45		AS Roma	-	Sampdoria
22.05. 20:45		Juventus	-	Napoli
22.05. 20:45		Lecce	-	Lazio
22.05. 20:45		Udinese	-	AC Milan
22.05. 18:00	1	Bologna	0 - 0	Bari
22.05. 18:00	4	Brescia	0 - 1	Fiorentina
22.05. 18:00	5	Cagliari	0 - 0	Parma
22.05. 18:00	4	Genoa	0 - 0	Cesena
22.05. 18:00	2	Inter	0 - 0	Catania
22.05. 18:00	1	Palermo	0 - 0	Chievo

We will update you when the matches will finish.

By Esmeraldo Petrarca.

Real Madrid - Almeria, 8 to 1.

2011-05-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

In the Spanish Santiago Bernabeu stadium happens the incredible, a performance that only few teams can boast: Real Madrid - Almeria, 8-1.

Certainly, the game appeared to be rather one-sided since the predictions: the Real had scored 94 goal, Almeria was the last in the ranking and already relegated.

Man of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo, who, thanks to his double, has managed to score 53 goals in one season, unique in the history of the Liga.

Real coach, Jose Mourinho, can be very satisfied with his team, and his work in the road to victory.

By Volturno Caravaggio

Chi sarà il nuovo allenatore della Roma? / Who will be the new coach of Roma?

2011-05-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

Ogni giorno un nuovo nome viene accostato ad una delle panchine più calde del calciomercato: il futuro nuovo coach dovrà infatti gestire il grande capitale del neo-patron DiBenedetto, rifondando la squadra dalle basi e riportandola al successo dopo un'annata con alti e bassi.

Era proprio di oggi la notizia dei contatti del direttore sportivo Sabatini con Stefano Pioli, tecnico del Chievo, ma già spunta un nuovo nome: Bielsa, tecnico argentino rinomato a livello internazionale e specializzato nel gestire i giovani, una risorsa su cui la nuova proprietà sembra puntare molto. Però sarà sicuramente solo il secondo di una lunga lista, tralasciando ovviamente i vari Deschamps ed Ancelotti, i cui nomi pure erano stati accostati alla panchina della Roma nelle scorse settimane.

Una tipologia di allenatore che sarebbe molto utile è però quella a cui appartiene Mourinho, uno che non guarda in faccia a nessuno e prosegue per la sua strada fino al raggiungimento degli obiettivi, cosa che spesso accade. Una figura forte come la sua sarebbe molto utile per dare una scossa all'ambiente giallorosso, fin troppo intorpidito negli ultimi tempi, e infatti non sorprende che sia stato fatto anche il nome di Villas Boas, fresco vincitore dell'Europa League, e considerato l'erede dello Special One.

Chi sarà il prescelto che dovrà guidare la Roma verso (si spera) un'epoca di successi, anche in campo internazionale? Lo sapremo solo nelle prossime settimane.

----------------------------

Every day a new name is put next to the hottest bench of the transfer market: the future new coach will have to deal with the great capital of the neo-owner DiBenedetto, recasting the team from scratch and bringing it back to success after a year with ups and downs.

It was just the news of today's contact of sporting director Sabatini with Stefano Pioli, Chievo coach, but it already appears a new name: Bielsa, an Argentinian and internationally renowned coach, specialized in dealing with young people, a resource on which the new property seems to bet a lot. But he will surely be only the second in a big list, forgetting of course the various Deschamps and Ancelotti, whose names were well matched to the bench of Roma in the recent weeks.

A type of coach who would be very useful, however, is the one to which belongs Mourinho, one that does not look at anyone and continues on his way up to the goals, which often happens. A strong figure like his would be very useful to give a jolt to the "giallorosso" environment, too numb lately, and it is not surprising that it was made also the name of Villas Boas, who recently won Europa League, who is considered the heir of the Special One.

Who will be the chosen one who will lead the Roma to (hopefully) an era of successes, even internationally? We'll know in the next few weeks.

Football Manager Handheld 2011 [Review]

2011-05-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Football Manager also arrives on Apple devices in this Handheld release that adapts the famous PC title to fit the capabilities of the iPhone, iPod touch, and dancing company.
The series in question puts us in the shoes of a young soccer coach who, after choosing a team to train, will have to manage from the beginning not only the formation, but also any issues that may arise between players or with the team owners. The customization possibilities are indeed endless, you can manage your training, adopt specific advanced tactics, decide on the salaries of the players... Every aspect is very tidy and leaves to the imagination of the coach, especially when selecting the formation: the modules available, although not many, are still quite different and customizable choosing players with with different characteristics, for example putting on the band Taddei will result in an increase of offensive potential, being him a player who is likely to move forward, while lining up Riise you will have more coverage on the opponent's actions for the opposite reason. It also helps to partially compensate for the lack of the ability to select through arrows the movements to be done by the individual players during the match.

The comparison with the PC version, in case you're wondering, is not unworthy: this conversion in fact defends itself very well, showing speedy loadings, even if you activate four championships at the same time (and of course the various cups for clubs and nationals), and it also has updates due to the winter market.

Football Manager Handheld 2011 is available on the App Store at a price of € 9.99; the game includes support for Game Center.

Man City makes an insane offering for Cristiano Ronaldo?!

2011-05-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

As reported by some British newspapers (Daily Mirror and Sun) but also by the Spanish newspaper AS, Sheikh Mansour, owner of Manchester City, would be ready to spend the insane amount of 180 million euros to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester, but this time to the Manchester City, after he played for the Red Devils!

All of this would be enriched by a colossal salary (almost 20 million euros per season) for the portuguese champion... however, the conditional use is a must, because this has not been confirmed in any way by the company, which instead denies any interest in the player; also Real Madrid, the team where the player is currently playing in, considers him absolutely non-transferable and fundamental for the team. Will these be only the first steps towards a real concern or is it all smoke and no fire? It promises to be a very hot summer, so stay tuned for more!

Offerta pazza del City per Cristiano Ronaldo?!

2011-05-21T02:38:00.001-07:00

Come riportato da alcuni giornali inglesi (Daily Mirror e Sun) ma anche dal quotidiano spagnolo AS, lo sceicco Mansour, patron del Manchester City, sarebbe pronto a spendere la folle cifra di 180 milioni di Euro per riportare a Manchester Cristiano Ronaldo, stavolta però dalla sponda City, dopo i trascorsi del giocatore nei Red Devils!

Il tutto sarebbe arricchito da uno stipendio faraonico (quasi 20 milioni di Euro a stagione) per il campione portoghese... tuttavia è d'obbligo usare il condizionale, poiché al momento tutto ciò non è stato minimamente confermato dalla società, che anzi smentisce qualsiasi interesse nei confronti del giocatore; inoltre il Real Madrid, il team in cui il giocatore attualmente milita, lo considera assolutamente incedibile e fondamentale per la squadra. Saranno solo le prime mosse in vista di un reale interessamento oppure è tutto fumo e niente arrosto? Si preannuncia un'estate caldissima, quindi continuate a seguirci per saperne di più!

[UPDATE] No online multiplayer in FIFA 12 for 3DS!

2011-05-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

Unlike EA previously stated in its website, it seems like the 3DS version of FIFA 12 will not support online gaming. This bad announcement comes from Producer Matt Prior, who said that "Currently, we only have local head-to-head play, but server-based online is certainly something we would be looking at in the future". We'll keep you updated if there are other news, but for now that's all, folks.

Football Manager Handheld 2011 [Recensione]

2011-05-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Football Manager sbarca anche su dispositivi Apple in questa versione Handheld che riprende il famoso titolo per pc adattandolo alle capacità di iPhone, iPod touch e compagnia danzante.

La serie in questione ci mette nei panni di un novello allenatore di calcio che, dopo aver scelto una squadra da allenare, dovrà gestire fin da subito non solo le questioni relative alla formazione da mandare in campo, ma anche gli eventuali problemi che possono nascere tra i giocatori o con la dirigenza. Le possibilità di personalizzazione sono infatti infinite: si può gestire l'allenamento, adottare specifiche tattiche avanzate, decidere gli stipendi dei giocatori... Ogni aspetto è molto curato e lascia spazio alla fantasia dell'allenatore, specialmente in fase di scelta della formazione: i moduli disponibili, sebbene non siano molti, sono comunque piuttosto vari e personalizzabili scegliendo giocatori con caratteristiche diverse, poiché ad esempio mettendo Taddei sulla fascia si otterrà un aumento del potenziale offensivo, essendo tale giocatore propenso a portarsi in avanti, mentre schierando ad esempio Riise si avrà più copertura sulle azioni avversarie per il motivo opposto. Ciò permette anche di sopperire parzialmente alla mancanza della possibilità di selezionare attraverso delle frecce gli spostamenti da far eseguire ai singoli giocatori durante il match.

Il paragone con la versione pc, nel caso in cui ve lo stiate chiedendo, non è indegno: questa conversione si difende infatti molto bene, mostrando un'ottima velocità dei caricamenti anche nel caso in cui si attivino quattro campionati contemporaneamente (oltre ovviamente alle varie coppe per club e nazionali), e presenta anche i classici aggiornamenti delle rose dovuti al mercato invernale.

Football Manager Handheld 2011 è disponibile su App Store al prezzo di 9,99€; il gioco è completamente tradotto in italiano, ed è incluso il supporto per Game Center.

[English time!] EA people are putting on their make-up for the 3DS!

2011-05-20T04:51:00.000-07:00

EA efforts on Nintendo handhelds have been almost always viewed as simple cash-ins. Their sport videogames featured poor graphics and sound, and they were greatly subpar confronted not only with the major console versions, but with the smartphone ones too, making the 5$/€ for the "Fifa" app the way to go. Maybe one can't solely place the blame on the EA side of the things, considering that the Nintendo DS was vastly inferior to the PSP hardware even at launch, but now, with the recent release of the 3DS, the Colossus of videogame has no more excuses.

And they seem to know that.

Directly from the ea.com website

"FIFA 12 on Nintendo 3DS will feature fully authentic 11 versus 11 gameplay, head-to-head online matches using Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Tournament Mode with over 50 real-world competitions, a full in-depth Career Mode that enables gamers to play or manage their way to glory, 3D Street Football, Be A Pro and a Training Mode.

It also features nine different camera angles to choose from for the perfect view of the pitch."

It seems they are putting real efforts on this one: stay tuned for more info and commentary!

By Volturno Caravaggio

Inni italiani

2011-05-19T23:00:00.001-07:00

Con questo post voglio inaugurare un nuovo spazio nel blog, ovvero quello degli inni delle squadre italiane.

Partiamo con quelli più celebri per oggi, ovvero quello di Inter e Milan.

Immagino molti di voi li conoscano già, altri li avranno sentiti nelle pubblicità in televisione dei tizi che vogliono venderle per millemila euro ma comunque un ripasso non fa mai male.

Non c'è molto altro da dire, se non buon ascolto a tutti voi. :)

INTER

MILAN

A cura di Esmeraldo Petrarca

[English time!] Holly&Benji and the future of the genre

2011-05-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote about Inazuma Eleven Go, a new Japanese cartoon about soccer mixed with Dragonball-ish elements, and its similiarities with one of the most famous sport cartoon ever,CaptainTsubasa(Holly&Benji here in Italy).

Captain Tsubasa was born as a manga made by Yoichi Takahashi in the 1981, and it was so successful that it was able to motivate Japanese people to play football.

It has been made an anime adaption too; thanks to it, Captain Tsubasa began to become famous across a variety of countries all over the world, especially in the ones in which soccer was huge, such as Italy.

Modern sport cartoons haven't quite the same feeling...and so they try to implement new things to the sport genre. Remember Inazuma Eleven? They mixed in fantasy elements, such as Final Fantasy-like summons, and they had in result a very strange product, that resulted being very appealing to the masses.

What will the future hold for sport anime watchers?

By Volturno Caravaggio

Milan al suo 18esimo scudetto

2011-05-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

Ormai è risaputo da un paio di giornate, il Milan è il campione d'Italia di questa stagione.

Un ottimo risultato per i Rossoneri, che sono riusciti dopo doversi anni a conquista

re il tanto agoniato scudetto, dopo una lotta serrata contro Inter e Napoli, ma nonostante tutto la squadra è riuscita a chiudere il campionato con diverse giornate di anticipo.

A chi è dovuto il successo? Sicuramente sia alla presidenza che all'allenatore, ma sopratutto alla rosa di campioni da cui è costituito questo grandissimo squadrone, perché senza di loro di certo nessuno avrebbe potuto fare risultati simili.

Negli ultimi anni lo squadetto sì, è sempre andato a Milano, ma nelle mani dell'Inter. Quest'anno invece cambia proprietà passando così alla squadra rivale, che nonostante tutto nell'ultimo decennio non si è fatta mancare di successi.

Complimenti alla squadra, al CT e a tutta la dirigenza che sono riuscite per la 18esima volta nella storia del Milan a conquistare l'ambito premio da tutte le squadre di serie A.

A cura di Esmeraldo Petrarca.

Udinese al quarto posto in classifica

2011-05-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

In quest'ultimo campionato l'Udinese è riuscita, dopo aver mangiato tanta polvere, a giungere al quarto posto in classifica e, di conseguenza alla tanto bramata zona Champions, alla faccia di Totti e la sua combricola (che hanno perso col Catania).

Tuttavia il campionato non è ancora finito e la prossima partita sarà col Milan il prossimo 22 maggio allo Stadio Friuli.

Riusciranno i friulani a prendere almeno un dannatissimo punto per rendere vana anche la rincorsa della Lazio? Non ci resta che confidare nell'astuto Francesco Guidolin e soprattutto nel fattore C.

Dai, dai, dai!

A cura di Orsino Leopardi.