The idea that Italian football is all about defending is a well-worn cliché. Any regular viewer of contemporary calcio will tell you that this is no longer the case...
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ND Gorica and Parma: The successes and shortcomings of a peculiar partnership
Plonked right up on Italy’s northeastern border is the Slovenian town of Nova Gorica. Home to little over 13,000 people, this gaming/gambling city as its own tourist website puts...
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Fiorentina vs. Juventus: A proud, fierce & enduring rivalry
Close to the historic city centre of Florence, slightly off the beaten track, there is a bar called ‘Antico Beccaria’. The local is the quintessential ‘football pub’ and distinctly...
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Spain 1982: Enzo Bearzot and the birth of ‘Silenzio Stampa’
Few events are truly unprecedented in football, but what happened during Italy’s 1982 World Cup campaign in Spain was just that, and its legacy endures to this day. In...
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Edinson Cavani: The fire in Napoli’s renaissance
It was the end of 2009/10 Serie A season and opinions were divided regarding the success of Napoli’s campaign. At the season’s inception, great optimism had surrounded the San...
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Merthyr Tydfil vs. Atalanta: The story of an unforgettable upset
Wales is a country where the oval ball dominates, yet there is one town in mid-Glamorgan where football is a religion and eclipses everything else. Merthyr Tydfil does not...
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Kazuyoshi Miura: The story of Japanese football’s first Serie A player
Hidetoshi Nakata begat Hiroshi Nanami; and Hiroshi Nanami begat Atsushi Yanagisawa; and Atsushi Yanagisawa begat Shunsuke Nakamura; and Shunsuke Nakamura begat Takayuki Morimoto; and Takayuki Morimoto begat Yuto Nagatomo;...
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The brief brilliance of Marco Negri at Rangers
David Murray’s era as Glasgow Rangers chairman was an exciting one. It was a period of opulence and decadence that saw some of Europe’s best players step out in...
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Double delight: Juve Kings of Italy, Toro Kings of Turin
“The Turin derby isn’t one of Italy’s biggest, it’s not as big as the Milan derby or the Rome derby, or even the Genoese derby” says Roberto, a Juventus...
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‘No winner’: The Allemandi Scandal and the Turin Derby of 1927
The summer of 1927 was scorching-hot in Turin. Temperatures were high and the city was alive with discussions about the last Scudetto, a Scudetto that was about to be...
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