When the British East India Company returned from the Far East in the 1660s, they presented a strange plant called tea to King Charles II. His beautiful Portuguese bride...
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Chasing football in heaven: Remembering Andrea Fortunato’s Scudetto
To look at him, he was the picture of health. Young, athletic and, most importantly, a starter for Juventus; there was no reason to doubt that everything was perfect...
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Grazie Capitano: A short ode to Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti. No words can do justice to what that name represents to legions of Roma fans around the world. Indeed, every accolade and every honour about Totti has...
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Are you not entertained? Celebrating the magnificence of Dries Mertens
Though he may not be on the stage when the 2017 Ballon d’Or winner is announced – the usual suspects, with the possible addition of Gigi Buffon, will, doubtless,...
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Unlikely Capocannoniere: Five of Serie A’s most surprising top-scorers
If Napoli’s Dries Mertens, currently on 25 goals, wins this season’s Capocannoniere title ahead of Edin Dzeko, it would go down as one of the most unlikely in history....
Read MoreSix of the best: Celebrating Batistuta’s greatest thunderbolts
Gabriel Omar Batistuta scored 200 league goals during his 13-year stint in Italy and attempting to choose his best effort is nigh-on impossible. Deft flicks, powerful headers, acrobatic volleys...
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Mark Bresciano: The Australian champion with Italian roots
Roots in many ways define us. How we are raised shapes us for the rest of our lives. Growing up in Australia as a young boy, Mark Bresciano –...
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Goal O’ The Times: Antonio Cassano vs. Inter (1999)
“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent,” Roberto De Niro passionately tells his son in the 1993 movie ‘A Bronx Tale’. While it’s debatable whether indeed that is...
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Appreciating Simone Inzaghi: The younger brother ready to take centre stage
Sibling rivalry is as ubiquitous as siblings themselves and its intensity can remain ferocious deep into adulthood. Nowhere is this truer than in Italy where, with a cultural history...
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Sebastian Giovinco and the big fish-small pond quandary
It is ironic to say that a league that incorporates both the United States and Canada is a small pond, but, in the general scheme of world football, that...
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