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International Breaks Hurt, Particularly Italians.

By: chris | September 8th, 2008 | 9 Comments »

The return of Marcello Lippi could hardly be going any worse. After the draw against Austria - and by draw I mean loss - where Austria scored four, two just happened to be welcome back gifts for Lippi in their own net, it took the heroics of Antonio Di Natale and a dance line of three to score a beauty of a goal in the 92nd minute to fell the giants from Cyprus. So a win equals a loss, once again.

But that’s not the drastic part. Many teams (ahem, France & Romania) were garbage and the entire World Cup Qualifying scoreboard screamed “early season form”. Chances are many of these disappointing results will look vastly different when mid-October comes rolling around. So there is hope for many teams in that respect, not just the reigning champions.

The drastic part comes when talking about the emergency ward which has become Coverciano (or Gorizia, wherever they happen to be right now):

Alessandro Gamberini: Dislocated shoulder in the first minute of the match, out for three weeks at best, seemingly.

Fabio Grosso:
Fractured rib in the 15th minute, out for a month. Forced Lippi to use his second sub before most on the pitch had even broken a sweat.

Alberto Gilardino: Injured in the head. The FIGC should just petition FIFA to allow him to wear a Parma jersey during Azzurri games. It’s the only option left. (He’s not really injured, has just appeared that way for the last 2 years.)

Gennaro Gattuso: And an injury report for the ages:


The Italy international was operated on after falling into a hole between the two dugouts in a training game against fourth division Itala San Marco’s youth team, injuring his head and left wrist.

Upon waking up from his operation, Gennaro produced this warning:

‘I am very close to these colours. I will make war against anyone who tries to stop me from playing in the national team.’

And that’s when he’s sedated. Seriously, is there a better quote in the modern game than Gattuso? Doubtful.

All this while Giorgio Chiellini is still recuperating from his knee surgery and after Fabio Cannavaro played in his first game since his own surgery - due to an injury caused by Chiellini, karma’s a bitch - against Cyrpus. Things have become so dire they’ve even unearthed evidence of Andrea Pirlo trying to make a tackle. So if you’re Italian(ish), can possibly take someone off the ball (yes, that excludes Grosso, but still) and are free Wednesday evening ’round 1800 CET, please fax a resume and shirt size to Coverciano, c/o Marcello Lippi.


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Comments
Username By Il GialloRosso | September 8th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
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man i check this site erry 5 mins when im online just to see if Chris posted smthn new… He just takes football into the next level.
A true Must for all Lovers of the Game.
Thank You Chris!!

Posted from Lebanon Lebanon

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Username By mele419 | September 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
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And this is why I love Rino Gattuso.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Laurie | September 8th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
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Ooh, Chris, you have a fan in Lebanon!

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Lissette Evil Blue | September 8th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
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For Chris Sake :)

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Username By Hana | September 8th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
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You totally have been waiting for an excuse to bust out that Gattuso picture ever since the GHD, haven’t you?

I don’t blame you. Long live the almighty Rino. I’m hoping he recovers soon for Milan…that injury was Dida-esque, it was. Fantastic quote as well. Kind of hard not to love him.

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Username By Ro | September 8th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
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This was a great post…I was literally laughing the whole time I was reading…good job chris.

And I truly do love Rino.

LOL Hana your right that injury was so Dida-esque it’s not even funny.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Marco Pantanella | September 9th, 2008 at 3:01 am
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Chris wrote:
The return of Marcello Lippi could hardly be going any worse.

Wow… ehm… NO! We could actually be losing you know. For real.

I’ll take playing like sh** and getting three points any day of the week.

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Username By Eddie | September 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
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Poor Chris. He has no vision or depth, just knee-jerk reaction. Italy is certainly in a partial rebuilding phase. And as always, will develop slowly, experiencing some difficult - perhaps even embarassing - moments considering they are the world champs and are expected to win easily against lesser teams. Making it tough for themselves is an Italian tradition. But in the end, the Azzurri will win their group, arrive in South Africa in 2010 as one of the favorites, be a force to be reckoned with into the knock-out stages of the tournament - and perhaps even repeat as world champs.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Chris | September 10th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
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Must be new here, Eddie.

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