First punishments in soccer scandal handed down

An Italian court has handed down punishments to the major soccer teams involved in a match-fixing scandal that has engulfed the sport there, and which had hung over Italy’s winning performance in the World Cup.

Juventus, one of the prime offenders, was relegated to Serie B (a bit like the minor leagues), along with Fiorentina and Lazio. Milan, however, was allowed to stay in Serie A, but was docked 44 points, which means it will not have an opportunity to contend for the UEFA Champion’s Cup next year.

All the punishments are subject to a round of appeals.

Link

Italy: Football champions of the world!

Italy outlasted France in a brutal World Cup final today that saw one of France’s greatest players ejected from the stadium. Forza Azzurri!

There’s only one professional sport in which it is possible to truly be the champion of the world: soccer. Or, in the rest of the world’s vocabulary, football. Or, in honor of Italy’s victory today, calcio.

France came out strong, scoring in the 7th minute on a questionable penalty. But Italy struck back immediately with a legitimate, hard-won goal in the 19th minute. What followed was a grueling defensive game for Italy as they were constantly pressed by an agressive French offense that took over twice as many shots as Italy. Another Italian goal was stolen away late in the game after a close off-side call.

But the most bizarre event occurred in overtime (110th minute) when French star and team captain Zinedine Zidane capped off an exchange of trash talk (and his career) by head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground. A tense minute followed in which it was unclear whether any of the referees had seen the ugly foul, but ref Horacio Elizondo finally stalked toward the offender with red card held high. Since Zidane has promised to retire this year, it looks like he’ll be ending on a very sour note indeed.

For more on the game, check out MSNBC’s coverage here and here.

Italy vs. France

So they won, again! And now Italy will be playing France on Sunday, at 8 pm German time.  About 24 million Italians (more than a third) watched the semi-finals on TV, so it’s estimated the turnout will be even higher for the ‘big game.’

This game will be a fine on-the-field living out of real-life rivalry. The French (according to the Italians) call the Italians their ‘poor cousins.’ The Italians then get annoyed because the French ‘think they’re better in everything.’

We’ll see on Sunday who’s better. At least on the soccer field.

Italy team advances to semi-finals

Italy proudly nabbed a decisive win against the Ukraine today with a final score of 3-0.  They scored their first goal within the first five minutes of the game.

We’re pretty pleased here at nakeditaly, since this means the Azzurri will play Germany in the semi-finals.  Germany won the last world cup in the final game against the US.  With the US out of the running, Italy gets a chance to shut down the competition’s host team.

The semi-final match between Italy and Germany will be on July 4th, beginning at 9:00 Germany time.

The team celebrates Luca Toni’s goal against Ukraine.

Hamburg turns blue

Thousands of infectiously eager Italians dressed in blue crowd the streets of Hamburg today as we wait for the Italy-Ukraine match tonight at 9:00 (here in the states at noon).

Fans are delighted and relieved to learn that the beloved Totti is ‘not at all tired’ and will be playing in the match.  This game is, obviously, very important as a win brings the Azzurri oh so much closer to playing in the final match.

And they just keep winning!

Final score: Italy 1, Australia 0. The ‘mates’ from down under couldn’t bring down the Azzurri. (And yes, they had a little help from the referee.)

If the thrill is going to your head, you can buy this jersey at Amazon and match the team.

Ale’ Ale’, Italy wins again

Italy routed the Czech Republic, 2-0.  And so on to bigger and better things, as the Azzurri lead their group.  We'll have a more complete post on the subject later, when the more sporty member of the blog squadra has a free moment.

Italy vs. Czech Republic tomorrow

Don't forget, fellow Italophiles.  This game is perhaps equally important for the US team.  

Oh, the anticlimax….

A new vocab word, pari—tied game/score. And so the thrilling USA against Italy match ends with a bit of a fizzle and a score of 1-1. But perhaps it’s all for the best, since we didn’t have to decide whether to cheer or boo for the winner.

Winners or not, they sure look cute in their blue shirts.

US vs. Italy tomorrow

The United States men's soccer team is preparing today for their humiliating loss to match against Italy tomorrow. The game will air on ABC at 2:30 pm ET. (Link)
Gotta admit that this one has us torn in our loyalties. Rooting for the stars and stripes seems the patriotic thing to do, not to mention that they get underdog sympathy, but then again we'd like to see Italy go all the way. Regardless, it's going to be a brilliant match, and may the best team win.

Statistics predict Italy vs. Brazil in World Cup final

Two computer science students at the American University in Sharjah, Dubai have compiled 20 years of soccer data and fed it into a statistical artificial intelligence model they call FIFI, or “FIFA Intelligence,” apparently in defiance of all rules of acryonmic naming. The result: Italy will face Brazil in this year’s final, but Brazil will take home the trophy.

The professor who oversaw the project says the predictions should be 83% accurate, which is quite high, though I wonder if that percentage is good per match only, or for all the predictions together–as we all see every year in our NCAA brackets, a few errors early on can really wreck your overall predictions.

Link (English)

Italy beats Ghana 2-0, US falls to Czechs

Forza Azzuri! Italy blasted their way to a 2-0 win over Ghana, even though the game was darkened by soccer scandals back home and a possible serious injury to the Italian star Francesco Totti.

Andrea Pirlo blasted a shot past a crowd of players after a short corner in the 40th minute, and the substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta capitalized on a defensive mistake to score in the 83rd minute.

Italy produced 13 shots on goal to Ghana’s 4 and hit the crossbar and goalpost with shots.

“It was the best soccer of the tournament so far,” said Joseph S. Blatter, the president of the sport’s governing body, FIFA.

It was also a welcome bit of good news for Italy. Prosecutors in four Italian cities are investigating allegations of match-fixing, referee arrangements and illegal betting. Several players on Italy’s roster have been linked to the scandal, either by their own actions or their clubs’.

Link (NY Times)

Meanwhile, things don’t look good for the Americans. The US got spanked by the Czech Republic 3-0. Guess who’s going to win Saturday’s match (US vs. Italy)?

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — When it came down to game time, the Czech Republic was the schoolyard bully, and the U.S. was the wimpy kid in the corner handing over his lunch money.

Link (Sports Illustrated)

In preparation for Saturday, you sorry US fans can take heart by visiting www.ussoccer.com for the latest bad news about our team.

I Mondiali

Just so you can start buying up aranciata and whipping up Italian treats for your amazing World Cup parties, here is a list of the scheduled Italy games:

Forza Azzuri (on that note, the Italian team's color is blue, azzuro)

June 12, 9 pm German time:  Italy vs. Ghana

June 17, 9 pm German time:  Italy vs. USA (who will you root for?)

June 22, 4 pm German time:  Italy vs. Czech Republic

After that, their schedule will be determined by which of these games they win.

The times listed are the local times which the games begin, but we haven't a clue when your TV station will air them.  If they're live, the 9 pm games will be aired at 3 pm EST. 

Soccer Vocab

The world cup is coming, so it's time to beef up your soccer (calcio, in Italian) vocab.

Tifoso/tifosa: This is the word for a serious fan, which in Italy comprises just about everybody. The word originally referred to someone infected with typhoid fever . . . which leads to some curious comparisons between that disease and soccer fans. Tifare is the verb form, meaning to 'root for' or 'be a fan of.'

Forza!: Meaning, literally, 'force,' forza is the word you need to holler at the soccer game (or tv) when you want to cheer your team on.

squadra: Team

partita: match

And of course, I MONDIALI! Perhaps one of the most thrilling events in the minds of many Europeans . . . the world cup!

 

BMW and the Mille Miglia

Forbes.com has a nice story describing how Italy's Mille Miglia (thousand-mile) race has shaped the history of BMW. If anything else, it's great to know that people are still racing 1937 BMWs.

Another example of successful German-Italian collaboration also comes from the world of motoring: the relationship between BMW and Italy's Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) endurance race. The event began in 1927 and is today a race of historic automobiles. In 1940, the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupe won the race and set a record with an average speed of 103.6 mph. Drivers Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani won the 2006 Mille Miglia, which runs from Brescia to Rome and back again along a different route, in a 1937 BMW 328 MM. It was their sixth Mille Miglia victory in the last 10 years in a BMW 328.

BMW now has a concept car based on the 1940 328 and it is oh-so cool.

Link (English, w/ pics, via Wired.com)