“Platini scored the most goals last year with 18? Milan, I will score more.” Unfortunately, Luther Blissett never quite lived up to this self-assured prophecy. Having swapped Watford for...
Read More
Goal O’ The Times: Alvaro Recoba vs. Brescia (1997)
A young son sits with his father at a restaurant. Suddenly he notices Real Madrid left-back Marcelo at another table across the room. The boy knows all of the...
Read More
Tanti Auguri Manuel: Rui Costa at 45
On the day of his 45th birthday, this sketch celebrates the silky brilliance of Manuel Rui Costa. During his spells at Fiorentina and AC Milan, the Portuguese number 10 enchanted...
Read More
The development of Zinedine Zidane at Juventus
Italian football is a place where players can come of age. When you think of players that have developed their game in Italy, and later gone on to become...
Read More
The Ligurian Black Devils: How Virtus Entella went from bankruptcy to Serie B
“Chiavari è una bella cittadina della Riviera Ligure, ricca di storia e tradizione.” This is how the website of Virtus Entella S.r.l. describes its home of Chiavari; a...
Read More
Restoring Italian glory by placing faith in youth
On 9 July 2006 inside Berlin’s Olympiastadion, 120 minutes of football were not enough to decide a victor between Italy and France. In the resultant penalty shoot-out, holding the...
Read More
When Calcio Ruled the World: Il Soldatino, Angelo Di Livio
Angelo Di Livio is a joke. That is harsh on a man who won three Scudetti, two Coppe Italia and the Champions League, but the former Juventus and Fiorentina...
Read More
Luis del Sol: The Spanish ‘Postman’ who delivered at Juventus
In 1983, former professional footballer Luis del Sol took the decision to close his struggling furniture company and put some of his remaining cash towards studying for his coaching...
Read More
The tragic death of Filippo Raciti: Italian football’s darkest hour
Memories; they are powerful things, they can haunt you and comfort you in equal measure. They can be so vivid as to feel like they are happening in the...
Read More
Lilian Thuram and Lazio’s Irriducibili: A meeting that defined calcio
It was an episode that sent shockwaves across the footballing world as Lazio’s ultras took transfer matters into their own hands. On a warm June day back in 2001,...
Read More