“Thank you to my sources of inspiration: Federico Fellini, Talking Heads, Martin Scorsese and Diego Armando Maradona,” professed director Paolo Sorrentino on stage at the 86th Academy Awards. It’s...
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France ’98 and the staffetta: Baggio vs. Del Piero, the race for Italy’s no. 10
Origins If the word ‘staffetta’ is translated into English, it roughly means relay. The word is generally associated with athletics – contests between two or more teams in running...
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Goal O’ The Times: Diego Maradona vs. Brescia (1986)
Football is quite an obsessive sport. That’s hardly a revelation; digested, dissected, debated and played by billions around the globe, football has a grip over people’s imagination that’s unrivalled...
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Juventus 1994/95: Marcello Lippi’s finest side
You’ve seen it so many times down the years, the same picture that’s always trotted out, regular as clockwork. Whenever there’s a discussion about the greatest club sides of...
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Football Italia at 25: Celebrating Gazzetta’s greatest golaccios (part III)
This month celebrates a quarter century since an unknown twentysomething called James Richardson emerged as a staple in our lives via Channel 4’s groundbreaking coverage of Serie A. Following...
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Football Italia at 25: Celebrating Gazzetta’s greatest golaccios (part II)
his month celebrates a quarter century since an unknown twentysomething called James Richardson emerged as a staple in our lives via Channel 4’s groundbreaking coverage of Serie A. Following...
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Football Italia at 25: Celebrating Gazzetta’s greatest golaccios (Part I)
This month celebrates a quarter century since an unknown twenty-something called James Richardson emerged as a staple in our lives via Channel 4’s groundbreaking coverage of Serie A. With his...
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The five best teams never to win Serie A
“Roma and Napoli had a superb campaign,” observed Juve boss Max Allegri in a press conference at the end of the season, “and Juventus did even better.” You have...
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Reliving Juventus’ best Champions League goals vs. Real Madrid
This year’s Champions League finalists, Juventus and Real Madrid, have met on seven different occasions in the competition, totalling 13 matches, including the 1998 final. While that may seem...
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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....
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