“Francescooooooo! Totti! Totti! Totti!,” yelled Italian commentator Fabio Caressa. The Azzurri had just been rescued by the forward’s last gasp penalty kick against Australia, securing a spot in the...
Read More
Shaking hands with the devil: Gianluigi Donnarumma’s contractual conundrum
“Non si accettano ricotti…avanti così AC Milan” “We don’t accept blackmailing….go on like this,” read Curva Sud’s banner last week outside of Casa Milan, as renewal talks between star...
Read More
Paulo Dybala: Rooted in Poland, made in Argentina, polished in Italy
Read | Paulo Dybala: Rooted in Poland, made in Argentina, polished in Italy “Paulo, come to Poland. I invite you” (Henryka Pałasińska, Dybala’s grandmother) World War II brought about...
Read More
Tales from the Peninsula: Reminiscing in Rossonero
“Biglietto e passaporto,” asked a security official firmly. Entry had been granted to the tune of an automated turnstile. With every passing step, escalating from ground level to my...
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
Three colours of Zlatan, Part III: AC Milan
“You bought a Ferrari, but you drive it like a Fiat.” (Zlatan on Pep Guardiola’s treatment of him during his time at Barcelona). Zlatan’s Catalan journey was anything but...
Read More
Three colours of Zlatan, Part II: Inter
Arrivato: Milano After his adventure with Juventus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic set foot in Milan; hallowed ground for two of European football’s most storied factions, divided by contrasting colours – rosso...
Read More
Three colours of Zlatan, Part I: Juventus
“I want out of here!” barked a young, egoistic Swede to his agent. “In that case, you can move to Turin.” After a heated volley of curse words and slurs,...
Read More
Gianluca Lapadula: The meteoric rise of the journeyman bomber
How does one describe an individual who has faced nothing but uncertainty, obstacles and doubt, only to emerge triumphant? Resilient, and it’s one of the many adjectives befitting of...
Read More
Last man standing: The fading remainder of the ‘bandiera’
‘Money can’t buy loyalty.’ This is one of the more iconic banners ever produced by the AS Roma faithful. It has been nearly two months since the footballing world celebrated...
Read More