On a rainy night in Cardiff, the look on his face said it all. Having just conceded Casemiro’s deflected long-range effort, the cameras caught Gianluigi Buffon in a moment...
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Daniele De Rossi: The wall of Ostia
The ancient city of Ostia has been the physical and geographical guardian of Rome since the Lupetta she-wolf saved Romulus and Remus from their infanticidal fate along the banks...
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Andrea Conti: The consummate terzino fluidificante
Modern football and its many advances in tactical theory have gradually steered away from the norm. Managers are demanding more from every individual on the pitch; the penalty box...
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The art of the biscotto: Delving into the Italian mindset
It’s June 22, 2004 at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães, Portugal. Having gone behind shortly before half-time, Italy are drawing 1-1 with Bulgaria in their final group...
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The dancing giant: The highs and lows of Italy’s richest expat, Graziano Pellè
“Why Asia? First of all, I went there because it was far, it gave me the impression of a place where there was still something to discover. I went...
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The triumphs and tensions of a strike partnership: Del Piero and Inzaghi at Juve
Some of football’s greatest sides are built on some form of partnership or triumvirate. Manchester United had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke in the 1990s’, Milan had their Dutch...
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Luigi Radice: The Torino icon who challenged Catenaccio with Total Football
In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple, the Concorde completed its first commercial flight and the first movie of the Rocky franchise was released. In football too, it...
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The stories behind Gianluigi Buffon’s five finest saves
Orson Welles once said that in this life, nobody gets justice. It’s either good luck or bad luck. Last Saturday, the Citizen Kane of goalkeepers lined out at the...
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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...
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Celebrating the 10 greatest goals of Hernan Crespo’s Italian career
There aren’t many greater examples of a ‘complete striker’ than Hernan Crespo. Leaving River Plate and his beloved nation of Argentina to sign for Parma in 1996, his adventure...
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