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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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Andriy Shevchenko: A story of rationality and forgiveness
28 May 2003, Old Trafford, Manchester. At the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, the final of the Champions League is on-scene, the title contended between Milan and Juventus—an all-Italian European final...
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How Paul Ince overcame oppression to become an Inter great
When Paul Ince swapped Manchester for Milan in the summer of 1995, it was a move that left supporters of the club he departed bemused. Ince had been a...
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Italia Wasteels: The story of the UK’s longest surviving Italian football club
When a player breaks his leg in a top-flight game, it is never immediately obvious. In the stadiums, you will always get two conflicting views from two decidedly biased...
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Trevor Francis: Remembering Sampdoria’s elegant Englishman
“He was the best Englishman to have played in Italy.” Fabio Capello on Trevor Francis. “I was very pleased to hear this,” Francis admitted, later responding to Capello’s praise....
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