Serie A at the Euros: Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium. Fiorentina’s Francesco Toldo concedes at late French winner in the Final.

Serie A at the Euros: England 1996: Hristo Stoichkov of Parma and Bulgaria

Serie A at the Euros: England Euro 1996. Oliver Bierhoff (Udinese) scores his second to win the Final for Germany

Serie A at the Euros: Euro 1992 Sweden. Tomas Brolin (Parma) scores against Denmark

Serie A at the Euros: Euro 1988 Gullit and Van Basten (both AC Milan)

Games of the Season: Lecce 3-4 Milan. K P Boateng…..need we say more

Picture of the day: Gianfranco Zola at Cagliari

The European Championships in 1968 were held in Italy and were the first finals that the Azzurri had qualified for. The qualifying had been changed from a two legged affair to group stages. The finals only consisted of two semi finals, a third place play off and the Final itself. The four teams that made the final four were Italy, England, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and the games would be played at the Stadio Comunale (Florence) the Stadio San Paolo (Naples) and the Stadio Olimpico (Rome). 

In the first Semi Final Italy had a goalless draw against the Soviet Union decided by the toss of a coin, back then your fate was down to lady luck and she was on the side of the hosts. England lost 1-0 to Yugoslavia but went on to beat the Soviets 2-0 in the third place play off. The final saw Italy draw 1-1 with Yugoslavia after extra time and a replay eventually saw the Azzurri win 2-0. 

Dino Zoff said of the final that: “In Rome we had enormous problems against Yugoslavia, who had a very good side to tell you the truth. They went 1-0 ahead and then we got a free-kick very near the end of the match that allowed [Angelo] Domenghini to put us level. To be honest, we didn’t deserve to draw. But we finished level, so the final had to be replayed two days later. In the replay we produced a perfect performance and won 2-0 thanks to goals by [Gigi] Riva and [Pietra] Anastasi. We definitely deserved to win that game.”

Whether or not the Nerazzurri qualify for the Europa League or not, Inter’s season has been a poor one from the start. Rushed decisions appointing coaches and little movement to regenerate the aging squad in the summer, meant the campaign was doomed before it began. Early signs this year however, show Massimo Moratti has learnt from his mistakes.

This summer, business needs to be concluded quickly. The European Championships will be upon all clubs almost as soon as the season has finished. The teams that wait until after the Euros’s to start their business, face inflated prices (due to the player’s success in the tournament) followed by less time to integrate their acquisitions in the pre-season.

Before all of this however, the Nerazzurri need to settle on who will lead the squad next season. 36 year old interim Coach Andrea Stramaccioni has performed admirably and Massimo Moratti, keen not to make the mistake of last year (the Gian Piero Gasperini debacle), looks to have moved quickly to gain his services full time.  After the maverick coaches success in the Milan Derby, Moratti was asked if he believed the Coach had earned a contract. He replied “Yes I believe so. In any case when we signed him in a gesture which he considered to be mad, in reality, in my opinion, it was an intelligent solution and hence, I believe we can continue like this. He is a young guy that nevertheless seems to have an experience that allows him to do things well.”

The next area that needs to be concluded quickly is the contracts. Inter have Luca Castellazzi, Walter Samuel, Cristain Chivu and Ivan Cordoba at the end of their contracts. Despite their age Moratti will want Luca Castellazzi and Walter Samuel to sign new short term deals whilst Cordoba is leaving and wages could be freed up if Chivu departs.  Moratti has again acted quickly (the Corriere dello Sport, reports) and offered Castellazzi a 12 month contract whilst also extending the contract of Yuto Nagatomo, who was already on a long term deal. The fact that contracts are being tied up with a game still to go can only be a positive.

The next area that the Nerazzurri fell down on last year was not getting rid of the players who wanted to or should leave the club. The late sale of Samuel Eto’o after the prolonged initial preparations for loosing Sneijder came at a terrible time and at a big cost. This year it is Diego Forlan who looks the main person to be heading out and already movement has been made to allow this to go ahead. Talks are going ahead with Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro and his agent Edgar Goulart has said: “There has already been a meeting. Forlan is unhappy, he wants to play more and recover his career. Inter can make his exit easy. We are at an advanced stage in talks and I think he could end up at Atletico.” It is thought that Moratti will not stand in his way.

All of this leads to the inevitable transfer predictions of who will arrive. Speculation is exactly that and until there are firm talks nothing is definite, even then things can fall apart. La Gazzetta dello Sport has already started the ball rolling with this today claiming that Ezequiel Lavezzi will hold talks with Inter after the Coppa Italia Final, Inter, however have confirmed nothing.

Fans of the Nerazzurri may not have to wait long to see who is coming to the club if Moratti continues in this way. He certainly seems to want to give his side the best chance to prepare for the next Serie A season and business has to be done early. There may not be many signings and more may go than come in. Inter can expect Primavera promotions also and there may not be huge amounts of money spent. However, even if they only had their Coach in place with a clear idea of what he wants, then that is a step up from last year.

“Age is nothing, class is everything”

Salvatore Schillaci, Top scorer in Italia 90, the iconic celebration, the face that explained the passion of the tournament. This is what he is remembered for.

Although it seemed as though ‘Toto’ just popped up for this tournament and then disappeared into obscurity, he was actually plying his trade in Serie A at its height. 

In between 1982 to 1994 ‘Toto’ was celebrating goals in Sicily and on the mainland, although perhaps not as prolifically as he did in when disposing of teams at Italia 90.

He started out at Messina in a slow fashion, only notching 25 goals in his first five seasons (he scored a total of 61 goals in 219 games) It was here that fate or lady luck took him under her wing, as he managed to score an impressive 23 goals in 35 games in the 1988/89 season. This earned him a move to Juventus and when he scored 15 in 30 in the season before the World Cup, it was enough for the national team to gamble on him.

It was a gamble that paid off and after the tournament he returned to Juventus where the pressure of performing at the standards he had set himself showed. With only 11 goals in the next two seasons he was offloaded to Inter.

The Nerazzurri hoped that his predatory instincts, icy composure, and ability to score with his head and from range would start a new point in his career. Alas the next two seasons only saw him notch 11 times and he moved to Japan. 

It was an up and down career in Italy but when Calcio ruled the world, everyone knew who ‘Toto’ Schillaci was.

Plans for the complete restructuration of the Stadio Friuli have been given the go ahead

It is supposed to have 22 000 seats but the city wants 30 000. It would cost about 25 million euros. Originally they wanted it to be ready for the 2013-2014 season.

Giampaolo Pozzo the owner of Udinese, has announced a ‘war chest’ of €30m to invest in a new stadium to be opened for the team’s next season. With his team currently enjoying top-billing in Serie A alongside Juventus, Pozzo told Ill Sole 24 Ore: “There is an investment of €30m… We are discussing it. The goal is to have a new stadium for next season”.

REDUCING CAPACITY: RAISE QUALITY

The club’s existing home Stadio Friuli is a multi-purpose stadium in Udine, Italy. Owned by the local municipality, the stadium was built in 1976 and can hold up to 41,65 people.

But, warned Pozzo, a new stadium will mean sacrifices in terms of capacity: “Will we have a fewer spectators? Yes, of course. But Stadio Friuli is an inhospitable facility. We will do everything to bring people to the new stadium”.

The weekend in pictures.

1.) Diego Milito scores a hat-trick in the Milan Derby 

2.) Juventus take an early lead against Cagliari

3.) The Curva Nord before kick off

4.) Juve fans celebrate the title

5.) The penalty should not have been given

6.) More Juventus celebrations

Fiornetina 1-1 Bologna May 2011: Bologna Ultras. I took a wrong turning at this game and walked into these guys before the game. They were crazy, drinking (and the rest) setting off flares in the street and mocking the Police by showing them the Police helmets they had stolen in previous encounters. I was glad to get out of there. In the game they threw fireworks at us and tried to scale the perspex cage they were in.