Diego Fuser was the complete winger in the early 1990’s. These were the glory years for Serie A and the flanks were dominated by Fuser whether playing for Torino, Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, Parma or Roma.

It is testament to his abilities that he managed to play for such a distinguished list of clubs in a career that spreads from 1986 at Torino to the unbelievably the present day where he still plys his trade for Colline Alfieri Don Bosco (an amateur side in Piedmont.)

Strong, athletic, quick and incredibly skillfull Fuser shone as one of the most dangerous wingers in the divison. Most noted for his time at Lazio where he played from 1992-1998 featuring 188 times and scoring 35 goals.

When Calcio ruled the world, Fuser was just getting started!

Even now, the memory still hurts. We were winning 6-0 and it did not matter a jot. Results elsewhere were sending us to Serie B and there was nothing we could do. Radios around the Stadio Artemio Franchi confirmed the dreadful news.

The first cut was definitely the deepest. I have seen Fiorentina relegated twice but that demotion in 1993 was certainly the more painful experience. We had been in second place at Christmas with a side which included the likes of Brian Laudrup, Stefan Effenberg and Gabriel Batistuta. It made no difference to our final fate.

Things had started excitingly under Gigi Radice with a 7-1 win over Ancona and a 7-3 home hammering by Milan in the opening weeks of the campaign. He masterminded a triumph over Juventus in December but it was not enough to keep him in a job for long. A home reverse at the hands of Atalanta in January had volatile film-producer president Vittorio Cecchi Gori sending him packing. And then our world caved in.

The opinionated TV pundit Aldo Agroppi was brought in and produced a series of results which should serve as a warning to so-called experts everywhere. His first game was a 4-0 defeat by Udinese. It would be more than two months before the boys in purple would record a win. By that point, panic had set in.

Agroppi was shown the door too, with a last-gasp effort to avoid the drop coming from Luciano Chiarugi. It failed to provide sufficient points and when Foggia came to Florence on the final day of the season the writing was on the wall. We needed other sides to do us a favour and, in Italy, that just does not happen.

And yet, for a while, we had hope. Four goals up by half-time, our relegation rivals Brescia were only managing a draw with Sampdoria. And things got better early in the second period when news filtered through that Roma had taken the lead against Udinese - the other side involved in the three-way fight to avoid the last two relegation spots.

The Curva Fiesole crackled with the sound of match updates coming from around the country. Every cry of “Attenzione! Attenzione!” by the Tutto Il Calcio commentators brought a frisson of fear. The match being played out on the pitch seemed like a sideshow.

Fiorentina went 6-0 up but the news from elsewhere took a turn for the worse. Brescia pulled 2-1 ahead and then, with 10 minutes remaining, came the double hammer-blow. The Bresciani put their result beyond doubt with another goal while Udinese grabbed an equaliser. The sombre silence of the Franchi left no room for dubiety, we were going down.

Everybody sleepwalked through those closing moments. Foggia waltzed around zombie-like defenders to make the score 6-2. It was a resounding victory which nobody celebrated.

The jokes at the Viola’s expense were not long in coming. Some suggested that their new sponsors should be toothbrush makers Oral B (it translates as “Now in B” in Italian). It would certainly be a while before Fiorentina fans could smile again.

Giancarlo is an amazing writer and I persnally thank him for this superb article. I hope he joins us again soon

 Follow Giancarlo Rinaldi on Twitter @ginkers and his own amazing blog http://giancarlorinaldi.tumblr.com/

Fiorentina have released information that they have successfully negotiated a deal for a new stadium site. The new ground will be built near the airport and concludes over two years of talks. The 150m Euro plan follows the blue print of arch rivals Juventus. The stadium will include a shopping center, houses and hotels. Fiorentina will move from the Stadio Artemio Franchi, a ground they have inhabited since 1931.

Bressan’s overhead kick for Fiorentina in their European tie against Barcelona remains one of the greatest in the history of the Champions League. “A lot of people remember the goal,” says the Italian, “and remind me of it when they meet me. It probably seemed a bit crazy at the time,” he recalls, “but I wanted to try it because I had attempted it a few times in training with not much success. It all came down to the way I hit it, and that came about through co-ordination, then connecting cleanly with the ball. I have wonderful memories of my goal in Florence,” he says. “When 
I got back onto my feet I just started screaming.”

Missing the season. Pictures from my trip to Florence to watch the Viola take on Bologna in a 1-1 draw. Epic Thunder storm and crazy crazy Bologna Ultras

Photo of the day. Remembering my trip to Novara and the incredible Ultras of the Stadio Silvio Piola

“I spoke with the owners and they told me that the player is not on the market. But there is a gentlemen’s agreement and if someone makes an offer for him close to 30 million euro without some players in exchange, we can sit at a table and discuss. But we want to keep Jovetic.”

Daniele Prade (Fiorentina’s Sporting director) had spoken to Sky Sports Italia and in one paragraph he unleashed more confusion on the matter than Balotelli creates when putting on a training bib. The rough translation is that Jovetic is not for sale but if someone coughs up 30 million Euros then he might be, in other words, he would like Juventus to bid again without offering them Matri in exchange, but really they don’t want to sell him. Quite simple really?

Montella also has his thoughts on the matter and in his press conference declared that “Football today is like this, we must be prepared for these instances. For our part we have expressed our will to keep him, now it falls to Stevan to assess the situation, if he hasn’t already done so, Then, there must be a team willing to invest in him. He’s an extraordinary player who any Coach would want to work with. I have spoken with him first, with the promise that I would not then speak publicly. I know his intentions, he has been training well but it is understandable that at this moment he is thinking about things.

Montella in an attempt to make life much more simple for everyone decided to speak out letting people know that Fiorentina want to keep him, however, if Jovetic wants to go he can, but Montella does not know whether he does and even if he does it depends if anyone will pay the fee. To further clarify matters Montella then claims he does know about Jovetic’s intentions all of a sudden but he certainly is not telling anyone. Well, at least that clears that up, doesn’t it?

With the situation surrounding the little Serbs future a clear as a mug full of water from the Thames, Prado decided to talk of his perspective targets “Elm? He’s an important player but he has several offers. Viviano? The situation is on stand-by. We’ll talk with Inter and Palermo (co-owners of the player), we have good relations with them and we’ll find a solution. We will do something in the market. It will be a good Fiorentina but it needs the fans to be patient.”

Fiorentina fans will need to be more than patient it seems. If Prado and Montella make this much of a debacle over Jovetic’s future, imagine the conference call between the Viola, Palermo and Inter all trying to agree over Viviano. The conclusion could be that all three clubs end up coming out of the meeting with no idea who he plays for anymore.

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. 

The Italian Football Federation postponed all games on Sunday after the death of Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini in a match on Saturday.  Inter who were due to play Morosini’s parent club Udinese paid their respects this week.

With all the weeks’ fixtures having to be moved to another date, it was hoped that the decision would be an easy process due to the circumstances. However, even under the back drop of immense tragedy clubs still squabbled over the dates to which the fixtures were to be replayed. The clubs were to meet on Monday night to discuss this situation and prior to this Inter President Massimo Moratti urged for calm. He told www.inter.it : “We have to do what is right. I don’t think it is the case to create any controversy at this time. I think it was obvious not to play the game. It was the only choice that could be taken because it was a serious episode, which sent the right message. It was normal and understandable. For Udinese players, it was a case of losing a team-mate, a team player, who everybody knew well. Hence, it was a very serious situation, a horrible episode and the football world understood it.”

Moratti’s sentiments were also echoed by Inter Captain Javier Zanetti who said he was ‘shocked’ at the death and that it was only right to call off the weekends games, he said: “ We are truly shocked by what happened to Morosini. We are all struck deeply. Something incredible happened and it was clearly the right decision to call off the games. On behalf of all my teammates, our thoughts and embraces go to his loved ones.”

As with the rest of Serie A, it is under this overhanging cloud of grief Inter have had to prepare for their next game this weekend. The trip to Florence will certainly not be easy as both of these under performing clubs look to finish on an ironic high this season. Fiorentina approached this year with hopes of a Europa League spot whilst Inter would have hoped a title challenge would have been possible. As it happened the Nerazzurri find themselves only with a distant chance of Champions League football in their grasp whilst the Viola are trying hard distance themselves from the drop.

Andrea Stramaccioni has overseen the Nerazzurri’s training this week and will be happy to see that Wesley Sneijder and Maicon have completed full training sessions. The pair had been side lined and their inclusion in the coming weeks will be a much needed boost. Julio Cesar and Dejan Stankovic had personalised workouts are on the road to recovery whilst Luc Castaignos and Walter Samuel continued with their rehabilitation progress. These injuries may make Stramaccioni blood some of Primavera squad, he notably promoted Raffaele Di Gennaro, Ibrahima Mbaye, Joseph Alfred and Jakub Vojtus to train with the first team this week.

Respects will be paid all around Italy again this weekend and rightly so. The whole of the country has felt the loss of Morosini.  It will be a hard task for all teams to approach the matches with thoughts of him not in their minds, never mind with the mentality that the game is a matter of life and death. Is it really more important than that? You tell me?

Follow me on Twitter @RichardHall_TGU

Picture of the day. Fiorentina v Milan 1992.

Can you name the players in the picture?

Correct answer is  Effenberg, Gullit and Carobbi and Carnasciali in the background. 

Giannibugnosagace was correct

Ginkers was also correct getting the additional background player as well (I did not know him)

For over a decade Abel Balbo was scoring goals in Italian Football. The Argentine also managed to pick up his fair share of silverware in the process.

Balbo’s career started in 1989 with Udinese in Serie B were he scored 65 goals in 134 appearences between 1989 and 1993. In the 1992/93 season he managed to net 22 times which turned the heads of Roma. 

Roma quickly purchased him and he immediately repayed the faith. This was Balbo at the height of his powers in Italy and he netted 22 times gain in the 1993/94 season becoming one of the most feared strikers in the country. He finished his time in Rome in 1998, a fans favourite after scoring 78 goals in 171 games.

His career wound down after this and he endured less fruitful spells at Parma and Fiorentina before returning to Roma to play only three games with no goals to show for it. 

Balbo was quite simply a goalscorer, a poacher a man who would gamble on a defender or a goalkeeper making a mistake. Near post headers, tap ins, beating the keeper to a ball by inches, this was the way he plied his trade.

He picked up Silverware along the way to, although most late on in his career;

• Parma
  • Coppa Italia:
    • 1998–99
  • UEFA Cup:
    • 1998–99

• Roma
  • Serie A:
    • 2000–01
  • Supercoppa Italiana:
    • 2001

Rarely spectacular but always clinical, when Calcio ruled the world Abel Balbo was scoring goals.

With public finances a mess and so many proposed stadiums rejected, it is no wonder that many believe Italy are incapable of regenerating her football arenas. However, after the recent success of the Juventus Arena and the new Stadium Law, the new projects may soon become a reality.

Juventus have been the trail-blazers in the Peninsula, building a superb state of the art stadium without breaking the bank. This also was off the back of the Calciopoli scandal and this smart move has now catapulted the club to one of the top teams in Italy. With high attendances generating big profit from ticket sales along with the extra match day revenue the ‘Old Lady’ has also proved that she is wise.

Clubs in Italy can now hope to be bolstered by the new Stadium Law that is soon to come into play. This is a piece of legislation that has been in place for two years but has yet to be finalised. Now the current government are hoping to get the law passed before the Stadium Business Summit that will take place in Turin in May. This summit will in turn hope to show the world what Italy’s intentions and clear cut plans will be in relation to this matter.

The Stadium Law itself hopes to give the private sector the chance to develop these new Stadia as they work alongside the local authorities. This will mirror the government’s plan that they have for the rest of the country although much will depend on the cooperation of the regional authorities. The description given of this law that will generate this boom in Stadia construction has been called a ‘PPP Finance model’.

Italian clubs all around the peninsula are now ready to start implementing the plans that have been festering in their archives for years. No better example that clubs believe that it is the time to act could be found this week than in the actions of Cagliari President Massimo Cellino. He decided to pull out a revolutionary plan against his local authorities this week due to the fact he was so unhappy with the lack of renovation work on Stadio Sant’Elia. He has also been frustrated with the lack of progress over the years on his new stadium proposal. Therefore Cellino decided to have the weekend’s match against Inter moved to Trieste 1,133km away.

This echoed recent comments made by Ugo Cappellacci, president of Sardinia’s regional authority, who said that Cagliari’s recent game against Cesena was: “an exciting show in a desolate arena” and that it was “inadequate for the needs of the team, fans and Sardinia.” Despite support from the Mayor, Cellino thought that after his recent plan to build near the airport had been blocked, drastic action was needed.

Catania are another club who have had problems with their stadium although this has mainly been the result of violence. Nonetheless in an attempt to create a better environment for football to be watched, Nino Pulvirenti, President of the club has suggested a 30-35,000 capacity venue to be erected at a cost of 80-100 million Euros. This new arena would contain space for municipal offices which are thought to be of interest to the local authorities.

Read more at http://www.footballitaliano.co.uk/p6_66_6950_is-italy-preparing-for-a-stadium-overhaul.html

A new series of posts all about kits that captured the imagination throughout the golden age of Calcio.

First up Fiorentina 92-93

Home Kit

Make - Lotto

Sponsor - 7up

Worn by players such as Batistuta, Brian Laudrup, Effenberg, Baiano and Caranascial.

Fact: Batistuta scored 16 times in the 1992-93 season

The Hotel Brunelleschi Florence

Cost on average £182 per night

http://www.hotelbrunelleschi.it/

This is one of the more expensive hotels I would recommend but is worth it for two reasons. Firstly, you are in Florence, do it right and secondly the concierge will move heaven and earth for you. 

The only reason I booked this hotel was because I porposed to my now Fiancee on my trip, so everything had to be right. However, that did not mean I could not get to see Fiorentina v Bologna a couple of days later. 

The Stadio Artemio Franchi is in walking distance but takes about 45 min. It is easier to get a bus but the walk along the Arno for me is unmissable. 

I can recommend cheaper hotels in Florence on request but for me this one is 10/10