Back Down To Earth With A Bump

Another late free kick, but this time for the opponents saw the Lagunari knocked out of the Coppa Italia before the competition has really even begun. Floro Flores scored for Arezzo in the 100th minute with a free kick, having hit the post earlier in the game. Gennari and Corradi had also hit the woodwork for Venezia.

It's disappointing to be out this early in the competition, but then again, from what I understand, we played pretty well in the second half and were unlucky to have to go to extra-time. Let's face it, this competition is never a priority (for anyone, apart from maybe Inter when they realise once again they can't win Serie A...) but at the same time it's always a bonus to have a good cup run, particularly for a smaller side like us.

Let's just hope these two games have helped us develop more as a team and have helped prepare us for the season ahead. By the sounds of things, we have shown some nice play in these two games, so hopefully we can develop that in advance of the first league game.

Forza Venezia!

Bring on Arezzo!

So it's Arezzo we face in the 2nd round of the cup - on Wednesday as well, which makes it all the better that Capitan Collauto was able to score his last minute free kick against Treviso and avoid us having to play extra time.

By all accounts, it was a "vittoria sofferta", as Paolo Poggi put it, but at the same time I don't think Treviso were able to create much in the way of goalscoring chances, which is encouraging.

Let's hope for more of the same on Wednesday!

Venezia 1-0 Treviso

Fantastic result for the boys in the Coppa Italia! And what a way to win it by the sounds of things - Mattia Collauto grabbed the winner in the 89th minute. Not read a full match report yet but the scoreline tells its own story - Treviso were in Serie A last year (okay, they were the worst team by quite a distance) and we were in C2. Plus they are of course our local rivals, so it is a great result whatever way it is looked at!

Let's hope this good form can continue into the league, the make-up of which was finalised yesterday. There had been talk that we were going to be put with all the southern teams, meaning very long away trips, but fortunately they have decided to divide the leagues by geography, so we are with all the Tuscan teams like Lucchese and Pisa:

GIRONE A

Cittadella
Cremonese
Grosseto
Ivrea
Lucchese
Massese
Monza
Novara
Padova
Pavia
Pisa
Pistoiese
Pizzighettone
Pro Patria
Pro Sesto
Sangiovannese
Sassuolo
VENEZIA

Totti Says "Yes" to Donadoni

Great news for La Nazionale - Totti has said he is ready to play on.

For some reason, Francesco is the type of player that divides even Italian fans, with some calling him a show-pony, and saying he has never really delivered for Italia. But for me, it's very simple - he's the most talented player Italy have, and, in my opinion, one of the best in the world. You only have to look at a highlights reel of all the things he's done for Roma to see what a player he can be - he has vision, skill, strength.

Until recently, he undoubtedly also had a vicious temper, which helped to ruin his reputation outside Italy, but he seems to have matured - perhaps getting married and having his baby helped him settle down. And without that negative aspect to his game, he has become an even greater asset to the Azzurri than he was before.

Sure, he didn't play consistently well in the World Cup, but let's not forget he was making a hurried return from 3 months out with a broken ankle. And in the games against Ukraine, Germany, and in his cameo appearance against Australia, he was his usual brilliant self, with all the flicks and tricks, but also delivering the final ball when it mattered, or, in the case of the Australia game, keeping his cool to convert THAT penalty.

He's said he wants to be fully fit before returning, which probably means no Lithuania and France for him, but I have no doubt his long term contribution for us will be indispensible.

Forza Totti! Forza Azzurri!

A Pointless Exercise

As predicted, last night's game was a bit of a pointless exercise. I must admit up front to not having seen it - but more on that it a moment.

As to the game itself, it sounds like the reserve squad played okay, but were nothing special and although Croatia apparently scored from their only two chances, they deserved their victory. At least we have now got the usual excuse of being behind in our physical preparations for the season out of the way!

Let's face it, very few of those boys who played last night are going to feature for the Azzurri in the future - maybe Amelia, Ambrosini and Semioli will get into a squad or two, but they're not going to be first choice picks, so there's no need to be too downheartened. That said, it was a pointless way to lose our 26 game unbeaten run. Let's hope we are just looking to start another unbeaten run from here on in. Certainly, the proper team had better be physically ready for the France game - we do not want to lose that one, simply as a matter of pride.

One final word on last night's game - you will see from the picture above that we did not seem to be playing with the golden ball which we played the World Cup final with. I thought the whole point was that the World Champions get to play with that ball in every game until the next world cup. Is it only official games?

As for why I missed the game - our world cup watching crew (my dad, sister, girlfriend, uncle. cugini and various others) decided to all get together for a meal out to celebrate the world cup win as it's the first time we've all been able to get together since we won. News of the score from Livorno brought the mood down briefly, but fortunately that wasn't something that a few more peroni and grappas couldn't sort out!

Incidentally, you will see I have changed the name of the Blog. It is probably still open to change if anyone can come up with any better suggestions (and no Ginkers, that is not a cue for you to think of more insults to throw my way!)

A Vote

I am unsure about the Blog Title I've got going on here, so I thought I would put it to a vote. Which of these is best:

• The Lion's Roar (and should it just be Lion singular, or are we talking multiple Lions here??)
• The Lion's Den (and the above applies as well)
• The Doge's Palace (too pretentious-sounding?)
• View from the Lagoon

That's all I can come up with just now - feel free to suggest others though.

And what about the template? Too dark? Easy to read?

Let me know!

A Pre-Season Tripletta

The Azzurri take to the field tomorrow in Livorno against Croatia, in what is their first game since lifting that trophy 5 or so weeks ago. But unfortunately it will be a bit of a damp squib of a game - of the 23 World Cup winners, only Amelia is even in the squad (listed below).

I have to say, it all seems a bit pointless and a bit of a disappointment. Apparently they will parade the World Cup, but who will show it to the crowd since 'Il Capitano' is not there? I had envisioned a game with the whole World Cup squad getting a runout to be applauded and cheered by all the Italiani - a celebratory match. But holidays and a lack of fitness have put paid to that idea.

Instead it is perhaps the most experimental squad I've seen for Italy - more an Italy 'B' squad - I can't see players like Rocchi, Morrone and Zenoni ever getting a real game for us, but who knows, I may be wrong. I would have thought the likes of Marchionni and Tavano would feature as well, as they are actually fringe players who could pull on the azzurro in a real match one day.

Another disappointment is the fact that we will not be displaying the new shirts with four stars - although given the lack of world cup winners, this is maybe no bad thing!

More exciting is the U21 squad - as with Donadoni, but to a greater extent, Casiraghi has a lot to prove as a manager, but his selections for his first squad in charge are exciting. I'm pleased to see Giuseppe Rossi in there as he has looked pretty decent for Man U whenever I've seen him, and could one day be a strike partner for Gila. That's not to say he's the only good player there - Curci, Aquilani, Pozzi, Rosina, Potenza, amongst others, all have outstanding potential. It's also good to hear him talking about the likes of Pelle and Volpato, who I have heard very good things about.

As for the Lagunari, we've finished a successful pre-season beating those footballing giants like Favaro and Mezzocorona easily. Next up is our first real game of the season - the Coppa Italia derby match v Treviso. Will be interesting to see how we measure up against last season's Serie A strugglers.

Anyway, here's hoping for a hattrick of wins from all of them, starting with the U21s tonight!

Azzurri:

Goalkeepers
Marco Amelia (Livorno), Flavio Roma (Monaco)
Defenders
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giulio Falcone (Sampdoria), Gamberini, Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Christian Terlizzi (Sampdoria), Luciano Zauri (Lazio), Cristian Zenoni (Sampdoria)
Midfielders
Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Gennaro Del Vecchio (Sampdoria), Massimo Gobbi (Fiorentina), Fabio Liverani (Fiorentina), Stefano Morrone (Livorno), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Franco Semioli (Chievo)
Forwards
Andrea Caracciolo (Palermo), David Di Michele (Palermo), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Mauro Esposito (Cagliari), Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio)


Azzurrini:

Andreolli Marco (Inter), Aquilani Alberto (Roma), Coda Andrea (Udinese), Consigli Andrea (Sambenedettese), Curci Gianluca (Roma), Defendi Marino (Atalanta), Dellafiore Hernan (Palermo), Ferronetti Damiano (Parma), Lazzari Andrea (Cesena), Lodi Francesco (Frosinone), Mantovani Andrea (Chievo), Montolivo Riccardo (Fiorentina), Nocerino Antonio (Piacenza), Padoin Simone (Vicenza), Pazzini Gianpaolo (Fiorentina), Pisano Francesco (Cagliari), Potenza Alessandro (Fiorentina), Pozzi Nicola (Empoli), Rosina Alessandro (Torino), Rossi Giuseppe (Manchester United).

Looking Forward to a Long Hard Season

Welcome to the first post of what will hopefully be an ongoing blog following the rise and rise (I can hope) of SSC Venezia. C1 has been less affected than the leagues above it by the whole calciopoli scandal, so hopefully will start on time, and I can get used to the usual routine of doing my best to follow Venezia from Scotland (not an easy thing even these days!)

Il Mister, Nello Di Costanzo, remains in charge after an incredible season last year, when we went on an amazing unbeaten run (the exact number of games escapes me) after losing 4 of the first 5 games of the season under different management. Di Costanzo managed to lead us to our first ever C2 championship, thanks in no small part to the goals from the "gemelli di gol" Marco Moro and Davide Pradolin, two promising youngsters. Whether they have enough to cut it in the big leagues of C1, we will soon see...

Some summer signings have come in, but I have to admit to only recently starting to pay attention to these in any detail - like any Italian, I have been revelling in the events in Germany this summer - only recently have I stopped watching highlights of the Azzurri's top moments every day (now it's only every second day!)

Anyway, enough rambling from me for now. No doubt I will be back with more nonsense soon.

Forza Lagunari!