Udinese Calcio

[RomaShield27]

I posted this in the but here she is again:

Why can't Udinese win? I think they've a good chance. They're away in the first-leg, and Arsewipe have Van Persie and Nasri suspended – as well as Wenger – from their antics when they were eliminated by Barca last season. Plus, i don't think they've massively spent (yet), only really that Gervinho fella (size of his forehead), and have been struggling to hold on to their best players. And they are still weak at the back. Udinese have lost a lot of players this mercato as well, no doubt, but they always do, but still remain a very good side with some good players (and will strengthen more too, I'm sure).

Di Natale still has a lot of magic in his legs and can certainly hurt Arsewipe's defence. They've also brought back yer man Barreto from Bari, who was impressive whenever I saw him, so he could be useful. I also expect them to sign a new player or two.

[aldair6]

Udinese squad to play Arsenal
Goalkeepers: Belardi, Handanovic, Romo
Defenders: Armero, Basta, Bello, Benatia, Domizzi, Ekstrand, Danilo, Pasquale, Neuton, Sbardella
Midfielders: Abdi, Asamoah, Badu, Bedin, Doubai, Isla, Pinzi
Forwards: Denis, Di Natale, Fabbrini, Floro Flores, Marsura

Antonio Floro Flores has renewed his contract with Udinese until 2016

[RomaShield27]

Forza Udinese tonight, hope they manage to come away from London with a good result. A good preview here from James Horncastle:



– Updated Aug 15, 2011 5:38 PM ET

[forzaitalia]

Best of luck to them tonight, I'll certainly be cheering them on. They may be catching Arsenal at the right time with Cesc gone and Nasri, VP and I think Wilshere not being able to play, but Udinese are also severely weakened from last season. Forza Udinese!

[RomaShield27]

Super performance from Udinese. They looked like they were gonna be swamped at the start and ya feared the worst for them, but they got it together and then played well. Then in the second-half they completely dominated the game and were desperately unlucky. They done everything bar put the feckin ball in the net. As I said in the Shoutbox where we were discussing the match, if there's any justice in the game Udinese will equalise, but ha, whats that got to do with it. Bravo Udinese, super display. Bring on the second-leg.

[forzaitalia]

Well done Udinese, as you say, they played well. I think the Udinese of last season would have had no problem winning tonight.

Second half they were very strong before tiring in the final stages, which is when Walcott had that effort brilliantly saved by Handanovic. If only Toto had put that chance away at the start of the second half!

Is the second leg next mid week yeah?

As maro said in the shitebox thing, an early away goal would be a shocker next week keep it tight Udinese and you'll get at least one!

[RomaShield27]

I think the second-leg is next week alright yeh. An interesting review of the game here:

http://giancarlorinaldi.tumblr.com/post ... ng-so-well

Extended highlights (14 minutes) of the game here:

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodispl ... -15171802/

Football Italia blog piece on the game:

http://www.football-italia.net/blogs/sf126.html

[forzaitalia]

Unable to watch tonight, dragging myself to Rovers, but please Udinese go through! This is an Arsenal team in crisis, play like you did last week and you stand a good chance.

Don't do something like Samp did v Bremen last season; such as sailing into a 2-0 lead then giving a last minute goal away to somebody like Frimpong.

[RomaShield27]

Ay, I'll be watching with interest alright. They've a great chance tonight, hopefully they can do it and go through to the group stages, they deserve it. Keeping a clean sheet will be crucial.

[taz]

Udinese's summer spending spree has continued with the signing of Uruguay international Maximiliano Pereyra from River Plate.

The 27-year-old right-back has penned a five-year deal with the Serie A outfit to join from the Argentinian giants.

The Friuli outfit have also acquired Italian goalkeeper Daniele Padelli on a season-long deal from Sampdoria and he becomes Udinese's 13th summer reinforcement.

Udinese will play in this season's group stage of the Europa League against Atletico Madrid, Rennes from France and Switzerland's FC Sion.

The Italian club were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers by Arsenal last week, going down 3-1 on aggregate.

[RomaShield27]

http://www.thefootballexpress.co.uk/201 ... e-package/

A week ago the headlines in La Stampa read “The table speaks black and white [bianconero]” and you may have been forgiven for thinking it referred to Juventus alone. While the Turin giants have had a magnificent start to the season, they have thus far been matched by Udinese – the provincial club in the hearts of many neutrals. Their 2-0 win against Bologna on Sunday – Benatia and Di Natale with the goals – unexpectedly keeps them at the top of the table.

The remarkably good start has come as something of a surprise. Keen Serie A viewers will be aware that the club from Friuli sold three of their most important players over the summer, and many feared that their replacements wouldn’t be able to carry the team in the same manner. The owner’s son and sporting director, Gino Pozzo, was himself surprised saying “We’re happy because we didn’t expect a start to the season like this.”

Their balance sheet was looking particularly rosy after the transfer window slammed shut, the club had brought in a staggering amount, approximately €80 million. The bulk of which was provided by the sale of Chilean star Alexis Sanchez (£23m rising to £33m) to Barcelona, but the sale of Gokhan Inler (undisclosed but believed to be £13m) and Cristian Zapata (£7m) bumped revenues up significantly. Not to mention an instalment of payments from Juventus for Pepe and Motta.

This course of action was by no means out of character for a club who have sustained themselves in Serie A for over 15 years by using the transfer market as their life support machine. Indeed, they were right to cash in on players before their stock fell.

And my how high their stock was last season. Owner, Giampaolo Pozzo, was quick to praise them saying “we were an advertisement for football” declaring, without a hint of irony, that they “play the best football in Italy”. The club owner could certainly be accused of bias and over-excitement, but while Italian teams crumbled and meekly fell out of Europe Gazzetta dello Sport cried “What a shame it is we cannot have this Udinese represent us in the Champions League; and say to Europe: ‘Look how beautiful Italian football is,’”

So far this season the replacements have looked very able, but whether they can maintain their exhilarating sty;e of play remains to be seen. Centre back Danilo has moved from Brazil at the age of 27, later than usual and quite a veteran signing for Udinese.

In the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Arsenal he was part of a four man back line, three quarters of which were new to the club – the other two were Neuton and Joel Ekstrand. They have blended well with the existing defenders, and after conceding a solitary goal against the champions, AC Milan, have the best defence in the league to show for it.

The advertised replacement for midfield hard man was Ivorian Thierry Doubai, but the responsibilities have been taken up very well by Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu. Young Italian U21 starlet Diego Fabbrini has begun to show Europe what he can do as he glides across the pitch evading challenges.

While Udinese were better known for being one of the three Serie A sides deploying a three-man back line, but we have seen a great deal of tactical flexibility from Francesco Guidolin this season. Unlike his former counterpart Gianpiero Gasperini, the Udinese coach has played a combination of 3-5-1-1 or 4-1-4-1 depending on the situation set out before him.

Earlier on this season the missing link appeared to be between the midfield and Di Natale. But on the final day of the window they signed Gabriel Torje. Nicknamed ‘The Romanian Messi’ – among other things – when asked to describe his role Torje said “I’m a trequartista who can go left, right or through the middle.”

The player certainly appears to think of himself as the type of player that Sanchez was for Udinese, and he has shown flashes of brilliance so far. Torje is relatively short, lightweight, incredibly quick, and his touch is very good but his decision making leaves much room for improvement at the moment. The early signs are promising though that the alleged €4-5m spent on the player wasn’t money down the drain.

One point of great concern for the side is the over dependency on the talismanic Antonio Di Natale. The man who has been Serie A top scorer in the past two consecutive seasons has continued to score for the side, netting 4 goals so far this season. His movement is a wonder to behold. A striker who plays on the shoulder and drops deep, leaving centre back partnerships constantly guessing.

Gino Pozzo has admitted that Di Natale “is our insurance policy”, but as he approaches 34 years of age (October 13) the search for his deputy is reaching heightened status. No one has emerged as a true contender to his title so far, and the coach will be worried that without Di Natale there is no Udinese.

Despite this huge caveat, there is clearly a remarkable project in full flow in action in north-east Italy. Udinese are a side that will bring joy to many on numerous Sunday afternoons, and it is time they weren’t thought of as surprise packages. Writing for La Repubblica Fabrizio Bocca eloquently puts it:

“If the phenomenon repeats itself – even when players like Sanchez, Inler and Zapata are sold – then there is no miracle behind it at all, but there is a method and a school of thought.”

Follow Rocco Cammisola on twitter (@rcammisola).

[RomaShield27]

Handanovic considers 'big club'

Goalkeeper is happy at Udinese for the time being
Last Updated: October 13, 2011 12:40pm

Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic is happy at Udinese but would consider a move elsewhere if he could 'take steps forward' in his career.

The Slovenia international, who is under contract until June 2016, was strongly linked with a move to Arsenal last season and is a reported target of AC Milan. As a result of some impressive performances the reports have continued, but the player is not looking too far ahead.

"I'm happy at Udine," Handanovic told Gazzetta dello Sport. "But of course, at my age I am thinking about a big club.

"I like to take steps forward in my career and if I move on to a different team, then it will be to improve myself. "If that is not really an option then I will stay at Udinese."

The 27-year-old has plenty of experience with 53 international caps and more than 100 appearances in Italy's top flight.

[RomaShield27]

Great article on Toto, this:

Bandini: Snubbed by the Ballon d’Or, Udinese’s high-scoring Di Natale fears “death, not football”
Posted by Paolo Bandini under Players, Serie A on Nov 01, 2011
http://blogs.thescore.com/footyblog/201 ... -football/

Not one Italian made it onto the 22-man Ballon d’Or shortlist for the world’s second and third best players (after Lionel Messi), but the news did not provoke too much soul-searching on the peninsula. It was already known, after all, that only one Italian had made it onto the 49-man long list – and even then nobody all that special. You could hardly blame the voters for being underwhelmed by a pint-sized 34-year-old poacher playing out in the provinces.

That, after all, is the role into which Antonio Di Natale has been cast. Serie A’s top goalscorer in each of the past two seasons – and he is setting the pace again so far this campaign – Di Natale has struck an incredible 64 timesin 79 games and yet in the greater narrative of Italian football he will never be considered as a true leading man. Not after he chose the black-and-white stripes of a small club from Udine, over those of a giant one from Turin.

More than a year has passed since Di Natale turned down an offer to join Juventus and even now many observers seem unable to move on. Interviewed by the magazine Sportweek a few days ago, Di Natale once again found himself forced to defend the decision at length – despite the fact that in the intervening season Udinese had finished fourth, earning a spot in the Champions League preliminaries, while Juventus missed out on Europe altogether.

“I told president Pozzo that I would finish my career here, and I consider my word to be worth more than a signature on a contract,” explained Di Natale, before joking that as a Neapolitan he could hardly have signed for Juventus without having ever played for Napoli. The interviewer, unsatisfied with such a response, pressed on, accusing the striker of being afraid to test himself at a big club. “No,” replied Di Natale. “I fear death, not football.”

To the contrary, football is a source only of a joy for Di Natale – a man for whom the simple act of connecting ball with net represents the greatest of life’s pleasures. Even after the defeat to Slovakia which knocked Italy out of last summer’s World Cup, he was seen to leave the pitch with a grin – his disappointment at the result overridden by the satisfaction of getting his name at the scoresheet. “He has scored a goal at the World Cup, he can tell his nephews,” noted Gabriele Romagnoli in La Repubblica. “He has given what he had, chased every ball that he could. For him, that is enough.”

Less generous onlookers might draw another conclusion: that this is further evidence of the player’s lack of ambition, that a truly great player would have been disconsolate – just as his fellow goalscorer Fabio Quagliarella, a man who leapt at the chance to join Juve, appeared to be. Yet it is a safe bet that Quagliarella – stranded on the fringes of Antonio Conte’s team this season – would give anything to achieve Di Natale’s consistency of performance over the past two years.

The fact is that Di Natale has chosen to stay in Udine because he simply does not see the grass as greener on the other side. A quiet, family-oriented man off the pitch, he has built a life that he enjoys in Udine and remembers what it is like to lose such an environment. When he was first plucked from Naples to train with Empoli in Tuscany at 13, he became so homesick that within a matter of days he ran away. He would return and eventually settle for many years, but the memory never entirely left him.

And while a move to Naples might have been more palatable than Turin – Di Natale was the subject of an enquiry from Napoli a few years ago – even that would have its downside. Di Natale notes that he is still warmly received by everyone in the city whenever he visits his father or brothers, and that they are always grateful to have him representing their city. Were he playing for Napoli, such affection could very quickly evaporate if the team weren’t doing so well.

Of course there are also the conspiracy theorists who have accused Di Natale of simply giving in to his wife, Ilenia, over the move to Juventus – claiming she had not been interested in a move to Turin. Certainly it would not have been the first time he had left a major decision in her hands. It was Ilenia who proposed marriage in 2002 and she too who selected herself as Antonio’s date in the first place. “I asked if he was sure he wanted me and not my twin sister Genny,” she recalls. “He said: ‘either of the two would be fine.’”

In reality, though, the picture is more nuanced. Di Natale speaks often of the importance of family and it is very probable that he would have discussed any move, but he also has ties beyond his family in Udine. Most notably he is a partner in a coffee company that produces a brand bearing his nickname – Totò – and he has made significant investments in a football school, which employs 14 coaches and has 400 kids on its books.

“I have been here eight years. My life is here now,” he says, and if that means being overlooked for award shortlists then that is a consequence he can live with. “Scoring a more than sixty goals in just over two years is something that has not been done in Italy even by Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic. As an Italian, that is a source of honour. It was like winning two World Cups.”

That might be overstating it slightly, and while Brazil 2014 might be a bridge too far, Di Natale has not given up hope of making back into the Italy squad in time for a tilt at this summer’s European Championships. He has never made any secret of his desire to represent his country – and he has been disappointed not to play any part so far since Cesare Prandelli took charge of the Azzurri.

But the thing that will make Di Natale saddest as he reflects on his career may be the knowledge that it cannot go on forever. For over a year now, he has had to train apart from his team-mates on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, doing specialised aerobic work designed to extend his career at the top level, along with physio on his troublesome left knee. Already this seasons the manager Francesco Guidolin has had to rest him at times and it is no coincidence that Di Natale was absent for Udinese’s only defeat, at Napoli.

“We need to protect him,” acknowledged the team’s athletic trainer Paolo Artico yesterday. “But he is good because he gives the right signals, he lets us know when you can push him and when you shouldn’t. He is a perfect athlete – honest and he has added muscle. At this pace he can go on for another two years.”

That may not be enough to make it onto a Ballon d’Or shortlist. But as long as Di Natale keeps on scoring, he is unlikely to mind.

[Lupa]

A Striker From the Shadows


We know which players are supposed to be the top scorers in European soccer: Guys like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who front all those billboard campaigns and collect astronomical paychecks.

But in a remote corner of northeastern Italy, somewhat removed from the world spotlight, a largely unknown 34-year-old who insists he's still learning to play as a center-forward has emerged as an unlikely scoring machine.

With a stunning spree that was more than a decade in the making, Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale has finished as the leading scorer in Serie A for the past two seasons and, with 10 goals from 15 games this year, has amassed a combined 67 league goals since August 2009.

That's 13 more than Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez, 17 more than Rooney, 23 more than David Villa and Edin Dzeko, and more than twice the number scored by Fernando Torres, Diego Forlan and Diego Milito.

With the exception of Ronaldo and Messi, who have scored an absurd 86 and 82 goals respectively, no one in Europe's five major leagues has scored more league goals since the start of the 2009-10 season.

"He's having an extraordinary spell," said Francesco Guidolin, the Udinese head coach, at a news conference this month. "He manages to score almost every match… but he also does extraordinary moves, creating chances [for his teammates]. He comes from another dimension."

The most remarkable thing about Di Natale's run isn't his extraordinary strike rate, his other-wordly composure in front of goal, or even the fact that he's found success at one of Italy's less fashionable clubs. It's this: Two months after his 34th birthday, at an age when most elite goalscorers start to see their powers diminish, he's growing more prolific. with each passing yearThe 67 league goals he has plundered in his last 85 games is the same number he scored in his previous six seasons combined.

This blistering hot streak is partly due to the adventurous 3-4-3 formation that Guidolin has installed at Udinese, which has made the team arguably the most effective counter-attacking unit in Italian soccer in recent seasons.

But the biggest factor behind Di Natale's surge is a switch of positions that transformed a workaday winger into Italy's most clinical striker. Listed at 5-feet-7 and 154 pounds, Di Natale was long considered too small short and slight to play a central attacking role and was usually deployed on the wing.

But when Italy striker Fabio Quagliarella left Udinese to join Juventus on the eve of the 2009-10 season, former head coach Pasquale Marino opted to field Di Natale, then 31 years old, as a center-forward.

"Playing in a more central role, he didn't have to do the work that wide men are required to do, so he is sharper in front of goal," said Pasquale.

The results were extraordinary. Di Natale scored a career best 29 league goals that season, accounting for more than half of Udinese's 54 total goals, earning the Italian Player of the Year award and the first of two straight capocannonieri titles, awarded annually to the leading scorer in Serie A.

He followed that with 28 goals the following season and has 10 so far this season, taking his career tally to 130 top-flight goals, despite insisting that he is still adjusting to his new role as a target man.

"It's almost a shame he discovered the role of center-forward so late in his career," said Udinese coach Guidolin. "Otherwise he would have scored more than 200 goals in Italy. He is a great man, a champion."

His prolific streak has transformed Udinese from relegation candidates into improbable title contenders. Last season, the club finished fourth in the Italian championship—an improvement of 11 places on its 15th-place finish the previous season—and qualified for the Champions League playoffs. (Udinese was beaten by Arsenal in a playoff to reach the group stage.)

As Italian soccer enters its midseason break this week, Udinese is third in the standings, just two points behind Milan and Juventus, and remains on course to qualify for the Champions League for a second straight season.

Yet the most notable thing about Di Natale's recent accomplishments may be how little publicity they've attracted. While Serie A strikers such as Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Napoli's Edinson Cavani are admired throughout Europe, Di Natale is elatively unknown outside of Italy.

One reason he has garnered so little ink may be that he has spent his entire career at two clubs—he was at Empoli for eight years before joining Udinese in 2004—and has never played for one of the country's traditional powerhouses: Milan, Internazionale, Juventus.

Lately, he's even getting overlooked in his country. Despite being one of the few Italian players to emerge with any credit from a dismal 2010 World Cup, Di Natale hasn't featured for the national team under new coach Cesare Prandelli. Last month, he was left off the squad even though Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano were injured.

Still, there are those who say Di Natale still has time to work his way back into the national team—even at his advanced age. "In football terms, he's still a youngster in my eyes," said Guildolin. "He can be a big player until he's 40."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... =di+natale

I think they should have mentioned that not only has he played at teams that aren't powerhouses, he *turned down* a move. Nice to see him get some media attention, anyway. Merry Christmas to Mr. Christmas.

[juventini92]

Hi guys, I did an article on how I think Udinese should take responsibility as a big club of Serie A, do take a look and leave your comments:

http://footballspeak.com/post/2012/01/2 ... thics.aspx

Please read through and comment on what you think I wrote HERE on this thread so it can be easily seen by everyone!

[RomaShield27]

'Zico - 22 goals in Serie A (Udinese 1983-1985)':

[RomaShield27]

FRANCESCO GUIDOLIN: UDINESE IMMORTALITY BECKONS FOR THE BOSS
Posted on Tuesday, 8th May 2012 by Padraig Whelan / http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2012/05 ... -the-boss/

Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin deserves every accolade that is coming his way at the moment. He is on the verge of guiding the club into the Champions League for the third time in the club’s history and current holder of the Panchina d’Oro for being coach of the season, an honour which he could well receive again this year.

For much of the season Udinese have been in the mix for the all-important third place but since January many d0ubted they would be able to cope with the complications that were starting to come the squad’s way.

Things were destined to go against Guidolin and his side since before the season began having lost star youngster Alexis Sanchez to Barcelona.
The Chilean was always going to be a big miss for the Friuliani having hit 12 goals the season before and he added another dimension to the Udinese attack thanks to his intense speed and dazzling feet.

He wasn’t the only player that they had to deal with losing as along with Giampiero Pinzi, Gokhan Inler was part of one of the most underrated central midfield partnerships in world football.

He had an outstanding season in the middle of the park in Udine and was one of the players of the season and he has only continued this fine form into this campaign with Napoli where he impressed on the biggest stage of all in Europe too.

Losing two star performers would have been bad enough for Guidolin but the club also had European football to contend with for much of the season when they dropped into the Europa League after being extremely unlucky to go out of the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal in the final qualifying round.

They even made it into the round of 16 in the Europa League which meant that they have played a total of 12 continental games which was a huge amount for one of the thinnest squads in Serie A.

A thin squad that was tested to even higher limits and possibly breaking point when this year’s African Cup of Nations rolled around which in turn took away three of their most important players as Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Mehdi Benatia all left for the competition.

When you consider that Badu and the magnificent Mauricio Isla have both suffered long-term injuries which have ruled them out for many months, this is an unheard amount of adversity for one squad to deal with.

Guidolin has not complained once about any of this and has instead focused on facing and overcoming these challenges with dignity and it looks as though, against all the odds, he is about to be repaid with the ultimate reward.

With his side set out in a 3-5-2 formation that allows them to be both fluid and flowing in attack yet solid when required to defend in numbers but had a regular starting XI that is undoubtedly the strongest of the Champions League chasers.

Lazio do not have enough creativity in attack and have struggled at full-back this season after losing Stephan Lichtsteiner in the summer and Napoli are fantastic in all areas of the field aside from their defence which has been exposed as extremely slow and unable to defend an aerial ball this season.

Udinese however have been set up in Guidolin’s trusty three man backline in which a defence consisting of stalwarts like Morgan De Sanctis in goal and in front of him Benatia, Danilo, Dusan Basta and Maurizio Domizzi.

They have both skill and pace on the wings with Pablo Armero and Isla and with Pinzi, Badu, Asamoah and Michele Pazienza they have a very impressive midfield while the goals of Antonio Di Natale in attack have been relied on once more this season to fire the Zebrette into third place.

He has been helped out somewhat though by Paolo Barreto, Antonio Floro Flores and even bright talent Gabriel Torje but their usually rigid starting side has them in a wonderful position and if they do manage to clinch third spot, then Guidolin is an outstanding candidate for retaining his manager of the year award when you consider everything that Udinese have overcome this campaign.

At all times under the four-time Palermo manager, two of their central midfielders will remain at the back as the other three in midfield get forward to help out ‘Toto’ Di Natale and his attacking partner in the final third and this has been a massive reason for the club having conceded so few goals this campaign (the third fewest after Juventus and Milan).

The ability of this midfield to also quickly win the ball back when it is lost due to the tenacity and pressure their midfield places upon the opposition is also crucial to Guidolin’s style as is the willingness of the wingers to drop all the way back when the team are defending.
This ensures that they are more than capable of defending well and attacking equally efficiently and you have to credit much of this down to the tactics of Guidolin.

Thankfully for the club and unfortunately for any others in the peninsula, he has this week admitted that he will not manage another club in Italy again in his career.

His current deal with Udinese runs until 2015 and if he can continue the excellent work he has done so far at the club (albeit without Di Natale in future) he will be remembered as one of the club’s greats.

[mark]

was looking at Udinese website and found a link under the supporters page
for Fogolâr Furlan

which has an entry for my hometown of Ottawa, no address though

What does Fogolâr Furlan mean ?

Thanks

[red]

Seems to be people who emigrated from the Friuli region, who speak the local dialect:

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogol%C3%A2rs_furlans

[mark]

thanks, seems you are right