The Official Azzurri thread

[Bagg10]

[Messinterista]

[ricky2882]

[Alfio]

[Bagg10]

[Alfio]

[Zoff82]

World Cup 2006 Matches Fixed, Says Journalist
Journalist Declan Hill has launched an astonishing broadside against the FIFA World Cup of 2006 by claiming that no fewer than four results were fixed. Other comprimised matches have taken place in the Bundesliga, too...


A new book released today, entitled The Fix, explains that an Asian betting syndicate based in Bangkok influenced players from Ghana, Ecuador and Ukraine at the 2006 World Cup.

Among the matches affected were the clashes between Ghana and Italy in the group stages, Ghana and Brazil in the round of 16, and Ukraine versus Italy in the quarter final.

In these three cases the author of the book was told the match results prior to kick-off, and these were proved to be correct.

Stephen Appiah, the Ghana captain, confirmed that he had been targeted by match-fixers, although the team manager has moved to refute such claims.

Meanwhile the Bundesliga was also said to be affected, prompting an investigation in Germany into the allegations.

With the FIFA World Cup already beset by the ticketing scandals that once engulfed Jack Warner, this latest book will be the last thing that Sepp Blatter and company have on their reading lists.

[morra10]

[San Paolo]

[Bagg10]

[quote]



Tuesday 2 September, 2008

Sepp Blatter didn’t present the World Cup to Fabio Cannavaro in Berlin, but made up for it by re-enacting the moment two years later!

The FIFA President caused a diplomatic incident after the Final of Germany 2006 when he did not come down on to the field to present winners Italy with the trophy.

He said at the time it was because he “didn’t want to cause problemsâ€

[juventino_italiano]

The bum finally does something right....but publicity is important for him....arent elections coming up??

[Messinterista]

no 1 is rivalling him unfortunately.

[juventino_italiano]

good old dino zoff or roby baggio should step up...lol

[p_maldini_3]

baggio has way too much humility to step into footballing politics.

[juventino_italiano]

[Alfio]

[Messinterista]

[juventino_italiano]

those two are less likely...perhaps albertini??

[Alfio]

Maybe Moggi

[RomaShield27]

Lippi’s list of 50 – From: http://italy.theoffside.com
So it seems to be a FIFA rule that each national team manager must submit a mega-list of 50 players that will be available for selection for World Cup qualifying games. I’m unsure about the rules of this list and if/when players can be changed or added (and info about these lists are hard to find, the list was unveiled by a Fiorentina website) but it does show you the players that the national team manager has in consideration. Lippi’s list has a mix of recognizable names and U21 stars, as well as some surprises. Here’s the list of 50:


GOALKEEPERS
Gianluigi Buffon, Marco Amelia, Gianluca Curci, Morgan De Sanctis, Christian Abbiati, Matteo Sereni

DEFENDERS
Gianluca Zambrotta, Daniele Bonera, Andrea Barzagli, Fabio Grosso, Marco Cassetti, Nicola Legrottaglie, Andrea Dossena, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Gamberini, Marco Materazzi, Paolo De Ceglie, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Domenico Criscito, Fabiano Santacroce, Cristian Zaccardo, Emiliano Moretti, Aimo Diana

MIDFIELDERS
Mauro Camoranesi, Simone Perrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani, Angelo Palombo, Riccardo Montolivo, Antonio Nocerino, Massimo Ambrosini, Daniele Conti, Franco Semioli, Massimo Gobbi, Claudio Marchisio, Marco Donadel

FORWARDS
Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino, Luca Toni, Alessandro The Waterboy, Antonio Di Natale, Giuseppe Rossi, Antonio Cassano, Raffaele Palladino, Mario Balotelli, Sebastian Giovinco, Fabio Quagliarella