THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[maro]

Scherzoso is more of a "joker", Edzo. "Sto scherzando": I'm just messing around. My French has gone downhill badly, Avvocato. I have enough to get round but I was really struggling at times this trip. I was ashamed of myself, to be honest. The guys we were staying with have two girls, 4 and 6, and I found them almost impossible to understand. I've been chastened into spending a bit of time working on my French over the next couple of months - I think my Italian has been slowly bunting it out of my brain. My reading is okay, but then French is a piece of cake to read.

[maro]

The moglie's French, on the other hand, is pretty good. Her grenouilles friends tend to write to her in French and she writes back in English.

[maro]

Sorry, I see the rather better Italianist got there before me. This Rachmaninov cello sonata is really bloody good. I've been listening to it all afternoon and it's stunning, I think.

[Italiamia]

[maro]

[maro]

[vtec]

[maro]

[Zoff82]

[marco]

[Jamoldo]

[Zoff82]

[Jamoldo]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Pauly W. Nuts]

[Italiamia]

[Jamoldo]

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

– Tuesday 16 December 2008

By Paolo Menicucci from Milan

Legendary AS Roma No6 Aldair wants the current squad to "believe they can go all the way" to the final at their own Stadio Olimpico as they prepare to learn their fate in Friday's UEFA Champions League first knockout round draw.

Retired shirt
The 43-year-old central defender made such an impression in his time at Roma that when he finally left the Giallorossi, the No6 shirt retired with him. However, while the Brazilian is no longer a Roma player, he has lost none of his commitment to the red-and-yellows, and is eager for Luciano Spalletti's side to press on towards the final, which will be held in their home stadium on 27 May 2009.

'They should believe'
"These players did very well last year," said the Brazilian, who spent 13 years at Roma and remains one of their most loved former players. "If they hadn't come up against such a strong team [eventual champions Manchester United FC] they might have gone even further last season. But I think the players have a bit more experience this year – they should believe they can go all the way. It's always special to play at home. Roma have a very passionate set of fans and when things get tough they can always give the team a lift."

CFR defeat
Nicknamed 'Pluto' because of the similarity of his running style to that of Mickey Mouse's dog, Aldair was pleased with Roma's group-stage performance this year. Despite a tricky start, with a 2-1 home defeat against CFR 1907 Cluj, as they finished top of Group A to earn a tie against one of the runners-up from another section in the next phase of the competition in the spring.

'Crisis period'
"I think the crisis period is coming to an end," Aldair said, with Roma now rising up the Serie A rankings following a worrying run of results at the start of the campaign. "They need to try and finish the year strongly, then all this criticism will disappear. They had a few fitness problems at the start of the season. A few important players were missing and there were also players who arrived at the very end of the transfer window, and that made it difficult for the coach."

Roma icon
Having now settled in, summer signings like Jérémy Menez and Júlio Baptista are now showing their class, but as ever, captain Francesco Totti remains the star of the show. "Everyone knows he is a huge figure at the club," said Aldair. "He has always wanted to stay there, and when a player chooses to do that, of course the fans love him. And Roma need Totti a lot. We've seen this season how much Roma missed him when he was not there. Roma and Totti need each other."

[RomaShield27]

COPPA ITALIA, ROMA-BOLOGNA:I CONVOCATI DI SPALLETTI
www.romanews.eu – pubblicata mercoledì 17 dicembre 2008

La lista dei 20 giocatori convocati da Luciano Spalletti per la gara di questa sera contro il Bologna (Coppa Italia, ore 21)

1 ARTUR
2 BAPTISTA
3 BERTAGNOLI
4 BRIGHI
5 CASSETTI
6 CICINHO
7 DE ROSSI
8 FILIPE
9 GRECO
10 LORIA
11 MENEZ
12 MEXES
13 MONTELLA
14 OKAKA
15 PANUCCI
16 PIPOLO
17 RIISE
18 TOTTI
19 VIRGA
20 VUCINIC

Indisponibili: Aquilani, Taddei, Doni, Tonetto, Pizarro, Juan.
Squalificati: Perrotta.

Predicted line-up:

--------------- Artur--------------

Panucci -- Loria -- Mexes -- Riise

-- Cicinho -- De Rossi -- Brighi --

------- Baptista --- Menez -------

-------------- Vucinic ------------