Fútbolita

Welcome to Futbolita’s “La Liga Lunes!” (say it with a merry little voice). It’s one of our fresh new features for the new season, which means ya’ll better stop the hair waxing or whateverchu been doin’ and get back to the Spanish futbol business. So let’s ring the bell and dance to the new season!

DE TODOS MODOS, Matchday 1 consisted of a lot of mid-air fistpumps (David Maravilla style), Greaseano whining and sheer disappointment on MouMou’s face. Obviously, Barca weren’t feeling the pain of losing Ibracadabra to their friends in Italy and handed Racing a nice 3-0 gift courtesy of Maravilla, Iniesta and the Messiah. Sergio Canales cried all the way from his Madrid apartment, but after leaving Racing for better shores, that was inevitable!

As for Mourinho…. acorda, tio! You can do better than that goaless draw against Mallorca! Where was the mascot (Juande Ramos) when you needed him?

Said MouMou : “I’m disappointed that with the number of chances we created we didn’t score. When you aren’t at your best you have to do two things, defend so your opponents don’t score, and take your chances. We deserved to win.”

All photos via AP & Reuters

So there was no need to scratch our heads to decide this week’s Sunday Señor! After scoring a hat-trick, surely Antonella‘s man, The Messiah, deserves high praise! She must have done something during the holidays to help her novia find his form again for Barca. And no, it can’t be the churrascaria.

Anyway, David Maravilla must also be smiling, because it’s his first major tournament for Los Cules, and he walked away with a shiny new medal! Un buen comienzo de la temporada, for sure.

And here’s a bonus of Pique the Pout doing what he does best (besides enjoying the DJ lifestyle – no kidding)… showering booze! You know that they’ve got loads of champagne bottles stocked up in the dressing room, so he’s not worried that they’ll run out of it anytime soon. If they do, Bojan can always make a quick run for the supermart near his home.

Remember Riquelme? No, not Larissa Riquelme (NSFW) who singlehandedly caused a record number of eye surgeries to be conducted in one month. It’s the Boca man himself, Juan Roman Riquelme!

There’s a lot of talk suggesting that he will return to play for Argentina, especially after the dismissal of your royal Messi lover, The Dona. Sergio Batista, the team’s interim coach wants him back, so basically he’s telling Roman to forget what The Dona said about his cat’s clothing – and other insults – and pull his act together!

“It would be good to have Riquelme and Messi playing together,” Batista said. “We had them together in the Olympics and it went well.”

Meanwhile, here’s Gabriel Heinze doing his best rendition of Larissa Riquelme. What? Is there a handphone hidden in there somewhere too?

Via AP, Juan Roman Riquelme Oficial

So Barca are now in Seoul, South Korea for their preseason tour! But before they left, the Messiah and his namorada Antonella took some time off to hang out with dolphins in Mexico. And in case you were wondering, they weren’t there to watch RBD Live in Concert! Instead, if you’ve been following the couple closely, you’d know that they’ve been travelling quite a lot and soaking in the sun!

If you observe the photo below, the dolphin actually looks proud to be offering its fins to the Messiah. A dance, anyone?

via Hola, AP

So The Messiah has finally reunited with his namorada, Antonella Roccuzzo in Rio de Janeiro (of all places!) Unfortunately, la chica looks mighty peeved here! The photographer must have crept in on them when they were having a heart-to-heart talk. Dude, but they haven’t even ordered!

Anyway, they’re both in Rio to take advantage of a “short holiday” thanks to Deco aka The Man Who Doesn’t Play Football Anymore. His institute is called “Deco20″ and they will be playing some nice charity matches in Sao Paulo, which The Messiah will be a part of. What are Barca mates for, eh?

Speaking of which, Antonella is in university wrapping up her dietician studies, pink watch and all. In other words, she doesn’t really need The Messiah because she’s on the way to becoming “Una Mujer De Poder!” She’s even looking away here.

Fotos : Carlos Wrede / Agência O Dia

“We did not come here on vacations” said Diego Maradona to Ole after the match. (Source)

History repeats itself, just like four years ago Argentina eliminated Mexico from world cup. Controversial? Maybe so, Argentina’s first goal added to England’s disallowed goal could once again open the debate of the use of technology in football to aide in close calls.

The first clear chance of the match was for El Tricolor; Carlos Salcido took Sergio Romero by surprise and smashed the ball into the crossbar from outside the box. A call for attention to the Argentine goalkeeper, who is one of the most solid goalkeepers in the world cup so far alongside Brazil’s Julio Cesar.

Carlos Tevez, “El Jugador del Pueblo”, opened the scoreboard 26 minutes into the first half. This play is what caused controversy and discontent on the Mexican side. The goal was clearly scored in an offside position, however neither the first official nor his assistants were aware of the situation. The soccer city stadium showed the replay of the goal, unmasking the offside position. FIFA rules do not allow goals to be called back through the use of technology, so the official had no other option but to allow the goal.

7 minutes after, in the 33rd minute Gonzalo Higuain “El Pipita” increased the lead thanks to a Mistake in Mexico’s defensive line. Osorio, made one of the most childish mistakes a defender can make in football, that is playing the ball back without looking. Higuain did not hesitate, he won the position and left Perez behind to clinch the second goal of the night.

After the match Osorio said “it is in human nature to make mistakes”.

Argentina finished the first half with a two goal lead, something that can be hard to turn around in a world cup. The side coached by Diego Maradona was inspired. Carlos Tevez sealed the match for Argentina with a beautiful shot that left Perez with no chance. Carlitos earned the MVP of the match.

El Chicharito Hernandez, one of Mexico’s best players, scored the goal for the honor.

Argentina played well, we were benefited from a bad call from the ref, but we were superior within the 90 minutes. Diego was correct to include Otamendi in the starting eleven, the Velez Sarsfield defender alongside Gabriel Heinze were very solid in defense and showed great projection in offense.

Carlos Tevez proved to be determining in attack, and Gonzalo Higuain with fours goals is the top scorer of the world cup. Messi, once again shined and his goal will have to wait. Will Germany be the game Messi makes his debut on the net this world cup?

After the match, the Argentine public celebrated in EL OBELISCO, here are some images I took of the celebration.

Germany is next. This time we go for revenge, Lehman and his cheat sheet are not around this year. Farewell to My Mexican friends, they played a great match and should be proud of their performance.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

There is no room for mistakes; whoever loses this match will return home empty handed. Argentina and Mexico will once again be the protagonists of an electrifying match. Four years ago, in Germany, Argentina defeated Mexico 2-1 in the same instances, that day the hero was Maxi Rodriguez.

Pre-Match Numbers:

ARGENTINA

June 12  ARG 1:0 NGA
June 17  ARG 4:1 KOR
June 22  GRE 0:2 ARG

Goals in favor: 7 – Goals against: 1 – 2.33 goal ratio (per 90 minutes)

1- Gonzalo Higuain-3 Goals
2- Martin Palermo- 1 Goal
3- Gabriel Heinze-1 Goal
Martin Demichelis-1 Goal

Most active player:

Lionel Messi – 20 shots on goal – 217 passes

MEXICO

The numbers are by  far inferior than those achieved by the Argentine side. During the group stages Mexico obtained 4 points from the possible 9 (1 victory, 1 draw and 1 defeat). In comparison to Argentina, Mexico was only able to find the back of the net in 3 occasions. When it comes to goals against, Mexico has only given up one goal, just like Argentina.

Marquez - 1 Goal
Hernandez – 1 Goal
Blanco – 1 Goal

During the Argentine press conference, we could observe a unstressed Diego Maradona. Despite the fact he did not confirm the lineup, he did mention that Otamendi and Burdisso would play from the start. The inclussion of Burdisso was confirmed with the following statement: “Walter (referring to Samuel) is not 100% ready. It would not be fair to his teammates, if he is not fit to capacity, it could hurt the squad”.

The possible lineup will be:  ROMERO; OTAMENDI, BURDISSO, DEMICHELIS, HEINZE; DIMARIA, MASCHERANO, RODRIGUEZ; MESSI, TEVEZ and HIGUAIN.

Diego has chosen to strengthen the defense with the inclusion of Otamendi, the Velez Sarsfield defender will play his second cap in the FIFA world cup. Once again Diego has chosen to include Di Maria in the starting team, despite the critics he has received, many would like to see Pastore take his place, specially after the match against Greece. In attack, Diego has chosen to line the attacking trio of Messi-Tevez-Higuain. Argentina comes to this match with a highly offensive squad, both Di Maria and Rodriguez are known for their constant threat to the box, leaving Mascherano as the only defensive player in the midfield.

Mexico will rely in the experience of Rafael Marquez, who during this week said he had the formula to stop Lionel Messi. He also went on to say that the Argentine defense is slow.

This match sure promises to be one of the best in the world cup. A rematch 4 years in the making. Hopefully the Argentine side will be victorious.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

Argentina defeated South Korea 4-1 and established a new national record of consecutive games without seeing a defeat during world cups. The Argentine national side holds an undefeated record of 8 consecutive games.

The record was started by Marcelo Bielsa in Korea-Japan 2002, when Argentine tied 1-1 with Sweden in the last match of the group stages. Jose Pekerman continued the record in Germany 2006; during the group stages Argentine defeated Coat d’ Ivore and Serbia & Montenegro and tied against Holland. In the Round of 16, Argentina defeated Mexico 2-1 with a fantastic goal by Maxi Rodriguez, who can forget that shot that left a whole Nation breathless. In the quarterfinals Argentina was eliminated after a 1-1 draw against Germany. Diego Maradona is now the coach, and victories over Nigeria and South Korea increased the number to 8.

The previous record, of 7 games, was established during the world cup of 1986, in Mexico; year that Argentina obtained their second world cup. Ironically Maradona was in that team as well, he was only 2 years older than Lionel Messi.

The side coached by Diego Maradona proved to be highly superior in every aspect of the game, that was reflected in the result. For this match, Diego made one substitution in regards to the squad that defeated Nigeria on Saturday. Veron, with a muscle strain was replaced by “La Fiera” Maxi Rodriguez.

Right from the start we could observe that it was not South Korea’s intention to attack Argentina. Head coach Huh Jung-Moo, who is remembered by the Argentina public for the brutal fouls against Maradona during the 1986 world cup, lined up the squad in a defensive formation, crowding the midfield in an attempt to control Lionel Messi, Obviously the attempts were in vane.

South Korea attempted to stop Messi in every possible way, even with rugby-like tackles

16 minuted was enough for Argentina to get ahead on the scoreboard. Once again the goal came through a set piece. Lionel Messi executed a free kick from the left side and Park Chu Young deflected the ball into his own net.

In the 24th minute of the match, Walter Samuel was forced to leave the match with what seemed to be a hamstring problem, We are still waiting to hear the official medical release from AFA. Nicolas Burdisso entered the match in his replacement.

The Albicelestes attacking trio (Messi, Tevez and Higuain) was a constant threat to the South Korean defense.  Argentina increased the lead in the 33rd minute through Gonzalo Higuain. Once again, the goal came through a set piece, Lionel Messi played the ball short to Maxi Rodriguez, who dipped the ball into the box. Nicolas Burdisso flicked the ball into the far post to find the head of Gonzalo Higuain.

The match MVP, Gonzalo Higuain, celebrates his first goal of the match.

As the half was coming to an end, Demichelis took his eyes of the ball and gave Park Chu-Young the chance to put the match 1-2. Park was the same player who minutes earlier had scored a goal into his own net.After the match, Javier Mascherano defended his teammate saying “The noise inside the pitch is incredible, is almost impossible to communicate”. Demichelis attributed the mistake to the so controversial “vuvuzuelas”, and went a step further by saying “The goal was unfair, they did not deserve it”.

Park Chu-Young makes up for his mistake and narrows the lead to one goal.

The second half started with no changes in either squad.  Jonas Gutierrez was yellow carded short after the beginning of the half, and will miss out the next match against Greece.

Maradona once again received a stand up applause from the crowd, when he trapped a ball that escaped the field. The Dona showed he hasn’t lost his skills with the ball.

As the half progressed Maradona saw the need for a change, and replaced Carlos Tevez with Sergio Aguero, and we must agree the substitution paid its dividends. Aguero gave the team some fresh air, and played a very important role in the Argentine offense.

3o minutes into the second half, Lionel Messi did what he does best, dribble opponents using his speed. He entered the box and placed a shot that was deflected by the goalkeeper, the rebound fell short and Messi once again attempted on goal, but this time the post denied him a goal, the rebound fell right to the middle of the goal to give Gonzalo Higuain his second goal of the match.

Messi, Aguero and Higuain celebrating Argentina's fourth goal.

Three minutes later, Argentina created one of the best collective plays in the match. Higuain received the ball near the edge of the box, he played it to Lionel Messi and quickly moved into space. Messi chipped the ball over the defense to find Sergio Aguero, who slightly dipped the ball over the goalkeeper to assist Gonzalo Higuain on his third goal of the match. The Real Madrid Striker was always in the right position, and became the third player in Argentine history to score a hat-trick in a world cup. The two other players to reach such mark were Guillermo Stabile (1930: Argentina 6 – 3 Mexico) and Gabriel Batistuta in two occasions (1994 – Argentina 4 – 0 Greece, 1998 – Argentina 5 – 0 Jamaica).

Argentina played well, was effective and created hopes in the Argentine Public. The atmosphere in Argentina is incredible, schools admitted students to arrive late, government buildings were closed for the day and highways were empty. The hope to bring the cup back increases as the games go by. We have the best player in the history of football in the bench, and his successor wearing the #10.

Argentina will face Greece on Tuesday. The rivals for the round of 16 are yet to be determined, but it could be Uruguay, Mexico or France. The Argentine public would rather not face Mexico in the round of 16, the first choice would be France, followed by our neighbors, Uruguay.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

Sorry Aragoneses (Tenerife goalie in orange), but it ain’t your day today! No matter though, puedes echarle la culpa a la lluvia (you can blame it on the rain) Anyway, the culprit of yesterday’s Barca game was The Messiah yet again because scored a double against Tenerife, which takes his goal tally to 31 this season. There’s nothing left that can be said about this man – except the fact that his girl looks like a carbon copy of our best friend (yes, you can sending your flowery applications in).

Also, we’re not going to steal the thunder from Bobojan and Pedrooooo who netted in the other goals. Buen trabajo!

The World Cup is fast approaching so naturally, half-naked women in jerseys are appearing everywhere at the speed of light to the dismay of our feminist amicis! Seriously though, these Umbro shirts look pretty cool but they forgot to pass Susana Werner (Julio Cesar’s wife in the middle) a pair of gloves. How dare they! Also, Gael Clichy’s fiancee on the far right is totally channeling Tyra Branks. Worrrrk it! (See Diego Forlan’s girl and Abby Clancy ones here)

So here’s tio MouMou, looking incredibly anxious and annoyed at the same time on the eve of the Italian Cup final today. It’d be nice to see the Romans win this one, but of course, Inter also have their eye on the prize. “Three titles would be fantastic, two would be positive and one would be nothing to be ashamed of,” said MouMou.

But don’t underestimate, Roma and Mrs. Doubtfire Ranieri, gentes. There’s always a chance they could do a celebratory jig together at their home ground of Stadio Olimpico tonight. Luca Toni detto!

“Inter has won the league the last four years and I’m very happy that there’s an Italian side in the Champions League final,” Ranieri said. “We’re honored to face a squad like that in the Italian Cup final. We’ve got a lot of respect for them, but we’re going to play our game.”

via Reuters, AP, Umbro

As the title says, we promise not to disappoint anyone today. It’s pretty obvious that the Madridistas are writhing all over the floor from the name “Messiah” being chanted, whispered or screamed incessantly into their ears. You must remember, however, that Messiah is from planet Mercury (Pele was from Pluto, Maradona from Mars, Valdano from Venus and so on..) and every generation has its own set of indomitable players! You guys can still be Messiahdistas... there’s nothing wrong with that!

Our Madrid futbolita predicted the score correctly on Saturday (alas, it went the other way… 2-1 in favour of Los Cules). As for Greaseano, he declared that “We’re still missing seven games and we know that we can still win the Spanish league.” Someone please tell Kaka to wine and dine his Bromance partner AGORA!

Added Rrrrraul Albiolll : “We cannot fail any more. We will try to win every single game and reach the 98 point mark. We will not let go of the title before then.”

Last but not least, good ol’ Iniesta says everyone should chill the merda out! “The team knows what we have to do. We are aware that we have won a big game, but there are seven games remaining and we cannot stop working until the end of the season.”

As for Pedrito….O HAY thur, mi hombre!

via AFP, Reuters

It’s 4-1… and everybody loves The Messiah! Even if he were to walk into my kitchen now and hand my father a bowl of uncooked eggs, papacito would probably go on to poison the whole family. Anyway, although we do feel bad for Samir Nasri and Denilson, they MUST have seen this coming, Nou Camp and all. Meu deus, even Bobojan was in his own league last night! And there’s no need to flash us the PedoGrin, gente he is 20!

Anyway, Barca will go on to meet Inter in the mouthwatering semis (Ah, don’t you love family reunions, Eto’o and Ibracadabra?!!)

As expected, it was certainly an emotionally-charged game (viste Dani Alves!?!!) Of course monsieur Wenger saved the best quotes about “Zee Lyonel” for last. He declared that the player was “from another planet, like a player on Playstation”.

via Gettyimages

As always, benvinguda to our Friday Crackovia club which promises to settle you into the weekend… without the need for boiled potatoes! Anyway, in this episode, Iniesta, Pep and Puyolita all decided to start their own Glee Club by breaking into a song and dance (and putting the journalists into a trance) in the middle of a press conference. Oh trust us, esto es muy normal.

The best part has to be when the subject of this entire parody – The Messiah himself – makes an appearance and starts shooting at the camera while dancing/singing. Laporta also makes an appearance – and so do the rest of the loco crew. Espero que les gueste…!

So Brazil’s U-17 coach, Lucho Nizzo paid a visit to the Arsenal’s Brasileiros yesterday (including Eduardo da Silva, who is now effectively a Croat….but they still love him the same!). He was apparently invited to England by his former U-15 prodigy, Denilson. The official purpose of his trip was to learn more about Arsenal’s working methods. We all know that the REAL reason Uncle Lucho came was for a taste of the infamous Brazilian soup prepared by Gilberto Silva before he left for Greek shores. Admiti-lo!

So the Messiah netted two goals (and we all know he is still the undisputed SuperStar) but everyone, please put your hands together for Bobojan who also scored in Barca’s demolition of Stuttgart last night! Buen trabajo, muchacho. Tiempo de helados!

So your favourite Brazilian Great who is approaching retirement soon aka Ronaldo Lima has gotten himself into another funny mess again. In a flight he boarded that was heading to Bogota last week, he complained that the sandwiches on board were a “misery”. Shortly after that, the flight attendant (accidentally, we’re guessing) passed him some lasagna that was meant for the pilot. “I pay a hundred real for you to leave this lasagna here,” instructed Ronaldo. The flight attendant refused and Ronaldo ended up only with the sandwich!

via Ego/AP

The Messiah struck again in last night’s demolition of Valencia and for the record, David Villa no iniciar el juego. Of course, how can you possibly deny this man (on the pitch, we mean!) Winning 3-0 was largely thanks to his hat-trick but the very charming Senor Valdes also delivered when they needed him most. Buen trabajo, tipos! On a note, Titipo Henry deserves a standing ovation for pulling his shorts like that. Spandex, anyone?!

“During the first half we have been comfortable, but then the circumstances of the side and the merits of our rivals, with Messi captivating the audience, swung the balance in their favour,” said tio Unai Emery.

via Reuters, Gettyimages, El Mundo Deportivo

You know Sepp Blatter is trying to give the Messiah dating tips there – but tipo ain’t taking it! Abuelo, you failed at the World Cup Draw and no one wants to go and watch Miss Universe tapes with you OK?! Anyway, we don’t have to tell you who the FIFA Player of the Year is because if you don’t know, go and stand by the window “immediatamente!” (we say that with Roberto Mancini’s voice).

In other news, Iniesta needs to hire a stylist as soon as possible. Last year’s fashion theme at the FIFA Gala was “Barbecued Dads” and this year is The Harley Davidson Crew goes Trick & Treating. Everyone looks pretty fierceeeee but Andres could’ve worn something other than my university jacket.

Meanwhile, someone needs to make Kaka the UN Ambassador of Peace. Everything that he says is peppered with sugar and spice and everything nice. For example : “Marta is amazing. Congratulations to her. It is the fourth year in a row. I hope she can be here for more and more years as well.” Not to forget : “Everybody talks about the Barcelona players who have won six titles, but Daniel (Alves) was the only man to win seven, because he won the Confederations Cup as well.” Kkkkkk, even Papá Noel himself is giving him evils now…

Greaseano’s like : “Imma stand right ‘ere and be cool.” Anyway, don’t forget to check out the video below where everyone is on stage enjoying the music (not really, FIFA forgot to commission dance classes for futbolistas). The Princess of Jordan is muito lindaaaa!

via AP, Reuters

• Oh Messiah… there’s no need to play pretend here! Tipo’s throwing the “Ooh, I didn’t know my name would be in here. How Marvelous!” look for the cameras. Kkkk, maybe that’s just our imagination. The Barca man has won the European Footballer Award and everyone knows that he’ll go on to win the FIFA Wold Player of the Year award. If he doesn’t, then Sepp Blatter must stop playing Farmville on Facebook and do something immediately!”Honestly, I knew I was among the favorites, because Barca enjoyed a successful 2009, we won everything. But I did not think that the margin would be so great (he won 433 votes as opposed to Greaseano’s 233),” the Argentinean said. “The Golden Ball is very important to me. All those who won were great players. And some were never able to win big things.”

• In Milan, Sandro Nesta and Massimo Oddo hit the streets for some much needed Man-to-Man time last week. Yes, amicis went to the barber for a wash and cut and went shopping after that. Oddo looks pissed that the Italian paparazzi caught them on their special day out. But they make quite a pair, doncha agree? Dolce and Gabbana think so too…
• So we kinda forgot about Kun Aguero Papa, but he is apparently willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the club when transfer window opens again in January. “I’ve always told the club that from now until June I’ll stay here. Then we will see what they do. If in June the club still need money there are ways to help. This (Madrid) is my home but if the club have to sell me I must go. I know nothing. Now I need to concentrate on getting us into Europe,” he declared. The folks at Chelski are impressed and apparently want him. He’d better not go there!

• Bono and Drogba the Diver were at a Nike/Global Fund to fight Aids event in London yesterday and the campaign looks pretty cool. The tagline is “Lace Up. Save Lives” which encourages the sale of shoe laces (specially designed Red ones, in this case) to help fund treatment for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Drogba looks bored, but that’s his Default look anyway.
  

via France Football, Gossip IT, Globo

What is Spain’s key to beating Argentina tonight? If you believe Uncle Del Bosque, it’s being tranquilo (“even when you’re on a plane that’s about to crash…” a Brazilian reporter once told us).

“We must always be thinking about maintaining our enthusiasm, because there is no comfort zone. We must have more excitement, more effort, more desire to win every game. A World Cup is coming which is exciting for everyone but we can’t go thinking we are unbeatable,” he said. Nando Blondie is out of today’s game so David Villa is expected to start in place of him as a sole striker.

Also, The Dona has hailed Messiah - despite not being given 100% access to his hotel room… still. “He must be the owner of the team. He knows it. We have the best player in the world in our team,” your favourite coach declared. “We will give him lots of responsibility. He is doing the work that I have asked of him. I am very happy with Messi.”

Awww, we hope Kun is not writhing with envy now. Siéntate, papá!

via AP & Gettyimages

• We know of many mujeres who’d like to be seated in that car with Gangsta Gattuso! He’s the Sexiest man in Italy, don’t ever forget that. Anyway, the entire Milan squad (yes, including Dida – how dare you accuse tio of being ineffective!) received keys to a set of new wheels yesterday. Looks like Milan, Uncle Fester and commercialism are all going a loooong way!  Agradeço a Deus, Pato doesn’t have to take a rollercoaster to Milano anymore and if our memory serves us right, they’ve all received 2 cars and are on course to receive the third one next year.



• On the other hand, the Madrid boys look annoyed at being dragged to the Audi ‘Snowdriving Experience’ roadshow (apart from Kaka, who is always happy). Also, Karim Benzema looks more like a Children’s Entertainer than a top-tier striker these days. What’s with the cap?
• Our French friends at Hourrafoot met The Messiah at an Adidas closed-door event yesterday. Ooooh, très bon! The Barca man looks like our P.E teacher the photos, but someone should’ve yelled “Ei Leo, donde esta Maradona, seu amigo mejorrrr!?!?!”
• Awww… even the referee couldn’t tell Fabio and Rafael apart so he booked the wrong twin! Get used to it, our irmãos here are not to be messed with.
• RobinHood Amauri scored twice yesterday as Juventus thrashed Sampdoria 5-1. Sometimes, the big teams need to learn to relax against the smaller ones. But besides Amauri, Giorgio Chiellini, Mauro Camoranesi and David Trezeguet all wanted their names on the scoresheet, which is good of course. “Everything worked to perfection,” coach Ciro Ferrara said. “We were coming off a few negative results but we’re bouncing back. This is Juventus’ real spirit.” Meanwhile, Milan drew 2-2 against Napoli.