Passioni. Il mondo di Andrea Meccia

One of the worst Sundays in Italian football history. A farce match took place in Salernitana-Nocerina (Lega Pro). In Serie A, Juve are again the undisputed Old Lady. Pirlo, Conti and Rossi: made in Italy is timeless. Arechi Stadium of Salerno. The local derby Salernitana-Nocerina (11th match-day of  Lega Pro, Group B, Italian Third Division), is one of the most burning rivalry in Italian football and a high-tension match . 'No entry' for Nocerina supporters for reasons related to public order. The same fans -  irritated by the disposition of the local Prefecture - threatened to death their own footballers that didn't want to take the pitch . At the end, after the reassurances of a Police commissioner, the match started with a 40 minutes delay and lasted only 20. A game fraction in which the away team made three substitutions and 'suffered five injuries' , making the referee suspend the game. We are talking about a farce , one of worst Sundays in ...

Totti: "We have got balls!". Conte: "They are obscuring us". Perin looks like a young Buffon. Klose leaves his mark on Lazio's victory. Bologna and Livorno remember Morosini Roma are still the beautiful (and lucky) queen that are killing Serie A. Without Totti and Gervinho, the  Giallorossi win again. They did it suffering against a good Udinese that got back to lose at home after 22 matches. Luis Muriel , Colombian forward, was overwhelming but the  Giallorossi did nit concede any goal. They played in ten men for the entire second half  (red card for Maicon) and achieved the expected result with Michael Bradley, USA midfielder. Supporters crowded Fiumicino Airport. A sanguine Totti wrote on his website: "We have got balls!". Antonio Conte, Juventus coach, declared: " Giallorossi are obscuring Juve and Napoli too ". The  Partenopei and the  Bianconeri kept on doing their duty beating Torino and Genoa with the same r...

Pablo Alabarces, Argentinian academy teacher (University of Buenos Aires) specialized in Popular and Mass Culture. He wrote, among others, Football and Patria (2008) Chronicles of aguante and Football, violence and politics (2012). Do you think Italian soccer has lost its charm after the glory days of Maradona, Platini and Zico in the 80s? What is the European league that you deem more interesting nowadays? I think so. Italian soccer has lost its charm and attractiveness. For example, the best footballers play in other leagues and its teams aren't great anymore. It gains global attention more for cases like violence or corruption, than for great victories and triumphs (like Maradona's Naples, for example). The Spanish Liga , on the other hand, stands out for other reasons: an unforgettable team like Messi's Barcelona or the multimillionaire Real Madrid that have money to burn: but they don't have much to offer. Personally, I prefer and I give atte...

Tévez derides Batistuta, Rossi scores a hat-trick and Conte breaks down. Hellas wins again. Toro-Inter, exciting draw but Mazzarri is furious The best news of the day for Italian football comes from Rioveggio, suburb around Bologna, where football players of local team - that plays in the lowest level of "amateur" soccer - took the field with black painted faces to say : " No Racism ". But the script of 8th Serie A match-day starts chronologically with a team ( AS Roma ) acting its symphony N. 8 in a militarized city ( the Italian capital ), goes on with the return of a great player at San Siro stadium ( Kakà ), quicken with two football player (Tévez and Pogba) who confronts the legend of a king ( Batistuta ) , a coach in tears ( Conte ), and  runs out with another one mad who keeps silent ( Mazzarri ). Napoli and Juventus, losing the first march of the season , seem to resign themselves to excessive power of Roma. On Friday night match , Benit...

Rudi Garcia:"Napoli are favourite". Benitez: "We can win". Totti vs Insigne, challenge within a challenge. The Olimpico stadium is militarized. Maradona is in Italy. Will el Pibe de Oro go to the stadium?  Someone calls it " The Derby of the Sun ", others " South Derby ". This year let's call it " Derby of the discord " or " Derby of the public order ". The attention of all Italian supporters is eventually concentrated on this match that smells of Scudetto, but in the previous days Roma-Napoli was, first of all, a problem of security measures . Today, in Rome, USB trade union will march in the center of the city. But the match will take place unusually on Friday, because tomorrow, NO TAV movement - a group that opposes the high-speed railway network planned to be implemented in the Susa Valley (on Italy-France border) - will demonstrate in the city. Was it impossible to guarantee the right to protest an...

  Exclusive interview with the author of "A History of Italian Football", columnist of The Guardian and professor of Italian History at University of London Professor Foot, how did  you get to love and study Italian soccer? I moved to Milan in 1987 to work on my PhD (world war one in Milan) and I started watching Serie A and going to San Siro. Those were the years of the great Milan team. It was extremely exciting. Parochialism is something that is deeply ingrained in Italian culture, and fans sing chants against Naples, Milan, or Rome every Sunday: what do you think about this year's decision to disqualify the groups of fans that sing chants that are defined by the sporting judge as “territorial discrimination?” I don’t think this is particularly helpful, as these chants have been going on for years and nobody has done anything about them. The important battle is the one against racism. The ultra, however, tend to get what they want. If they win thi...

The Italian Stallion scored 37 goals in 38 matches with Feyenoord. Ronald dotes on him, but Barcelona is looking for a classic forward It is said a football player reaches full maturity around 28 years old . Until that moment, he can show his talent, his aptitudes and at the same time he can't keep up with his potentiality. Many elements can influence in his career. An injury, poor confidence from own coaches, strategies that don't enhance own characteristics, no affinity with supporters, no incentive to personal improvement. Goodness knows what happened to Graziano Pellè, Italian striker who plays for Feyenoord. He was born 28 years ago in San Cesario di Lecce, a small town in the "heel" of the Italian "boot". That is a land of sun, sea and wind. Nothing to do with the maritime climate of South Holland. But the breeze of North Sea welcomed him in the best possible way. And now Graziano Pellè is "the hero of Rotterdam". In hi...