Weekend Wrap-up: Call-ups, Coppa, and Trofeo Berlusconi

As each week passes Serie A gets closer and closer. This was basically the final week of the preseason, as this week there are National Team games on Wednesday and then the SuperCoppa on Sunday, and teams start there normal preparation for the start of Serie A, which will kick-off with Udinese-Palermo and Sampdoria-Inter on Saturday, August 30th. So let’s review the eventful weekend:

The Second Coming of Marcello

Yes, he’s back. Marcello Lippi made his first call-ups for his first game back in charge of the Azzurri after 2 years of watching puzzled Donadoni on the sidelines. I feel like it’s almost as if the whole Donadoni era is being forgotten as a whole, like those two years never happened, Euro 2008 never happened, and we’re just continuing where we left off in July of 2006. Lippi made his debut on the Azzurri bench on August 18th of 2004, when Italy played Iceland in an August friendly and lost 2-0. There were lots of experimental call-ups as well. However this time around Lippi said he would call players that are in form, and there really are no surprises, also considering that the interesting youngsters just got back from the Olympics. Here are the call-ups:

Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia, Gianluigi Buffon.

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli, Daniele Bonera, Marco Cassetti, Giorgio Chiellini (out injured, replaced by Nicola Legrottaglie), Andrea Dossena, Fabio Grosso, Gianluca Zambrotta.

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani, Mauro Camoranesi, Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso, Angelo Palombo, Simone Perrotta, Andrea Pirlo.

Strikers: Alessandro Del Piero, Antonio Di Natale, Alberto Gilardino, Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Well, there literally are no surprises. After all the rumored surprise call-ups, Lippi went with players that he knows and trusts. In defense, there are the usual faces of Andrea Barzagli, Fabio Grosso, and Gianluca Zambrotta. Andrea Dossena makes a return to the Azzurri after having an excellent season, and Marco Cassetti is a bit of a surprise, considering he is merely a squad player at Roma. Daniele Bonera has always been a Lippi favorite, however Bonera still has not played to the potential he showed at Parma and Brescia (he got turned inside out by Juve Primavera striker Christian Pasquato yesterday). Giorgio Chiellini was all set to be a main player, but he was injured in yesterday’s Trofeo Berlusconi and faces a long lay-off. Nicola Legrottaglie returns to the Azzurri set-up after a long absence.

In midfield, there are the familiar faces of De Rossi, Camoranesi, Pirlo, Gattuso, and Perrotta. Added to the Campioni del Mondo are Alberto Aquilani, and Sampdoria central midfielder Angelo Palombo, who was one of the best midfielders in Italy last season. Massimo Ambrosini, after being a Donadoni favorite for 2 years, has been dropped.

Up front we have three Campioni del Mondo: Del Piero, Iaquinta, and Gilardino, all Lippi favorites, with the added addition of Antonio Di Natale, who was never called up by Lippi in the past but impressed him enough over the last two years to carry over from the Donadoni regime. Cassano isn’t there, but it’s most probably because he is still trying to get match fit. Donadoni favorite Fabio Quagliarella has faced the chop.

The Azzurri start training today, and the match is Wednesday at 2:30 PM EST. I’m pretty sure RAI International will be showing it. Here is Lippi’s first interview.

Coppa Italia

The second round of the newly-formatted Coppa Italia was Sunday afternoon, with Serie B teams entering the mix vs Lega Pro sides. Here are the results, (winners in bold):

A Mantova 1-0 Gallipoli
B Rimini 3-3 (5-7 pk) Ravenna
C Vicenza 3-0 Monza
D Ascoli 3-1 Perugia
E Bari 2-0 Bassano Virtus
F AlbinoLeffe 2-2 (8-7 pk) Pescara
G Pisa 1-2 Cittadella
H Empoli 2-0 Ancona
I Grosseto 4-2 Cavese
J Triestina 2-1 Sorrento
K Treviso 2-2 (8-9 pk) Benevento
L Pro Sesto 0-1 Modena
M Brescia 2-1 Foligno
N Frosinone 0-2 Crotone
O Livorno 3-0 Novara
P Salernitana 3-1 Cesena
Q Barletta 1-3 Sassuolo
R Avellino 20/8 ore 20.30 Reggiana
S Parma 3-2 (extra time) Portosummaga
T Piacenza 0-1 Padova

Lega Pro sides Padova, Crotone, Ravenna, and Benevento all caused upsets. Avellino-Reggiana will be played Wednesday. Here are the fixtures for the third round (when Serie A sides enter the mix) scheduled for Saturday:

Genoa-Mantova
Palermo-Ravenna
Bologna-Vicenza
Ascoli-Bari
Siena-Albinoleffe
Cittadella-Empoli
Reggina-Grosseto
Cagliari-Triestina
Lazio-Benevento
Atalanta-Modena
Torino-Brescia
Crotone-Livorno
Lecce-Salernitana
Sassuolo-(winner of Avellino-Reggiana)
Catania-Parma
Chievo-Padova

Will there be upsets this time around? We’ll have to see.

Trofeo Berlusconi

Milan and Juventus met in the annual Trofeo Berlusconi, played at the San Siro. Milan finally won in this preseason, defeating Juventus soundly 4-1. Giorgio Chiellini had to go off injured (what is it with this game and Juve players getting injured? Remember Buffon dislocating his shoulder?). The goals for Milan came from Jankulovski (beautiful goal), two from Ambrosini, and SuperPippo Inzaghi. The Juve goal came from 19 year old Christian Pasquato (remember his name), and it was a nice one.

Milan 4-1 Juventus
Scorers: Jankulovski 21 (M), Ambrosini 25, 79 (M), Inzaghi 52 (M), Pasquato 70 (J)
Milan: Abbiati (Dida 46); Zambrotta (Oddo 64), Bonera (Darmian 85), Favalli, Jankulovski (Antonini 81); Gattuso (Brocchi 64), Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini (Cardacio 84); Seedorf (Viudez 75); Paloschi (Inzaghi 46)
Juventus: Chimenti (Manninger 46); Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini (Legrottaglie 35), Molinaro; Tiago (Esposito 62), Sissoko (Rossi 62), Poulsen, Nedved (Ekdal 46); Amauri, Del Piero (Pasquato 62)

Highlights:

And just some other news:

-Roma president Franco Sensi passed away at the age of 82 yesterday. Sensi did a great job at the helm of Roma, turning them from a mid-table team to Scudetto winners. He was ill for some time, and that is why over the pas few years we never really saw him and his daughter Rossella was in charge of Roma’s operation.

-Want to know which players are excess to requirements in Serie A? Well it’s your lucky day because La Gazzetta dello Sport has mapped it out for us. Here is the list of players that basically need to find a club before the transfer window ends or they will sit on the nice hard bench for the remainder of the season:

Atalanta: Costinha, D´Agostino, Defendi
Bologna: Adailton, Carrus, Confalone, Paonessa
Cagliari: Bizera, Cotza
Catania: Antenucci, Polito, Edusei, Colucci, Plasmati, Sottil, Terlizzi, Millesi
Chievo: Bogdani, Gasparetto
Fiorentina: Papa Waigo
Genoa: Botta
Inter: Stankovic, Suazo
Juventus: Tiago
Lazio: Baronio, Mutarelli, G.Stendardo,Belleri, S.Inzaghi
Lecce: Agnelli, Cottafava, Vascak
Milan -
Napoli: Domizzi, Savini
Palermo: Bresciano, Ciaramitaro, Di Matteo
Reggina: Aronica, Ceravolo, Cosenza, Joelson, Missiroli, Montiel, Puggioni, Tognozzi
Roma: Alvarez, Andreolli
Sampdoria -
Siena: Albanese, Bartolucci
Torino: Abbruscato, Barone, Di Michele, Vailatti
Udinese: Siqueira, Boudianski

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