Bologna shocked anyone and everyone by defeating AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro to open the season. Since that game they’ve dropped three straight Serie A contests without scoring a goal. Led by Daniele Arrigoni, the Rossoblu finished 2nd in Serie B last season to earn automatic promotion to Serie A. The club has a rich history, having won seven Serie A championships, and will be looking to solidify their status as a regular Serie A team. In short, they are much bigger than most newly promoted teams.

Bologna’s depth will get a major test this game as they are missing two defenders. Captain Marcello Castellini is injured, and Miguel Britos is suspended following his expulsion in the 3-0 midweek loss to Udinese. Vangelis Moras will likely return from injury to compensate. Midfielder Francesco Valiani is also out injured.

The Rossoblu are led by the attacking duo of former Azzurri player Marco Di Vaio (Euro 2004) and Adailton. The Brazilian won the Golden Shoe at the Under 20 World Cup in 1997, largely due to a 6 goal game against North Korea. Both these strikers are capable of causing problems, and Bologna’s three game goal drought may be explained by poor service from defence and midfield.

Other notable names include former Roma goalie Francesco Antonioli, and former Samp midfielder Sergio Volpi. Both these players have lots of Serie A experience.

Probable lineup: Antonioli – Zenoni, Terzi, Moras, Bombardini – Volpi, Mudingayi, Marchini, Amoroso – Di Vaio, Adailton.

It’s difficult to know whether Reja will rest anyone for Thursday’s game against Benfica. Our back four for Sunday will be Navarro – Santacroce, Cannavaro, Contini. Denis and Zalayeta will start upfront, but midfield is anyone’s guess. Pazienza and Mannini might give our starters a rest. If we get an early lead look for some of our attacking talent to leave early.

Games like these are slippery because they fall in between two bigger and more emotionally charged matches. Napoli should be able to come in to the Dall’Ara, let its superior talent prevail, and not get caught in a physical battle. However, Bologna is not in Europe and has nothing to lose by trying to wear down Napoli and grind out a result. Look for Napoli to attack aggressively from the start to kill the game off as early as possible.

Click here for a goal.com interview with Manuele Blasi:

One more thing needs to be addressed. Does anyone know who take Napoli’s penalites? Domizzi and Calaio are both gone. I remember Zalayeta took one and missed last year, while Hamsik also missed in the preseason. Hamsik seems like the obvious choice, but I’ve never seen any news about it.

I’ll be taking over blogging duties from Joe, whose busy schedule is forcing him to give up the blog. Ever since I discovered this blog over a year ago Joe has kept me both informed and entertained about everything to do with SSC Napoli. Joe’s research and sense of humour will be greatly missed, and I’m hoping that Napoli fans won’t hold me up to the lofty standards that Joe set. I’ll tell you a little more about myself in future blogs, but for now our southern friends are paying us a visit Wednesday night.

This is a BIG game for Napoli, not just because we compete with Palermo for the “best team south of Rome” title, but also because they’re a quality side who should have done better than an 11th place finish last year. Their strength starts in goal, with Italy’s no. 2 Marco Amelia between the sticks. As good as Fontanta played last year, they somehow managed to improve in goal. I’m also impressed with their coach. Davide Ballardini performed a miracle guiding Cagliari to safety last year, something most of Serie A’s top coaches probably couldn’t have done. On the field the engine of the team is Brazilian Fabio Simplicio, who is in top form right now.

Palermo’s record this season is 2-0-1 (6 pts), which places them just above Napoli who are 1-2-0 (5). However, their one loss came the first week of the season when Colantuono was coach. Since the arrival of Ballardini the team has beaten Roma 3-1 and Genoa 2-1, and have been very impressive in both those games.

Napoli will be playing their 4th game in 11 days, and will be without the injured Lavezzi and the suspended Santacroce. Zalayeta returns to the starting lineup to replace Lavezzi, and Rinaudo will play at right fullback to cover for Santacroce. Incidentally, Santacroce was expelled from a team dinner for tripping up one of the waiters. He was then ejected from the bus for hacking down the coach driver. Seriously, if Santacroce learns how to tackle consistently he will start to dominate games.

Napoli projected lineup: Iezzo, Rinaudo, Cannavaro, Aronica/Contini, Vitale, Hamsik, Blasi, Gargano, Maggio, Zalayeta, Denis. Either Aronica or Contini could start at left fullback, and if Maggio hasn’t healed from a muscle twinge then look for Montervino to get a place in midfield.

Palermo projected lineup: check the Palermo blog
http://palermo.theoffside.com/team-news/preview-derby-delle-due-sicilie.html
as they are better aware of the Palermo lineup than I am.

Key Questions:

Napoli – Can the offence thrive without Lavezzi?

Palermo – Is Palermo as good on the road as they are at home?

Last year this fixture ended 1-0 for Napoli as Marek Hamsik took advantage of Barzagli’s slack defending to head a 90th minute winner. Both teams have improved since that game, and this should be a close and entertaining match. I will be back on Thursday with a report, although if I’m not able to pick up a live stream it won’t be very detailed.

One last hurrah before the complaining about going to church begins on Saturday afternoon and lasts through the Eucharist (if we’re lucky). Once more into the breach my Napoletano brethren!

Napoli head north to the eternal city to take on Lazio in the final step on the roller coaster that is our triumphant return to Serie A. The biancoceleste were not able to follow through on their amazing campaign from last season. They were almost eliminated from the Champions League during the pre-season qualification stage and then had the misfortune of ending up in a group with Werder Bremen, Olympiakos and Real Madrid. Guh. Although they were able to get some decent results in the CL they wound up dead last in the group and their European aspirations were over by Thanksgiving.

Now Lazio are just a hot mess. Coach Delio Rossi, at the helm of the good-ship lollipop that is S.S. Lazio for three years, looks like he may have finally had enough. Rossi’s been linked a few Italian sides including Napoli because of issues with Lazio grand poobah Claudio Lotito. Although he’s recently backed off on those sentiments, things are tense. The Lazio tifosi, whose shenanigans could make the San Paolo faithful blush, are threatening to boycott Sunday’s match to protest Lotito’s actions, inaction, policies… oh give’s a rat’s ass why their protesting. They’re Italian. They’re Roman. They don’t even need a reason.

Napoli’s hopes of sneaking into next year’s UEFA Cup went by the wayside this week. Udinese received the required licenses (read: kiss the ring of Sepp Blatter and Michele Platini) to host UEFA Cup matches. Which means what exactly? Seems security was ever so tight on UEFA’s second most important Cup competition final. If the authorities in Manchester, England and UEFA allow over 100,000 fans to descend into a city why even bother with trivialties such as licenses and rules anyway? Remember when Scottish fans were getting
all sorts of love in the press as being an upstanding, passionate but civilized country of football fans? Hard to justify that comment when you hear them referred to as a “pack of baying wolves,” isn’t it? I was always a Celtic guy anyway. But I digress.

Napoli can still get into next year’s UEFA Cup via the Intertoto if they can maintain their 8th place standing. A draw against Lazio will secure the position and after much back and forth from President Aurelio De Laurentis, word came out this week that Napoli will pursue the Intertoto if they can qualify.

From Serie C1 to UEFA Cup in a little over 24 months? I watched it all happen and still don’t really believe it happened.  I can promise you one thing, our tifosi won’t be getting virtual bouquets of flowers thrown at them for their behavior should we make it to Europe next year. Fair or unfair our reputation preceeds us.

Half of Lazio’s side is either injured, disqualified or… they just plain suck. Of course this means it’ll be a 1-1 scoreline going into the 90th minute. Lazio haven’t played particularly well in Rome going 8-4-6 with only a +4 goal differential. Contrast that craptastic record with Napoli’s utter despicable 3-4-11 and -14 goal differential, the makings of pretty dire match are in the works. Woof.

Lazio will be without Mourad Meghni, Sebastiano Siviglia, Cribari, Gaby Mudingayi, Goran Pandev and Lorenzo De Silvestri. Wow, so they’ll have what Stefano Mauri, Tommaso Rocchi, Rolando Bianchi, and old man Marco Ballota in nets and who else? Looks like there might be a spot for my buddy Mauro who’s a lifelong Laziale from the old country. On the Azzurri side, we’ll be without the wonderkid Marek Hamsik who’s had quite an inagural season in Serie A this year. The success of Napoli’s renaissance will be determined by our young starlets Ezequiel Lavezzi, Walter Gargano, Nicolas Navarro, Fabiano Santacroce and, of course, the aforementioned Hamsik. The 20-year old Slovakian may actually wind up being the best of the bunch as he hasn’t even begun to scratch his potential or run out of skin to get more tattoos.

So savor this last match, Napoli fans. We have an opponent that is weakend, demoralized and playing in front of their own hostile fan base. European football is at stake for next year. I don’t know about you but after playing the likes of
Cesena, Ancona and Arezzo, I’m not too proud to host the 4th place side from Greece or a 3d place team from Romania in the Intertoto. Talk to me in three
years if we’re still trying to claw into UEFA via a ‘fair-play’ invitiation or via the Intertoto. For now, I’ll take it.

Probables: (N): Navarro; Santacroce, Cannavaro, Domizzi; Mannini, Bogliacino, Gargano, Blasi, Savini; Calaio, Lavezzi
(L): Ballotta; Zauri, Rozenhal, Radu, Kolarov; Behrami, Ledesma, Mutarelli; Mauri; Bianchi, Rocchi
Injured/Suspended: (N): Zalayeta, Rullo / Hamsik (L): Everyone and their brother

FORZA NAPOLI!

Despite his relatively young age (48), Beretta has coached professional sides in Italy for 14 years, never staying in one spot for too long. Beretta’s luck changed in the ritorno as Siena’s fortues really changed on February 3 when they battered Roma 3-0. Their record in the ritorno is a respectable 5-6-4 record while outscoring their opponents by a 13-10 margin. The good form has pulled Siena safely into the comfort zone and they currently sit 13th in no danger of dropping into Serie B obscurity.

The problem Siena have isn’t unique or particularly difficult to spot. Just like Napoli, and most other mid-to-low table sides, their performances away from the Stadio Artemio Franchi – Montepaschi Arena (not to be confused with Fiorentina’s Stadio Franchi) have been uneven and they’ve lacked a scoring punch netting only 14 of 35 goals away from their home ground.

Siena are undoubtedly led by striker Massimo Maccarone. The 28-year old striker’s career has been memorable for a few different reasons. Maccarone started out in Milan’s youth system and went to Serie C side Prato where he banged in 24 goals in two years and subsequently led Empoli to the dizzying heights of Serie A. At the same time he starred with the Azzurrini where his side reached the UEFA U-21 semi-finals. He was also chosen to play for the Azzurri by Marcelo Lippi thus becoming the first player to play for the Nazionale from Serie B. His form netted Empoli a fantastic €12.7m transfer deal where he was scooped up by Steve McClaren’s Middlesbrough side. Despite some uneven times in Northern England, Maccarone came off the bench to score two late goals against Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup semi-final before they were trounced by Valencia in the finals. Maccorone has started all 31 of Siena’s matches this campaign and his 10 goals far and away lead the side. But he hasn’t scored since he netted a brace on March 22 against Parma.

Siena’s backline may be feeling some heat on Sunday as two of their normal starters are out.  22-year old defender Luca Rossettini is disqualified (23 appearances, 19 starts) and Valerio Bertotto (16 starts) is out injured. Siena will likely play Daniele Ficagna makes 3rd career Serie A start at RB.

Emmanuele Blasi and Walter Gargano are both suspended for the match for the Azzurri. Their absence, along with injuries to Mirko Savini and Erminio Rullo mean LB Maurizio Domizzi will push out wide on the left in Coach Reja’s 3-5-2. The presence of Michele Pazienza in the center of midfield won’t be providing much comfort and Siena’s trident attack of Locatelli, Frick and Maccarone may be able to exploit some space. Pazienza hasn’t impressed but  Reja is still unwilling to provide Samuele Dalla Bona any time on the pitch so that match-up can definitely cause Napoli some headaches.

Keeper Genarro Iezzo may be making his last appearance at the San Paolo. Reja has blown smoke about giving the last three matches to Argentine keeper Nicolas Navarro. Iezzo’s fate for next year is certainly extremely tenuous. Either he or Matteo Gianello will move on this summer and it’s a 50/50 proposition as to which one will leave. I think Iezzo will leave but that’s simply a gut feeling and based primarily upon how long it took Reja to get him back into the starting XI after he’d been cleared from his injury.

We’re down to the last few matches and there’s a slim chance of a EUFA spot on the line. I don’t think Reja has the attacking mindset to pick up the wins to get it done but we’ll see.

FORZA NAPOLI!

Meanwhile, Napoli is content to play out the string and continue giving playing time to has-beens, never-were’s and others who clearly won’t or shouldn’t be on this team next year. Napoli’s strength lie in their core of young players and despite President Aurelio De Laurentis’ claim that once salvation was assured Napoli would begin playing their promising Primavera players, coach Edy Reja hasn’t gotten the memo. As a result, many Napoli tifosi are simply waiting for the final match against Lazio on May 18 so we can truly start to look ahead.

Napoli’s 10 road points are tied for 4th worst in Serie A and their -13 goal difference away from the San Paolo speak to the Azzurri’s ineffectiveness. Recent history does nothing to cheer up Napoli fans as we’ve lost the last six league matches at the Stadio Tardini. However, we’re
coming off a nice victory against Atalanta, a peer of sorts for Napoli, and Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik are regaining the form they seemed to have lost for awhile.

The backline of Fabiano Santacroce, Paolo Cannavaro and Maurizio Domizzi have been inconsistent, each player taking his turn at getting schooled, but I get the sense they are learning what it takes. And while I’m not hoping we maintain this same backline next year, the hope is more time together will improve communication and minimize some howlers. I’m
looking at you Canna and Domizzi! Santacroce has been a revelation since coming over from Brescia in January. If he can get some real coaching next year, I think he’s our best candidate to start featuring for the Nazionale. They’ll have to battle Cristiano Lucarelli and Croatian Igor Budan on Sunday as Bernardo Corradi is suffering from a knee injury he picked up against Juventus. Lucarelli hasn’t provided the firepower up top Parma were expecting but he’s still very much a dangerous center-forward who can hold up the ball and provide a physical
presence in the opponents 18-yard box.

Meanwhile, Parma’s defense has been atrocious allowing a league-high 53 goals. The majority of the lapses, however, have occurred on the road and Parma boast a +4 goal differential at home. Veteran keeper Luca Bucci isn’t having the season he had last year and may be coming
down the end of the line. Bucci just turned 39 in March and he’s not aging as well as say Palermo’s Jimmy Fontana. Momentary pause to hail Jimmy.

Thank you very much.

Parma’s true strength lies in their midfield. With 20-year old Daniele Dessena and 21-year old Azzurrini starlet Luca Cigarini, Parma are capable of pulling some magic and taking over the center of the park. The efforts of Manuele Blasi (who isn’t suspended!!!) and Walter Gargano will be a huge factor in keeping Parma’s young guns in check.

Genarro Iezzo is likely to start in goal as he looks to stake his claim as next year’s backup keeper (assuming Nicolas Navarro is the real deal). You figure Navarro’s 4.5 million euro transfer fee guarantee him a spot on the side next year and I trust Pier Paolo Marino’s eye for talent.

No offense to Parma. I’ve always liked their jerseys and you really can’t beat the prosciutto. I’m hoping for a convincing victory for the sole purpose of making our road record a tad less embarrassing.

FORZA NAPOLI!

Colantuano, who left Atalanta last year for greener pastures (?), has already put his stamp on the team. He’s abandoned the 3-5-2 in favor of a  4-2-3-1. Because really who would ever think to play three in the back without really good solid wingers who can both contribute to the attack and are excellent at tracking back?…oh, wait. I know the answer to that question. Colantuano has also put Roberto Guana, the rosanero answer to Gianluca Grava, back where he belongs: on the bench fetching water and telling jokes to keep everyone loose.

To be sure Palermo is a talented squad capable of scoring goals in bunches and the ageless Alberto Fontana is certainly capable of saving a game all by himself. In fact, he’s done that on multiple occasions in his Palermo career. With players like Amauri, Mark Bresciano, Fabio Caserta, Bosko Jankovic, Fabrizio Miccoli, Edison Cavani and Fabio Simplicio (when he’s on) Palermo can pour in goals with the best of Serie A. Somehow, they simply have difficulty establishing any consistency throughout the side. Couldn’t have anything to do with the merry-go-round of coaches and Zampareni telling the squad and the coach they suck, could it? What promised to be a hopeful campaign has turned into mid-table mediocrity. Hey, I’m not knocking it. It’s where we’re at as a club. The difference is I believe Palermo have much more talent and should, by all rights, be battling with Sampdoria and Udinese for a UEFA Cup spot. Not that they’d take the UEFA Cup seriously as they’ve eliminated themselves from the competition the past two years with the crap lineup they’ve thrown out.

As normal for this time of year, Napoli have their share of injuries and suspensions. 1st team keeper Genarro Iezzo and defender Andrea Cupi returned to training this week but won’t feature Sunday night as they work to get back into game shape. Additionally Walter Gargano and Daniele Mannini are out suspended. Mannini will be done serving his inane 15 day suspension for being late for a drug test after the Palermo match. Not that he failed it. He was late for the test. Nice. (Someone correct me if my understanding of the Mannini suspension is wrong.)

The key matchup of the game for the partenopei will be holding off Amauri. The Brazilian/Italian striker is surely gone from Palermo this season as he continues getting overtures from all the top European clubs. Amauri has the strength and size to hold up the ball but it’s his ability to see the field and make that decisive final pass that’ll have Napoli’s backline scrambling Sunday night. It’d sure be nice if Donadoni would call him up and we could end the drama around whether he’ll play for Brazil or the Azzurri. He and Toni up top would sure be sweet, but I digress.

The rosanero have a fair share of injuries and suspensions of their own with Miccoli, Cavani and Ciro Capuano out injured and Giuseppe Biava and Leandro Rinaudo suspended.

Neither team has played fantastic in anything but brief stretches in 2008. Napoli’s actually had the edge with fantastic recent victories against Inter and Fiorentina but coupled with disappointing loses against Cagliari and several dismal outings. Palermo has just been sluggish and out of sorts since Colantuano left. For Napoli’s sake, I just hope they don’t pick this week to pull it all together. For what it’s worth Zamperini says Napoli has a 90% chance of winning because of Palermo’s form and Napoli’s crowd at the San Paolo. Now that’s confidence.

Recent form:
Napoli (L-L-L-W-D) 3 Goals, 5 Goals allowed
Palermo (D-D-L-L-L) 4 Goals, 8 Goals allowed

Napoli home record: 8-3-4 21 Goals, 15 Goals allowed
Palermo road record:  3-3-9 18 Goals, 31 Goals allowed (!)

Diffidati: Palermo (Amauri, Bresciano, Capuano, Caserta, Cassani, Cavani, Guana)
Napoli: (Garics, Contini, Santacroce, Pazienza, Blasi, Cannavaro)

It’s a Napoli home match so there’s no TV coverage outside of Italy…can’t wait for next year when that madness ends. Radio Marte is always the best bet for live radio broadcasts.

Head on over to the Palermo-Offside to view Steven’s preview.

Forza Napoli!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gyorgy Garics (Austria), Marek Hamsik (Slovakia) and Ezequiel Lavezzi (Argentina) all returned from national team duty. Garics and Hamsik played the full 90 while Lavezzi rode the pines in Cairo in their match against Egypt.

Fiorentina signed 143 forwards this off season including everyone’s favorite club hopping man-skank Christian Vieri. Bobo has actually been on his best behavior this season. Maybe that’s just because Antonio Cassano has been such a nutjob in comparison?

The truth is while the Vieri stories provided fodder for the papers early this season, Fiorentina’s success is predicated on four factors:  coach Cesare Prandelli, keeper Sebastien Frey and a steady, if unspectatcular backline, and the enigmatic Romanian Adrian Mutu.

A few years ago Mutu could give any jet-setting, international playboy with a rolled up $100 in his tailored Gucci shirt a run for their money. Under the guidance of Prandelli, however, Mutu has at long last fulfilled his
promise and become more than a lightning rod of controversy. He’s, gasp!, a steadying influence and inspirational leader for the Viola. Having been out
for more than a month with a knee injury, the prevailing sense was Fiorentina would lose their grip on the last Champions League spot and get bounced out of the EUFA Cup. The fact that neither happened is a testament to the strength of the entire Viola side. Mutu celebrated his return against Genoa by scoring and cementing his sides lock on 4th place.

Prandelli employs a 4-man backline in front of Serie A’s best keeper, Sebastien Frey. Gigi Buffon may be the only Juventus player I don’t loathe (ok, maybe Nocerino as well) but I believe Frey just edges him out as the best keeper in Serie A. Former Napoli and Viola keeper Pino Taglialatela says the two are at least on level footing.

I’m just glad Raymond Domenech is in charge of the Cocks in France. Frey can’t break into the Blues starting XI and Domenech might actually start Fabian Barthez if he were only playing for a 3rd division Algerian side. Your loss, Frenchie! Frey is commanding force in the box punching out all but the best whipped in crosses, is a fantastically acrobatic shot stopper and can hold his own distributing from the back. Frey is helped out by a back line that has little turnover and is packed with experience. The combination of Captain Dario Dainelli and Alessandro Gamberini as center halfs are fantastic at clearing the traffic in front of goal. Luckily Gamberini is out injured so they’ll go with
Dainelli and Per Kroldrup in the middle. While Fiorentina’s fullbacks Tomas Ujfalusi and Manuel Pasqual aren’t exactly offensive-minded fullbacks, they do provide some width and are capable of more than say Napoli’s Mirko Savini, Gyorgy Garics, Gianluca Grava and Erminio Rullo combined. I realize that’s damning with faint praise but the gulf in talent between our fullbacks and theirs is ridiculous. 

And therein lies the dilemna for the Azzurri. At almost every position on the pitch, Fiorentina are more talented, more experienced or both. When I keep thinking that Napoli’s advantage lies in the fact that Fiorentina has to be tired due to their 2nd leg EUFA Cup match in Liverpool against Everton (they advanced after 120 minutes on penalties) and they have some key players injured or suspended, I know I’m deluding myself. The fact that the match is being played in Napoli could be the biggest determining factor. On the other hand, Fiorentina have only lost three times in 14 road matches (outscoring opponents 17-12) and Napoli have garnered the 7th most points at home (24) while outscoring opponents 19-15 at the San Paolo. So who knows?

Keeper Genarro Iezzo and defender Andrea Cupi are back in training with the side but I don’t believe there’s much chance either will see the pitch tomorrow night. It’d be nice if Reja gave Argentine keeper Nicolas Navarro a chance to show why PierPaolo Marino spent over 4 million euro on the kid but that ain’t gonna happen. Hell the rumour is Reja is looking to start Roberto Sosa up top with Ezequiel Lavezzi because Emmanuele Calaio didn’t show much against Juventus on Sunday. Way to give anyone under 30 a solid chance to prove themselves, Reja. Jerkoff!

Probable lineups:
Napoli (3-5-2) Gianello; Santacroce, Cannavaro, Domizzi; Mannini, Blasi, Gargano, Hamsik, Savini; Sosa, Lavezzi
Fiorentina (4-3-3) Frey; Ujfalusi, Dianelli, Kroldrup, Pasqual; Donadel, Liverani, Montelivo; Semioli, Pazzini, Mutu
Suspended/Injured:
Fiorentina (Jorgensen, Gamberini, Gobbi)
Napoli (Zalayeta, Iezzo, Cupi)
Diffidati:
Fiorentina (Pasqual, Liverani, Dainelli, Montolivo, Mutu, Pazzini, Donadel)
Napoli (Garics, Gargano, Contini, Domizzi, Santacroce, Savini, Pazienza)

If you live in Italy you can watch the match on Sky Sports. The rest of us will have to make due with listening to the radio stream on Radio Marte.

FORZA NAPOLI!

In the other corner:  3rd most road goals allowed. One road victory on the campaign. Your best defender and emotional leader is out for three weeks and your starting keeper may be out due to a bum knee.

Moveable object meet the irresistible cream puff.

With only one victory in their last eight overall matches, Napoli travel to the  Stadio Saint’Elia to restore what had been a promising start to their season. The last victory (1-nil against
Parma) was seemingly eons ago. While Napoli outplayed both Siena and Torino (drew both matches), they were hammered by Ka-Pa-Ro and the Rossoneri, bounced out of the Coppa Italia by a disinterested Lazio side and berated by their President twice. And, oh yeah, they’ll have to play without the support of any of their traveling fans. Don’t put it past the Napoletanos to get a couple thousand loud and cheering fans in the Curva, but that’s not to be.

Despite the apparent weakness of their opposition, Napoli will have a lot of internal demons to overcome if the trip to Sardenia is to be considered a success. It’s hard to imagine the Azzurri could be under any more pressure. However, the hallmark of this squad since the takeover/resurrection of Aurelio De Laurentis has been their ability to overcome adversity. We seem to show our resiliency only when pushed against the wall. Whether it’s going down to 10 men or getting a goal in the last 10 minutes to salvage a draw or pull out a victory (something Napoli have done five times already this year in Serie A and once in the Coppa Italia).

As mentioned earlier, Maurizio Domizzi will be out for the match. Left winger Mirko Savini is also injured. It’ll fall on Erminio Rullo’s shoulders to play out of position, look lost on set pieces,
never venture forward or put a decent cross into the box. Coach Edy Reja will also be sitting out the match due to suspension. Addition by subtraction? Savini and Reja being out is like finding out your alcoholic transsexual cousin can’t make it to your wedding. Whoever else you invite may not add to the festivities, but they’re not likely to dance naked with your Mom either.

Another match, another suspension for MF Manuele Blasi. If you’re scoring at home, that would be third match Blasi will miss due to suspension. Hey, lookie here! We lead the league in one category. Blasi has 10 yellow cards. 10! One man accounts for more than 20% of a teams’
yellow cards. Now that’s efficiency. Truth be told, Blasi is often Napoli’s best player and always their steadiest and most stabilizing presence in midfield. Level of competition be damned, we’ll miss the part-time underwear model.

There are some interesting story lines at play this week. Pasquale Foggia is back in the Cagliari fold and he’s easily their best player (though Azzurrini starlet Roberto Aquafresca may have the most talent). Being a Napoletano himself, Foggia will continue to be linked with a supposed transfer to Napoli until he retires or takes Maradona’s name in vain. Marco Storari is now back in Serie A on loan from Milan and he’s proven himself a reliable commodity in Italy with his time at Messina. I think of Storari as a young Jimmy Fontana from Palermo…only with more hair and less guile.

The difference between establishing yourself in Serie A and a relegation battle are decided in matches like the one on Sunday. By the way, a 7th consecutive loss by Cagliari would set a team record. I’m just saying.

Forza Napoli!

All the talk has centered around 18-year old phenom Alexandre Pato making his long awaited Serie A debut. I guess paying €22 million for a player and then waiting five long months before you can play him would bring about some anticipation, eh? The kid is the real deal. Anyone who saw him play in the U-20 World Cup last summer knows this kid has poise and skill. However, Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian press may have just set the bar a teeny-weeny bit high for a boy who still has acne and braces. Pato’s old coach at Internacional has tried to tell people to lay off the kid and not expect the second coming of Pele, but expect the hype
machine to roll on, especially if he scores on Sunday. God, no. Please, God no.

Meanwhile, Milan are going to tromp out their 18 European Cups (2 Cup Winner Cups, 5 European Supercups, 7 Champions League trophies and 4 World Club title trophies) on the pitch prior to the match. Now, no offense. I’m proud an Italian team has had this much success, but is this really necessary? Hopefully, it’ll light a spark under the Azzurri to shove one right up Berlusconi’s giggi. In any case something has to give as we have a Napoli side
that can’t win on the road and Milan who are dreadful at home. 0-0 draw anyone?

Although Milan sit 12th in the table and haven’t yet won a home match yet this season, this squad is hungry and desperate. They know all to well that they cannot afford to drop points or
risk losing out on Champions League football next year (unless they win it again…which I wouldn’t past them). Expect Milan to come out blazing on Sunday. Despite the loss of Pippo Inzaghi (kidney stones…ouch!) and Rino Gattuso (suspension), whenever you can trot out the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Kaka in your midfield you stand more than a fighters chance of winning.

Napoli will have to make due without their midfield general, Manuele Blasi, and leading goal scorer, Marcelo Zalayeta, who are both suspended. The squad have been training since January 2 and everyone is healthy, if not completely satisfied. The transfer market has
seen Napoli bring in no new players and I don’t expect they will. Cristian Bucchi got sent out on loan to Bologna (he was at Siena) and frankly, he was rubbish last year in Serie B. I’m just glad someone else is paying his wages, though I think we’ll soon enough regret signing Bucchi to a four year deal. I was really hoping Marino would look to improve our winger situation during this offseason, but I just don’t see that happening. I’m not sure how you look at the
steaming pile of midfield giveaway that is Grava/Garics/Savini/Rullo and be satisfied.

I really don’t care that Milan have scored the fewest home goals of any side in Serie A this season (3), coming in behind even lowly Cagliari. In order to have any hope of getting a
draw, the backline of Cupi, Cannavaro and Domizzi are going to have to play the game of their lives and Iezzo is going to need to channel the spirit of Dino Zoff. Having Massimo Oddo launch crosses into the Curva and getting a Milan player sent off early wouldn’t hurt either. Look for Napoli to kick anyone wearing red and black when they get within 30 yards of goal. I think it’ll be a dour game with at least seven yellow cards.

Reja is showing his true genius by being torn on whether or not to start Calaio or Sosa up top with Ezequiel Lavezzi. Look for Edy to shun Calaio once again. I’m not sure it’ll make all that much difference, but I see a motivated Calaio being far more dangerous in front of packed and
raucous San Siro than Sosa could ever hope to be. Lavezzi will need to shoulder the load and shake off his recent string of sub-par performances. A couple weeks off may help El Pocho more than any single Napoli player. Lavezzi was clearly running on fumes the last few matches and again a packed San Siro crowd may just give him the spark he had in the first dozen matches of the season.

The game will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel and on RAI International.

FORZA NAPOLI!