UDINESE (Founded: 1896. Stadio Friuli - Capacity: 41,652)
With more than 30 Serie A seasons to their credit, the other Bianconeri are quite entitled to consider themselves one of the pedigree sides of the peninsula. It took them a long time to make a real impact on the upper echelons of Italian football, however, as they only landed in the top Division in 1950 under the guidance of Italian goalkeeping legend Aldo Olivieri. Although it took them a long time to get there, it did not take them long to make their mark. In 1954-55 they enjoyed their greatest ever season with an amazing second placed finish. That season, however, had a bitter finish as the little Zebras were found to have fixed a game a couple of seasons earlier and were relegated for their troubles.
They were back soon enough with another sparkling season - this time to finish fourth and announce their intention to be a real force to be reckoned with. The club remained a sporadic presence in Serie A before enjoying another revival in interest in the 1980s when they managed the coup of bringing Brazilian legend Zico to the club. That built a feel-good factor around the club which was unrivalled until last season when the boys from Udine amazingly qualified for the Champions League and came within a whisker of making the last 16 of that elite competition.
Ujfalusi, Tomas (Rymarov, Czech Republic, 24/3/78)
The intrepid Czech defender has already made a favourable in just a couple of seasons with Fiorentina and this summer he will be among Italy’s group adversaries as he goes with his country to the World Cup.
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