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| | Spotlight: Ole Oliveira | Monday 11 September, 2006 |
| Football Italia rounds up the winners and the losers from Week 1 of the Serie A season. |
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The winners…
Ricardo Oliveira (Milan)
Wearing Andriy Shevchenko’s No 7 shirt, the Brazilian started his adventure in the best possible fashion with the winner against Lazio. He may not be fully fit following knee surgery, but he looks like a promising buy.
Rolando Bianchi (Reggina)
Having netted just three goals in 54 Serie A games, Bianchi doubled his tally in just 90 minutes at Palermo on Sunday. A striker of undoubted potential, this may just be the year when the former Under-21 international proves himself at the highest level.
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter)
Two goals and an assist against Fiorentina – it was a night to remember for Cambiasso. An untouchable element in the midfield plans of Roberto Mancini, the Argentine has again proved that he’s some player. Still hard to believe that Real Madrid released him on a free transfer.
The losers…
Sampdoria
The 2-1 home loss to Empoli means they have now gone 14 League games without a win. To make things worse, they ended Sunday with nine men after the dismissals of Giulio Falcone and Gennaro Delvecchio. To cap it off, boss Walter Novellino blamed the referee. It may be a long season…
Samuel Kuffour (Livorno)
Seems like Roma made the right decision in letting go of Samuel Kuffour this summer. He returned to the Olimpico as an opponent on Saturday with a nightmare performance. He was booked after only 20 minutes and then decided to elbow Christian Panucci in an off the ball incident. A TV ban awaits.
Roberto Donadoni (Italy)
The Azzurri boss must be regretting his decision to omit Luca Toni from his squad for the games against Lithuania and France. Italy’s most powerful striker grabbed a sublime brace against Inter on Saturday night, while Italy got just a point from two games at the start of this month.
The goals…
Giuseppe Biava (Palermo)
The most spectacular goal of the weekend was scored by Biava, a defender with just one top-flight strike previously to his name. The stopper’s back-heel volley was scorpion like, a netbuster which is already a contender for goal of the season.
Mark Bresciano (Palermo)
The Australian marked his Rosanero League debut with a sublime finish of his own. With his back to goal, the former Parma man spectacularly executed an overhead kick to perfection following a Cristian Zaccardo cross.
Giorgio Corona (Catania)
Catania collected the three points on their return to Serie A thanks to the technical excellence of Giorgio Corona. Making his top-flight debut, the striker rippled the net with a powerful and precise right-foot volley from outside of the area.
The numbers…
Paolo Maldini (Milan)
The legendary stopper set a new Serie A record by starting his 23rd campaign with the club. The previous best was 22 which was achieved by former Italian international Silvio Piola. Maldini’s appearance against Lazio was his 583rd Serie A tie.
Parma
Torino’s late equaliser against Parma means that the Gialloblu have amazingly drawn their first game of the season for the last nine seasons. They haven’t won in Week 1 of Serie A since the 1997-98 campaign when they defeated Bari 2-0.
Emiliano Bonazzoli (Sampdoria)
Sampdoria striker Emiliano Bonazzoli scored the first goal of the season in terms of time. The hitman netted after nine minutes against Empoli to become only the fourth Samp man to gain the honour. Previous Doria first goal kings were Lucenti in 1951-52, Skoglund in 1961-62 and Silas in 1991-92.
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| Words: Antonio Labbate |
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Serie A: Oliveira makes dream debut
Scudetto favourites Inter started the season in style, while Milan had to thank new boy Ricardo Oliveira for their win over Lazio. Reports |
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