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| | Spotlight: Christian Aid |
Thursday 1 March, 2007
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| Football Italia rounds up the winners and the losers from Week 26 of the Serie A season |
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The winners…
Christian Abbiati (Torino)
The former Milan ‘keeper has arguably been at fault for some of Torino’s recent losses, but the Italian international showed just what he can do against Cagliari. Abbiati made at least five first class saves to ensure that the Granata got back to winning ways.
Daniele Bonera (Milan)
The ex-Parma player has been in decent shape for some months now and his veteran-like display against Palermo underlined his growing maturity. The centre-back role suits his characteristics well and an international recall beckons.
Christian Obodo (Udinese)
The fact that Udinese stopped the Inter juggernaut was not just as a result of Obodo’s classy goal, but his entire 90 minutes at the San Siro. The combative all-action midfielder guarded his defence with intelligence and launched attacks with security.
The losers…
Nicholas Caglioni (Messina)
Messina’s decision to sell Marco Storari to Milan in January could prove to be a costly move given Caglioni’s recent displays. His goalkeeping show against Empoli looked insecure throughout and he was clearly at fault for the first and third goals the Sicilian outfit conceded.
Francesco Tavano (Roma)
Handed another chance to shine from the start, Tavano is still a distant relative from the man who terrorised Serie A defences while at Empoli last term. He never made his presence felt in the 61 minutes he was allowed at Chievo before understandably being replaced by Mirko Vucinic.
Aparecido Cesar (Livorno)
Livorno’s January swoop for Cesar looked good on paper, but it’s not turning out to be so great in reality. The wide midfielder is still finding his feet in a team which is desperate for him to show some of that scintillating Lazio form of the past. The Siena tie was another disappointment.
The goals…
Christian Obodo (Udinese)
The Nigerian gave Udinese the lead at Inter in spectacular fashion. An Antonio Di Natale corner was headed on by Cesare Natali and Obodo, with his back to goal, flicked the ball up with his thigh before executing a scissor-kick that was too good for Francesco Toldo to stop.
Pasquale Foggia (Reggina)
The Lazio-owned player scored one of the most extraordinary goals of the day given its build up. After initially striking the bar, he went and retrieved the ball himself, skipped past a defender and curled the ball home – with the aid of a slight deflection – while practically on the by-line. If at first you don’t succeed…
Nicola Ventola (Atalanta)
Given a rare start, the former Under-21 international gave Atalanta the lead against Sampdoria with a stunner. After twisting past a defender in the area, Ventola curled the ball past Luca Castellazzi's outstretched hand to find the bottom corner.
The numbers…
Run Inter-rupted
Inter’s record-breaking winning streak came to an end at 17 after the 1-1 draw with Udinese – the last side to previously take any points off them this season! However, Inter’s 67 points from 25 games is still the best ever seen in Italian football history.
Cat in the bag
Catania became the first side to score past Lazio for 470 minutes on Wednesday. It means that Luca Marchegiani’s unbeaten run in the Biancocelesti goal, 745 minutes in 1997-98, remains safe.
Slump stopped
Torino’s 1-0 over Cagliari was their first win since December 17 in the 2-0 at Ascoli. Since then they had collected just one point and lost their last six Serie A ties.
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| Words: Antonio Labbate |
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Past Spotlights
A unique review of each round of the 2006-07 Serie A campaign. More |
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