“… Italy’s fourth World Cup was won in typical Italian fashion — they rarely win international trophies in great style, but there’s always great drama involved. This success played out with Serie A, their domestic top flight, in a crisis. The Calciopoli scandal revealed that various club executives had been effectively choosing favourable referees for their teams’ matches. A complex storyline that was unfolding throughout the tournament, the main sporting consequence was that Juventus were stripped of the previous two years’ Serie A titles and relegated to the second division. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
How Italy won the 2006 World Cup: Six forwards, Pirlo’s passing and the brilliance of Cannavaro
Leave a reply
“There was quite a crowd building outside the Wrexham Lager Stand on Saturday afternoon: children, parents, grandparents, all waiting for a glimpse of their heroes and perhaps, if they were lucky, an autograph or a selfie. Wrexham’s players were happy to oblige. Kick-off was barely an hour away, an FA Cup fifth-round glamour tie against Chelsea that would leave a huge global TV audience enthralled, but one player after another did the rounds, signing every shirt, match programme, ball or scrap of paper that was eagerly thrust in front of them. …”
“El Gráfico is an Argentine 
Iran’s players celebrate after qualifying for the World Cup but there are doubts as to whether they will participate in the tournament
Italy’s players perform the fascist salute before the start of the 1938 World Cup final against Hungary in Paris
“Following Liverpool’s late defeat by Wolves at Molineux earlier this week, head coach Arne Slot lamented that it was the ‘same old story and sums up our season’. And it does. Liverpool have now lost five times to 90th-minute-plus goals this season, the most ever by a team in a single Premier League campaign. What should be a rare event has become worryingly commonplace for the reigning champions. 
Scissors Kick 