England

Italy Boss Giampiero Ventura Signs New Contract until 2020

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Italy have been given a major boost with regard to the World Cup 2018 and the future tournaments after manager Giampiero Ventura has signed a new contract with the national team.


He will now be in charge of the team until 2020 when the European Championship is held. The 69-year-old came as the new national team coach for Italy when Antonio Conte decided to step down in the summer of 2016. Since taking over, he has been able to keep Italy on the fringes of qualification to the World Cup 2018. Even though Italy may be second in the World Cup qualifiers and the position may result in a possible play-offs for the team, it is widely known to being placed in the group -containing former world champions Spain.

The results shown by Italy so far in the qualification campaign are a major sign that the team will face no issues with regard to reaching Russia. The team has managed to pick up five victories and a stalemate in the six matches. They trail Spain only on goal difference. The longevity of a manager is extremely important for stability in the national team. Continue reading

CAN JUVENTUS END THEIR MISERY IN EUROPE?

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Juventus are set to go head to head with Real Madrid on June 3 for a chance to lift the Champions League.


They could end two decades of misery, since their last title in 1996 – when they won their second ever title by defeating Ajax.

Madrid are the slight favourites for the clash though Juventus have a decent squad that can surprise everyone. Madrid are gunning for their third title in four years – making them the most consistent in recent years at the elite football club competition.

The whole of Italy would be gunning for an upset. The defensive capabilities of Juve are top notch no doubt. This season they have demonstrated the importance of defence in football. Since the tournament started last year, Juve have conceded just three goals. They conceded in the group stage to Lyon and Sevilla and the last to Monaco in the semi-final second leg.

However, this time they face a resilient and attacking Madrid side. Juvesuffered a defeat Madrid when they met in the 2013/14 season. Giorgio Chiellini was sent off and Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a brace to help Los Blancos in the group stages. In the 2014/15 season, Juve defeated Real in the semis. They won 2-1 at home before forcing a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu. Continue reading

MY RETURN WOULD BE EXPLOSIVE – BALOTELLI

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The striker, who is currently plying his trade at Nice says that an explosive return to the Italian national team is all he has in mind.


This was his view in an interview, where he also threw jabs at his former clubs, AC Milan and Liverpool.

The last game Balotelli featured in for Italy was in 2014 in their defeat by Uruguay, the grand final match in the 2014 World Cup games at Brazil.

So far, Balotelli has enjoyed a lightning start with Nice, which has seen him score five goals in six league appearances, thereby pushing them to the top of the table above PSG and Monaco.

Despite this, the 26 year old was not invited to make up Italy’s squad in preparation for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, first with Spain at home and next, away in Macedonia. The future isn’t looking bleak for him as a return to the Ventura’s led Italian squad isn’t so far away.

“It was right not to select me because I didn’t deserve it,” Balotelli told Sky Sport Italia. “It’s better for Ventura to not select me this time around because when I return, I want to be at my best.”

He joined AC Milan after an end to his three year spell at Manchester City, before heading on to Liverpool on 2014.
After a torrid end to a controversial three-year spell at Manchester City, Balotelli joined AC Milan in January 2013 before moving to Liverpool in 2014. His stay at Anfield wasn’t long before he returned to AC Milan on loan last season. He was unfortunately hit by a groin injury. Continue reading

Antonio Conte excited to manage Chelsea

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The Italy coach Antonio Conte said that he cannot wait to manage Chelsea.


Italy was eliminated in the quarter-final by Germany and Antonio Conte stated that he does not have any regret for leaving the job. He believes that he will experience as much emotion at Chelsea as he has with the Italy national team.

He said that he has no regret for leaving Italy and that he had made the announcement quite early. However, he admitted that there was some moment where he wanted to come back to his decision and continue the adventure with Italy but because of certain factors he could not do that.

Antonio Conte said that was proud of the performance of the Italian team at the Euros and that he stated that there is also no regret in the way they were eliminated.

Antonio Conte declared that he likes the passion and pressure associated with club football, and this is why he has accepted Chelsea’s offer. He said that he had a talk with the president of the Italian national team, and he had made it clear that he want to manage Chelsea. Continue reading

Claudio Ranieri might coach Italy someday in the near future

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The managerial position in the Italian national football team will become vacant after the 2016 Euro’s reaches its end on July 10.


When this point in time arrives, Antonio Conte is going to be kicking off his managerial career as the head coach of the Premier League club Chelsea.

It still remains uncertain as to who is going to succeed Antonio Conte and take charge of the Italian national side but one potential candidate that has emerged to become the head coach of Italy is Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio Ranieri is attracting the attention of top clubs and national teams that are interested in offering him a managerial position for their respective teams and this is mainly due to the historic Premier League season that saw Ranieri pushing Leicester City to their first Premier League title in the history of the club.

For the past few weeks, Ranieri has been linked with Italy but the 64 year old stated that he wants to focus on winning more titles with Leicester City; however there is a possibility of him actually becoming the head coach of Italy but only after his time with Leicester City finalizes. Continue reading

Steve Clarke says Antonio Conte will find Support from John Terry

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Former Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke says that new manager Antonio Conte will receive the best possible support if John Terry stays at the club next season.


It looks almost certain that Terry will leave Chelsea at the end of the campaign. His contract runs out in a few months and the club has reportedly told the player that it will not be renewed. Terry, though, is still hopeful about signing the deal if it arrives on his table. Conte has had a hugely successful career as a manager, but he has not experienced life outside Italy yet.

He has managed only Italian clubs and is now with the Italian national team. This situation is largely similar to that of Carlo Ancelotti when he arrived from AC Milan in the summer of 2009. Back then, Ancelotti was assisted by a strong spine of the team. The likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Didier Drogba knew the club from the bottom up and it was easy for Ancelotti to settle. The current Chelsea team does not have such figures aside from Terry. Further, Conte is yet to start learning English and language problems could be a major hurdle. Continue reading

Frank Lampard says that Antonio Conte is not going to tolerate with players

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Frank Lampard says that Antonio Conte is not going to tolerate with players not in line with his philosophy when he comes to take charge of Chelsea in the summer.

Lampard expects those players to be sold by the Italian without second thoughts.Conte will come to the club after his role with the Italian national ends after the Euro 2016. Lampard admitted that the club was in a state of transition when Jose Mourinho arrived almost three years ago. The arrival of the Portuguese was expected to make the club a dominant force for the next decade.

This was not the case after Mourinho found themselves once again looking for a new job inside three years. The club also has failed to qualify for the Champions League next season. Many now feel that the club has gone backwards. Lampard felt that Chelsea were in a promising position with the likes of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, and Kevin De Bruyne were all young and starting to dominate the team. Now, those young players have either been sold or they are suffering from a catastrophic dip in form. Lampard says that Conte now has a big job on his hands to rebuild Chelsea from the bottom up. Continue reading

Antonio Conte has been able to stabilise the Italian national team

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After starting out in disappointing fashion, manager Antonio Conte has been able to stabilise the Italian national team.

The team has managed six wins in the last nine games and will be targeting a seventh win against Norway in the Euro 2016 qualifying match. A victory from this match will surely guarantee a place in the Euro 2016 competition as the winners of the group. Such a position will surely provide Conte with some much needed time to look at other players. For the time being, the game against Norway is on his mind. The former Juventus manager believes that Norway will not be providing any favours for the 2006 world champions.

Only a few qualifiers ago, Italy looked in danger of missing out on the top spot since Croatia were leading for much of the qualification campaign. However, they have come to form at just the right stage to seal the win. Norway cannot be taken for granted since they are on a high after winning the last three games. Høgmo’s team usually do not play for a draw and this fact is aptly demonstrated by Norway’s sole draw in the qualification campaign. As far as the competition itself is concerned, Conte claimed that Italy will no longer be considered as pretournament favourites due to recent showings. Continue reading

Juventus finally managed to end the drought in terms of victories

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Juventus finally managed to end the drought in terms of victories by claiming a 2-0 win over Genova during the weekend.

This finally brought an end to the disastrous form that saw them take only one point from the opening three games. Inter had already taken advantage of these slipups by winning four out of the four opening fixtures. They are one of the few teams in Europe five major leagues to have won all of their matches until now. Despite already falling eight points behind the leaders, Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri does not feel pressurised by the situation.

Allegri says that there is a lot of possibilities still left for Juventus to build on this situation. The win over Genova is likely to be utilised in a positive way by the team. Even though Inter have won all of their games so far, these victories have come by the odd goal. It may be only a matter of time before Roberto Mancini’s team slip up. The fixture list could not have thrown a midweek game at a much better time for Juventus, who are up against Frosinone on Wednesday night. It gives them a great opportunity to build on the first win of the campaign. Continue reading

Juventus became the first Italian team to reach the final of the Champions League

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Juventus became the first Italian team since Inter Milan back in 2010 to reach the final of the Champions League.

They were seen as one of the underdogs in the tournament, but still managed to knock off the likes of Real Madrid and set up a match against Barcelona. Overwhelming favourites Barcelona managed to clinch the trophy 3-1, but it could have been very different had not been for some poor finishing by the Italians. After having based much of their game on a strong defence, Juventus found themselves extremely unlikely to lose goals via mistakes.

Their former manager Antonio Conte, who is currently in charge of the national team, says that the form shown by the club this season has certainly surprised him. During his few years with the Turin-based outfit,Conte managed to attain legendary status after having seen them get promoted from the second division to becoming the champions of Italy once again. If there was a criticism ofConte, it was that Juventus did not do well in the Champions League. In his defence,Conte was having a team that was still being heavily rebuilt for the European campaign. Since taking over the Italian national team after a disappointing World Cup,Conte has overseen a mediocre performance in the Euro 2016 qualification phase. Continue reading