Euro 2016

Massimiliano Allegri Happy with Hard-fought Victory against Chievo

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Juventus continued their impressive form after a 2-1 win over Chievo.


Fans, though, would have been expecting a much easier end to the game given that the opposition have been struggling big-time for form. The game witnessed nine bookings as both teams battled out each other for a space on the pitch. Ultimately, quality paid off with Juventus coming out on top. Recognising that it was certainly not an easy game for his team, manager Massimiliano Allegri claimed that he was left extremely pleased with the effort from the players.

Former Atletico Madrid striker Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring in the second half, but the away team were quickly pegged back by a surprise equaliser fromPellissier. There may not have been anything spectacular about the penalty, but the home team were level from an unlikely source.

Furthermore, they seemed to have the momentum going into the final 20 minutes. A draw would have been a very bad news for Juventus as the club has been facing tough competition from Roma in the last couple of weeks. Normality, though, was restored rather swiftly after Miralem Pjanić managed to score in the 75th minute.

The brilliant freekick fromPjanić was heavily appreciated by the manager after the game. Allegri, though, thought that his team should have won by more goals for their chances.”We could have won by more goals.We played well – especially in the second half – against a Chievo team that were defending well. We moved the ball around nicely, choosing our moments to attack and defending well when we needed to. We had a bit of a difficult start, with Barzagli having to come off. I took a risk by putting Bonucci on but he had a great game, as did the whole side,” said Allegri after the game.

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

Mario Balotelli is not in England anymore

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Mario Balotelli is not in England anymore, but, Jamie Carragher still can’t help taking a swipe at the Italian.


Carragher recently made fun of Balotelli’s move to the French Premier Division by a post on internet in which he conveyed his good wishes to the striker for the Golden ball award in future.

It fumed Balotelli like anything and he smashed back at Carragher terming him the best hater he had ever had.

Balotelli’s new employer Nice jumped in between the battle to have its say too on that website telling Carragher that he seemed to be obsessed with Balotelli and asking him if he was interested in buying a shirt of the player.

Carragher, thereafter, didn’t reply to any of those two posts he was tagged in.

Carragher has been vocal against Balotelli for a while and had absolutely ripped him apart on a show on the British television three months back.
He was quoted saying, “Balotelli’s acts outside the ground always remain in the headlines and everybody thinks that is the main problem with him, but, no, I don’t agree, I am sorry. I am actually not sure if there is enough ability in the guy. Tell me how many good matches has he had?” Continue reading

Juventus manager Replaced soon after Italy Loss

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Italy may have lost a world-class coach in the form of Antonio Conte after just two years, but they wasted no time in bringing a replacement for the former Juventus manager.


It was especially the need of the hour with the World Cup qualification approaching. After losing to Germany on penalties in the Euro 2016 semifinals, Conte’s time with the national team came to an end. It has been a relatively successful period after having witnessed Italy perform poorly in recent major tournaments. Conte had showed his expertise at international level as well, but it was up to Italian FA to find a worthy successor.

They have gone for the highly experienced Giampiero Ventura in the hope of retaining the conference and moral within the team. Since a number of top coaches like Carlo Ancelotti are tied with club duties, Italy went for Ventura who is currently available after having left Torino towards the end of last season. Torino turned out to be one of the longest jobs for Ventura, as he had not spent more than a couple of years at a club before being on the move. Since starting out as a manager in the 1981 season with Ruentes Rapallo, he has been in charge of numerous clubs like Cagliari, Sampdoria, Udinese, Napoli, and Torino.
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Antonio Conte remains confident about making it into the next stages for Italy

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Italy may have finished the group stages with a disappointing defeat against Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2016, but manager Antonio Conte remains confident about making it into the next stages by beating Spain in the last 16.


This will be one of the high-profile matches in the last 16 of the Euro 2016. Even though Italy suffered a defeat in the final group match, they managed to finish top of the group which also contained teams like Finland and Belgium. As a result, the 2006 World Cup winners remain on course to reach the final stages of the competition.

Getting past Spain will be a major achievement, as it means knocking out the holders. Spain have been crowned as the European Championship winners for the last two times and they certainly are less strong than in the last decade. Even then, they have managed to progress into the last 16 round of the competition but only just. After starting the tournament with a narrow win over Czech Republic, the team managed to win comfortably against Turkey. The disappointing form returned in the final group match following a 2-1 loss against Croatia. This loss also meant that the team was unable to finish top of the group.
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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

What are Italy’s Chances at Euro 2016?

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When it comes to potential winners of this summer’s European Championships there are probably few who think that Italy have a good chance of taking home the trophy. Although sides will be wary of coming up against the Azzurri it is unlikely that they have the depth and individual brilliance to be victorious.

They will go into the tournament in France as an outside bet to win at best. But is there any way they could cause what would be regarded as an upset? And who are the players who really need to perform this summer? Continue reading