Milan stole the show on opening weekend, both on the pitch and off
The Opening Kickoff:
As seen live on The Score, Roma opened their 2010-2011 Serie A season at home against newly promoted Cesena. While some may see Roma as an aging power, as evidenced by being led by Francesco Totti, it would be foolish to simply write them off. This is a team that finished with the same number (24) of wins as Scudetto winners Inter did last year, separated by only two points.
And yet after one match, ignoring them may not be so foolish . Despite 56 per cent possession and firing shot after shot towards the Cesena goal (but only hitting the target on seven of 24 tries), Roma left the Olimpico with a measly point against a clearly inferior opponent. You think Italian fans know what that’s all about?
Daniele De Rossi was invisible for most of the match and was substituted in the 75th minute. As for Totti, he was far more involved than I assumed he would be, and even got booked in the 89th minute to let us know that a new Serie A season really had begun.
For Cesena, this wasn’t quite Blackpool opening their promotion with a big win, but it is still a notable accomplishment for the Italian minnow.
Offsides:
- The team seen as probably the biggest threat to another Inter championship opened the new season in style, as Pato’s two goals helped Milan to a 4-0 thrashing of Lecce at the San Siro. In addition to Totti being booked, another clear indication that a new Serie A season has arrived came via Filippo Inzaghi. Super Pippo, at 37, netted the fourth Milan goal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Milan’s newest acquisition, was on hand to witness the impressive victory. I’ll assume he was pleased with his new mates.
- Not long after the dust had settled on their victory over Lecce, new rumours surfaced that the Rossoneri are interested in bringing Selecao star Robinho into the fold. If it’s true, you’ve got to think Milan might be on their way to another period of success in Italy and Europe.
- What better way for Juventus to begin erasing the memory of a seventh-place finish than with a very winnable opening match in Bari? Ah, not so fast. Massimo Donati gave the home side the lead just before halftime, and Juve never looked that serious about equalizing as they fell in shocking fashion. The worst part for Juve wasn’t just that they dropped the match, but the fact that it couldn’t really be seen as a “stolen game.” Bari played them even. That is what we Italians call “vergogna.”
- If you were looking for some fireworks on opening weekend, then I hope you watched Fiorentina and Napoli battle to a feisty 1-1 draw. A total of nine cards were handed out, including reds to Juan Manuel Vargas and Manuele Blasi.
Free Kicks
- Was anyone else wondering why on earth the good people who make the schedule would assume a battle between the ninth place and 15th place teams from last season (Genoa and Udinese) is worth opening the season with? Why not start with one of the big clubs? Though I’m not going to lie, it was a decent match that featured some physical play early and a botched bicycle kick turned goal by Giandomenico Mesto.
- Call me crazy, but I could have sworn that on several occasions this weekend I heard vuvuzelas in the crowds. I supported the mind-numbing instruments during the World Cup because I thought the host country had a right to celebrate their own culture. But for the love of God, the World Cup is over. We’re not in Africa anymore. Don’t tell me that those plastic horns are going to ruin Italian soccer this season.
- Speaking of Italian soccer in ruins, anyone who watched even a couple of games this weekend would have noticed a disturbing trend in Italy: empty seats. I fail to believe that the people of Italy have lost their insane love affair with the game of football, or that the recession is still hitting the country that hard, so someone please enlighten me, why are there so many empty seats?
- The national team begins its recovery from the disgrace in South Africa with Euro 2012 qualifying this week. The Azzurri travel to Estonia on Friday and then host the Faroe Islands in Florence on September 7, where Cesare Prandelli will look for a happy homecoming. The squad for the two matches has been announced, and it looks like Andrea Pirlo will be back in blue.
- The young man many (myself, included) feel is the future of Italian football, Mario Balotelli, was involved in a scary incident this weekend. Super Mario crashed his Audi A8 in Manchester on his way to training, but emerged unharmed. In fact, it was reported that Balotelli still took part in Manchester City training later that day. Of course, this latest incident will only add fuel to the fire for Balotelli skeptics.
The Final Whistle
- After the wait came to an end this weekend, I’m sure you are all eagerly anticipating week two of the season. But it won’t come for a while. The league takes a break next weekend due to the aforementioned Euro qualifiers, and play won’t resume until September 12. But you can watch all of this weekend’s highlights on thescore.com.
- Don’t forget to catch the last game of opening week on Monday, as Inter begins its quest for a ridiculous six-peat against Bologna. You can watch it live on The Score at 2:45 p.m. ET.
That’s all for this week. Ciao, for now.
Clarence got 2 great chances to score too. Way to put on a show for Ibra. Milan’s offense is gonna be so sick this year.
Sad to see those empty seats though. Didn’t expect that at a Roma game.
Yeah Joe, I agree with you about the noticeable vacancy of seats in stadiums across Italy. This has been a problem for the past few years. I’ve heard that some smaller markets like Siena blackout all TV coverage to encourage fans to fill seats.
Usually those stadiums, while they seat a significantly fewer number of people, hold a higher rate of attendance.
In Milan, even for Ibrahimovic’s presentation, roughly half the stadium was empty. Ticket prices are as expensive as your common Leafs game, but I’d also have to think that many people would rather watch the game at home then spend money on a team, for example Juventus, who has fluctuated so much in recent years.
Plus, they Juve are awaiting a new stadium to replace their crumbling Stadio Delle Alpi.
Also, the stadiums in Italy have been known to be archaic and far behind England and Germany’s infrastructures.
All of this coupled with the recession. Let’s hope for a rebound.
many reasons for the empty seats, the aging stadiums, the ultras who practically make families going to a game impossible as well as this new fan registration rule.
as for Juve, i was not impressed, granted 6 of the 11 starters were new, the team looked pretty much like how they played last year and Bari looked likely to score a 2nd then Juve looked to tie. hopefully this is not a sign of things to come!
I fail to believe that the people of Italy have lost their insane love affair with the game of football, or that the recession is still hitting the country that hard, so someone please enlighten me, why are there so many empty seats?
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Much like england 10 or 15 years ago, italy today has some problems bringing in the casual fans. Ultras still have way too much power, the stadiums are dumps, and generally not fan friendly.
Soccer is still the sport, but most would rather watch it on TV. My understanding is a few clubs (such as Juve) have stadium projects in the work. Hopefully this is the start of something new.
OFFSIDES?! OFFSIDES?!
Attendance at games has started to improve over the last couple of seasons, but the problems people have stated are all correct. The peak of the downfall was Calciopoli scandal. Many teams have begun to work on the stadium issues, Juve will have a new stadium by next season. As for the rest of the teams many were waiting to see if Italy would get the 2014 Euro’s which went to France?. Teams such as Roma, Fiorentina, Cagliari, Palermo, and even Inter Milan have all stated that they plan new stadiums. Hey I’m just happy that the score is now carrying the serie A