I need to see mountains again....

... My heart will always pine for the beauty of Italia, the magnificent buildings, the awe inspiring landscapes and the amazing food. Italy may be a poor country to some people, but in my eyes she  should be considered the riches. Italia has a powerful past and a warm culture as well as having near perfect weather. Yes, I know there is corruption and people struggling to pay their bills, but it's not as if Italy is boasting about being the all powerful nation while their people are living of scraps i.e the U.S and "Great" Britain

The history is perfectly working in harmony with the here and now and the man made buildings work in sync with mother nature to create something beautiful that will last through all the ages. Just to name one of the most popular destination: Rome. Rome is one of the most populated city with over 2.7 million residents and a history that spans over two and a half thousand years, and most of it is still standing! The Roman Empire was once the dominate power in Western civilization, one could argue they still have power and influence us in the way we build shopping malls and other monuments, roads, literacy, military, gardening and not to forget the catholic church.

The natural landscape is a major factor for me, it has been proven that the more green an area the more relaxed and calm the people, this could be why many people in London are the rudest people in Europe!

Another reason is the distinct lack of fast food chains, Mc Donald's and Burger King have started to rear their ugly heads, but with huge disgust from the locals. Italy is famous for their fresh and delicious food, so as a response to this unnatural sugar laden food came the " Slow Food Movement" to make their stance known and to make sure that the sickening food of the fast food world doesn't infect everyone. I mean how busy has your lives become that you don't have time for a well balance nutritional meal? I mean there is a reason why people in the UK and the U.S are so fat, it's because of the Mc Donalds diet. And one thing that I find disturbing and you should aswell, every Mc Donalds meal anywhere tastes the same. Does no one see how unnatural this is?!

Italia is also known for the Renaissance art, particularly Florence. Renascence  basically means "reawakening" it was a way of trying to get back to the glory of Ancient Rome. And who wouldn't want to bask in this beauty and become enlightened? And I answer: the British, they would rather piss in the streets and get drunk- nothing much has change for them as they still are like this, only now the whores don't charge for their services! Not to forget that Italy is also known for the Baroque, Classical and Romanesque styles that many cities today still try to replicate.

I first fell in love for everything Italy at age 10, the history was just so rich and people had so much pride in their country and for good reason, it's amazing! Another thing I noticed is how warm and accommodating the people are, I didn't speak Italian but they tried their best to help me, it's a refreshing change to the UK.

Italians have so much pride in the way they dress, act and in their culture, unlike here, where they work like dog's and then go on a drinking binge at the weekends, they have no culture. The Italians enjoy life and all her beauties, which in Italy is a lot!

I need to return soon, this place is suffocating me! ( I am just excercising free speech and this is just my opinion, afterall...we do live in a "Democracy")

Bye bye Milos....

I've learnt over the years not to get to attached to my players ( Diego!) and even though I am deeply saddened about Krasic's imminent departure, it was just cruel for Juve to leave him on the bench. Football is a very fickle buisness, one moment you could be a God with the ball and the next you're not even good enough to warm the bench as last weekends game against Udinese showed. People seem to forget that this is only Krasic's second season and it is only natural that it would be harder, after all people now know who he is and his style of play- he's no longer a secret!

He is no Pavel Nedved, even though when he first arrived in Turin, that's exactly what everyone said. First of all Krasic is a winger and Nedved was an attacking midfielder, not exactly the same position! And secondly they have very different physiques, Krasic is taller and thinner, it is harder for him to take all the knock that Nedved did but they were eventually too much for Pavel, did anyone contemplate that maybe Krasic didn't want to be in constant pain like the Czech. Milos doesn't have nearly as much trickery about his game and didn't work as hard as Nedved, that was unique to Nedved and I think it was highly unfair to burden Krasic with this expectation of being the next Nedved.

Krasic had great pace and he had the potential to be as good as, but under this new system that Conte brought in he hasn't really played for the Bianconeri in two months and he is desperate for first team football. But even Krasic has to prove his worth and Conte seems to be leaning more towards Simone Pepe who not only helps withe attacking side of the game but also runs back to defend, this is something Krasic isn't known for doing and so he is always going to be second best.

At only 27 he still could have a bright future, however that may be incredibly short if he is going to be heading toward the premiership as the rumour mill has suggested. He has not got the physical presence to endure the yobbish way the British play.

Please show mercy and save him from this terrible fate!

Udinese V Juventus

Not exactly what you expected from two teams who are famous for their counter attacking style. This was a game highly billed as a potential goal feast, yet we we denied this joy as it ended 0-0, which was good for the table but not for the fans.

It started very attacking and open, Juve had 17 shots with only 5 on goal, and that tells me two things...number 1, They INTENDED to win it 2, They need to be more clinical upfront. Earlier this week Claudio Marchisio received the highest praise, when Juve legend Pavel Nedved said he could be "the best midfielder in the world". I dare say it, but maybe all that praise has gone straight to his head, as he was misfiring, but having said that he was the closest Juve player to open the scoring as Alessandro Matri was to busy rolling on the floor! The longer the game went goal less the more frustrated The Old Lady got. This is something the I expect Antonio Conte to stamp out- they're not Inter. However the amount of times they would fling themselves to the floor and complain to the referee, one would think that they were!

I understand that the cold weather adds to the injury, and even though it may not look bad it feel bad, but I have to admit that when Matri went down and then got back up when the ball was put out of play was utterly shameful! It not only taints the league and the game but it also puts your team at a disadvantage, because if you got up straight away you could actually help your team mates. This needs to be taken out of the game and also players shouldn't kick the ball out, the ref should decide, otherwise what happened in this game will happen in others- Udinese put the ball out twice for Juve but when an udinese player was down Juve didn't and it caused an uproar in the stands. Also if a player does go down because of an injury and it halts the attack he should be made to go off the pich for at least 10 minutes, this will soon deal with faking because you can't risk putting your team at a disadvantage for that long.

1 point each and Juve remain joint leaders with Milan going into the winter break.

Juventus V Novara

A 2-0 victory in the end for Juventus, but don't be deceived by the scoreline, it was a tough fight and Novara had no intention of rolling over. This was the first Piedmonte derby in recent years and because of that, there was a little more to it than just the points..it was also about pride. Juve started the game with more control and presence and were shortly rewarded with their first goal when Simone Pepe got on the end of a fabulous cross by Paolo De Ceglie to put them up on the fourth minute. After that Juve felt more in control and thus relaxed ever so slightly. Throughout the game Juve had as expected over 60% possession but they still could put the game to bed till the 75th minute when Quagliarella got his first goal in almost a year and equals the 100 mark.

All credit must go to Novara for frustrating the home side and even putting them under pressure at times. Novara had 14 shots with only 3 on goal to Juve's 26 shots with 12 on goal. What should be taken from these stats is that Juve need to be more clinical upfront, however the Novara goalkeeper; Samir Ujkani has to be given all the credit as he stopped Del Piero from scoring his first goal of the season and holding off wave after wave of Juve attacks.

By the end of the first half and during the second half you could see the frustration starting to bubble over as the game started to introduce more and more niggling fouls and Giorgio Chiellini getting a bit too "eager" with the ball, and if this was a less lenient ref, we might have seen more cards , yet miraculously only 3 yellow cards were produced. What was slightly alarming to see in this game was how the Juve players would surround the ref every time a decision didn't go their way, I would expect this from the likes of Inter not from The Old Lady.

An important three point ahead of the game in Udine, let's just hope this winning momentum can endure the new year!

Roma V Juventus...

This was a game between a team in brilliant form ( Juve) to a team in crippling form (Roma), and for Juventus to only get a draw was frustrating to say the least. Juve had 22 shots with 9 on target to Roma's 3 that were on target, so the same will and desire was with Juve, just not the accuracy. At times Andrea Pirlo looked a little slow, he was misplacing passes and his free kicks were tame and predictable, nothing to trouble the Roma keeper who was exceptionally good to stifle The Old Lady. As a fan this was incredibly frustrating, but I'm a fan and I'm allowed to get frustrated, I wont get sent off, which Vidal very nearly did. He played a major part in De Rossi's goal, and I don't like to blame individuals, but the way he swiped at the ball was the way he plays- he's hot- headed and Conte should have calmed him down at half time.

The second half saw a more cohesive Roma team and the had the ball for large portion of the half, but Juve were not going to surrender their unbeaten record or pass up a chance to reclaim top spot and they pushed on and eventually got the equaliser through Giorgio Chiellini on the 61st minute. However the game very swiftly shifted back in Roma's favour as Francesco Totti got awarded a penalty. On the 64th minute, with Juve only just equalised, they almost lost the lead 3 minutes later but Gianluigi Buffon went the right way and denied the home fans of the satisfaction, but no one from Roma were following up- I think everyone was so sure that Totti would score it, after all it is Totti. Tempers began to rise and their were little kicks being thrown at each other, the good thing was the referee let many of them go thus letting the game flow better, yet with this particular future, it was never going to play out seamlessly and 6 minutes were added on. 6 minutes! I was close to having a heart attack!

Juve have a lot to ponder after this game and they only just reclaimed top- spot and that was due to goal difference, had Milan won their game Milan would be sitting on top. But having said that, Roma surprised everyone and played a very good game. Whomever said Italian Football was dying cleary needs to open their eyes to a little more than just the premiership!

Roma-Juventus preview

Coppa Italia- Juventus v Bologna

It may be an overused cliche' but it is true nonetheless, there are no easy games, as was evident last night as Juve had to fight hard for their victory. Juventus had the majority if possession and chances, but they were either of target of denied by the wonderful talent of the Bologna keeper. This game was a chance for some of the less used players to prove themselves, and Milos Krasic was given his first start and what was clear by the way he played was that this was a man lacking confidence.

He was one player I was secretly praying that he did well as I think he deserves to be playing regularly, yet he didn't find his rhythm, which wasn't a shock since the whole team seemed disjointed at times. The team was not used to playing together and it wasn't entirely their fault as they have not had much playing time, so it wasn't a shock when you saw misplaced passes and mistimed runs. Back to Krasic, he was again substituted on the 65th minute which I believe was a mistake as he had started to get into the game, but what do I know compared to Antonio Conte.

They got the opener at the death of the game when Emmanuel Giaccherni got his first goal as a Juve player, but the Legend that is Del Piero couldn't seem to find the net as shot after shot was either saved or slightly off target, and when it did go in he was a yard off side.

At the end of the 90 minutes there was 5 minutes added time and the game did get a bit heated as a scuffle broke out and Pazienza was brandished with a yellow card. In my humble opinion they were still reeling from that and had not been paying attention as Raggi got on the end of a Bologna corner to push the game into extra time but not to worry as we have Il Principino to clinch the winner, and now we face either Milan or Roma in the quarter final, the latter we also have on Monday- NO REST FOR THE WICKED!

Tevez to Milan???

At first glance you would not be mistaken for thinking that Milan had lost their minds considering what aggravation he has caused at Man City. He has this belief that he was bigger than the club and you couldn't begrudge him for thinking that, especially how he was allowed to take extended holiday to Argentina to see his family.

He has an enormous wage bill that might just be too much for the Milanese side to cope with, but they have apparently agreed a loan with the option to buy- however Man City have not agreed to this, again it is all Tevez. The Manchester club should be over the moon to get rid of a loose canon, he has done nothing less that annoy the fans and his team mates with his antics, will Milan be just the tonic to calm him down, just look at how Milan shaped up Cassano and Robinho. Afterall he is an amazing footballer with a tremendous work ethic ( on the pitch) and can score the odd goal. Yet, the reason behind him kicking up a fuss with Man City was because he started to lose his place with other players coming into form, aren't Milan afraid that the same might occur in Italy? Least we forget, he has Zlatan, Pato and Robinho ahead of him. And we all know about Ibrahimovich, he can be a bit of a diva, but I believe If Milan can sort out the

aforementioned player they can deal with Tevez. People may have forgotten that part of the reason why Tevez became a liability for Man City is because of Manchester, everyone forgets that and we have to admit that Milan is a more glamorous city. All I can say with certainty is that the rest of Serie A should be on high alert- Things are going to become more heated and feisty at the top!!

Visite de Turin

Film review

The Adjustment Bureau- This would have worked better as a comedy, I'm not saying it's terrible but it's not exactly great! It had an interesting premise, there are "beings that control the important things", let me just ask you this... if you had that much power would you use it to control something as trivial as love??

The acting was not terrible but their was no chemistry between the two leading actors, and they're meant to be destined to be together- someone please pass me the puke bucket! And when the so called " angels" revealed themselves to Matt Damon's character, it was done in a flippant way, there was nothing that would make you feel it was serious. Subtle hints of racism did rear it's ugly head, in the hospital waiting room when Thompson reveals how they were involved in the Renaissance and when they left people on their own we got the dark ages. This is blatantly Euro centric, are you telling me that during these tomes nothing else happened?? While Europe was in the dark ages, China was at the height of their civilisation.

The ending just showed how stupid Emily Blunt's character was, she just blindly followed a crazy man who was wearing a " magic hat"- bring in the men with the white coats please!!

Finally the little sum up at the end was a sure sign that this was not worth paying £9 to watch in the cinema.

2 out of 5!

Napoli V Juventus

This rescheduled fixture did not disappointed- it was an edge of your seat game. Napoli had the reputation as the "giant killers" having beaten both of the Milan clubs but still they weren't able to end Juventus' undefeated run. Napoli are not a side to be taken lightly as they were held at Atlanta and wanted blood, and to prove to their critics that they do have what it takes to be taken seriously. Juve had a slice of luck, as the goal machine known as Edison Cavani was not in the side, however, they didn't count on Pandev netting a brace and Hamsik scoring.


This was always going to be a heated game as people from Naples traditionally don't like teams from the north, and the fans were doing their bit to influence the game by whistling and booing every time a Juve player touched the ball. Napoli pushed Juve in the first half and they got a penalty after 15 minutes which Hamsik took and scored only to realise that he had to retake it, he then missed the second one and Juve were let off the hook, but not for long as Marek Hamsik who felt a huge injustice was done, scored the opener. Juventus went into the break leading by two goals, now the old Juve would have panicked and lost their heads, but this team came out with a fighting spirit that reminded me of the 2002/03 squad.
Alessandro Matri can finally get rid of the chip on his shoulder as he surpassed Claudio Marchisio, by scoring on the 48th minute. But even with 60% possession, Juve looked as though they might lose their record of being unbeaten as Pandev restored Napoli's 2 goal cushion following some errors from the defence, most notable Leonardo Bonucci, who looked rather "out of sorts" and may be on his way out as Juve have conceded more goal then they have scored, sooner or later something will have to be done about this because it could lead to their undoing.
Through sheer determination and great teamwork they managed a draw but at what cost? Juve will be without Andrea Pirlo due to a pile up of yellow cards, they were without Marchisio for the same reason. During this game The Old Lady racked up 5 yellow cards which means Bonucci, Vidal, Chiellini and Pepe are just 1 card away from a suspension. They have to keep their emotions in check because these unnecessary cards build up!
The player that impressed me the most was perhaps Stephen Lichtsteiner, towards the end of the game he looked as though he was struggling to breath. It came as no surprise as he ram himself into the ground. His running knew no bounds and it was encouraging to see, I just hope Juventus don't run out of steam, because the Christmas break is coming up and this is usual followed by a dip in form by Juve.

The return of Milan..

Last nights game was a wake up call to anyone who thought the Rosonerri were a one hit wonder, as the came out of the game as 4-0 victors. Okay it was against Chievo, but the way they dominated possession and pressured the opponent's goal was impressive, that's the least you can say!
Milan had over 60% possession and had 5 shots on goal with 4 of them hitting the back of the net, and all goals came in the fist half with Thiago Silva scoring a thunderbolt on the 8th, Zlatam doubled it on the 16th minute while Pato made it 3-0 on the 33rd minute, being in the right place in the right time all he had to do was slot it in, and then he was brought down in the box and on 44 minutes Zlatan converted the penalty to seal the win before half time.
In the second half Milan were still attacking but Chievo were also, The Flying Donkeys knew they had to go for it, but even with Chievo playing harder they had no chance at turning this around. Allegri used this as a chance to give some playing time to Urby and Stephen- what did they have to lose?
All credit goes to Milan with their impressive display but some should be given to Chievo, after all they did stop Milan from scoring even more and limited their defeat to 4.
With Milan just one point behind Juve, this is a time where everything counts and complete concentration must be kept, because Milan will now be running on this high and may be impossible to contain.

Lazio V Juventus

A game that was billed as the top of the table clash didn't lack in heart stopping moments, that I can guarantee you, as a Juve fan I was on the edge of my seat! Juventus came into this game unbeaten and remain unbeaten, as they came out 1-0 winners, but it was a hard fought victory and their were a lot of " almost" moments like the one on the 10th minute when a Stephen Lichtsteiner cross met Claudio Marchisio's head only to then go over the bar.

Juve almost went ahead soon after this time with an Andrea Pirlo shot to be parried away and for Lichtsteiner to hit it wide of the post- agonizing to watch! But it wasn't all one way traffic as at the other end Tommaso Rocchi had a cjance, but Buffon with all his guile an experience, stopped it. The goalkeepers at both ends made terrific saves to keep it level, but sooer or later someone was going to falter, and on the 34th minute Federico Marchetti was caught out by a quick counter attack by Juve, Alessandro Matri passed the ball to Simone Pepe who, from 10 yards out couldn't miss and he didn't! Pepe almost double the lead moments later, but he was one on one with the keeper, and this time the keeper prevailed. Lazio were far more aggressive in the secomd half as this would be a chance to be on top of the table, and they increasingly showed their intent when on the 50th minute Hernanes was going to fire a close range shot passed Buffon but Lichtsteiner a former Lazio man, made a last ditch tackle to deny him that opportunity. Again Hernanes' had an opportunity but he was foiled by the woodwork on the hour mark. Seconds later a Miroslave Klose effort was punched away by the great athleticism of Gigi Buffon. Seven minutes from time Matri almost killed the game but his powerful shot went wide of the post. Seconds later he was substituted, one can only guess how demoralizing that must have been for him- coming so close on so many occasions and then to be taken off with 6 minutes remaining.

The game ended with The Old Lady reclaiming top spot with a game in hand, and that game is to be played on Tuesday, that doesn't leave a lot of time to recharge but that the benefit of having such a big squad. The worrying thing at the end of the game was the fact that Marchisio will be suspended because of an accumulation of yellow cards and Pepe and Pirlo looked to be running on one leg so to speak. If that's the case, then Juve best midfield combination looks to be in doubt. Maybe Conte could reintegrate Krasic and use Elia- just a suggestion!

Juventus V Palermo

Juventus were haunted by this particular adversary, having not beaten them at home since November 25 2007, they were long overdue a win, And they got it, in some style if I might say, beating Palermo 3-0 goals from Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri and Octobers MVP: Claudio Marchisio. But it was hardly a walk in the park, Palermo came out with all guns blazing and both sides had the chance to go ahead in the first half. The only thing that did trouble me was how Krasic was left out yet again and he wasn't even on the bench, it seems as though he might be on his way out which hardly seems fair as he is an undoubted talent.

Juve had chances early on when Giorgio Chiellini got on the end of an Andrea Pirlo cross but he miss timed his jump and shouldered the ball wide and after 8 minutes Marchisio's powerful shot just went wide of the post- being Marchisio you would have bet money that It was going to go in after all, he is know for the spectacular goals this season.

Palermo also had their fair amount of chances, most notable Joseph Ilic's left footed shot that would have surely would have troubles any other keeper but not Gianluigi Buffon who made a tremendous save to deny Palermo the chance to go ahead. The game was fairly even but then a sublime cross from Chiellini found the head of Pepe, and on the 20th minute they were in the lead. Mirku Vucinic had so attempts on goal but they bore no fruit and Juve went in at half time leading by 1 goal. The second half saw an energised Juve who would score within 3 minutes of the restart, a Stephen Lichtsteiner, who had been so energetic in the first half, he set up Matri who calmly slotted the ball in on 48 minutes to double the lead. A somewhat desperate Palermo continues the fight but it wasn't enough as Vucinic helped orchestrate the third goal. Vucinic fired the shot on goal which Matri intelligently let go through his legs for Marchisio to put the final nail in Palermo's coffin.

Juve are back on to with a game still to play, but this was a game that could have put a spanner in the works. Juve have the momentum and mentality to collect another win next week against Lazio.

Fiorentina V Milan

A game not for the faint hearted, as right at the end of the game it could have been one by either side, but most of the talk will be about how Seedorf had a goal wrongly chalked off as off side in the first half and how nearly the return of Pato coincided with a goal. There was no doubt that both sides wanted all three points but the stats would prove that Milan had the pedigree and patience to hold on to the ball longer as they had over 60% possession, but with only one shot good enough to trouble the keeper, maybe the loss of Cassano will force Galliani to open up the purse strings in the January transfer window.

The longer it went on goalless the more the home side were growing in confidence, the passes were more accurate and they were have the ball for longer portions of the game, but like Milan they were lacking the finishing touch as shoots were being attempted from anywhere.

The problem that Milan are still facing is the Midfield, Massimo Ambrosini does not have the legs to run back and forth, as it became obvious when he was continually outrun by the Viola players, lucky for him it didn't cost them but it is still an area of concern. This game was always going to be a tough one as it was played in Florence and the homecrowd to make it known when they are displeased, maybe this had an affect on the players and officials, but all I can say is that the result in this game and the game between Lazio and Napoli is hugely beneficial to Juventus and their journey back to the top!

Krasic, if you must go...

..... Don't go to the premiership!! I will be deeply saddened by his departure as he is a truly gifted player with a lot to give, Juventus just didn't want to wait. But seeing him on the bench or even in the stands is just as heartbreaking and a sad sight to see. A talent like Milos doesn't deserve to waste away on the bench.

However nothing is for sure in the crazy world of football and I still believe Juve need his speed and creativity to add something different to the mix. However, if he must go, I beg him not to come to England. He is a talented and tricky player and the British only have one method of stopping that- knock him down. The premiership is full of yobs who tend to break legs, I fear for his future and I feel it might be the end if he comes to the premiership! Juve please save him from this terrible fate!

City Sightseeing Torino - linea 2

City Sightseeing Torino

What is going on??!!

England V Spain

How in the world did England beat Spain??? And I answer... It was pure luck. They could only beat the reigning WORLD CHAMPIONS through a set piece, and to be fair, it was only a friendly and Spain didn't really put any effort into this until the last half hour. Plus it's only polite to let the host have at least one victory to hold on to, Spain didn't want to humiliate them on their own ground, especially when there's really nothing in it for them, Spain will conserve their energies for the games that count. Unlike England, where they will do okay in qualifiers and Friendlies- but for the actual competitions they will get thrashed!!

Now we're going to hear about how great England are and how they can win the Euros and the World Cup- yeah right!! Just when they were starting to realise where they belonged in the universe, this happens to bring back the arrogance and the false supremacy they have! And you wont hear the end of it until next summer. And when they do fail, they will just blame Capello, but tell me this... what is the man meant to do with a group of duds?!

Happy Birthday Del Piero!

37 glorious years of a great man that is Alessandro Del Piero, 18 of which he has spent at Juventus. And now with his place firmly cemented in Juve history, he must depart, as his contract is coming to an end he may be saying goodbye to The Grand Old Lady, but not from the sport he has spent a large portion of his life playing. Speculation are running wild as to where he will be playing his football next year, but I say stop looking to the future without Del Piero in our beloved Italy, and look at what he has done and is still doing after all this season has a long way to go!
Coming from a modest background, Del Piero had big dreams of one day becoming a footballer, at the tender age of 7 he began to play for San Vendemiano as a goal keeper, his mother didn’t want to see him get hurt, as in this position it was unlikely to get seriously injured. His older brother, Stefano later convince their mother to let Alex play in attack, a role that he would make his own. Soon after switching positions he was spotted by a scout and at the age of 13 he left home to play for youth side Padova Calcio.
Grander things were on the horizon for young Alex as he was snapped up by Italian giants Juventus in 1993. He made his Serie A debut in September of that year against Foggia and scored his first ever Serie A goal in the next game against Reggiana. Throughout his tremendous season with Juve he won five Serie A titles, The Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, But disaster struck when in October of the 1998/9 season he picked up a serious knee injury that ended his season and saw Juve hobble on and finish in a lowly six position in the league. In my humble opinion that injury not only made him a better player but also a better person, as he was increasingly hungry and grateful for the time he gets on the field.

Throughout his illustrious career he has also amassed a number of individual awards including:
• Best Loved Player- 2001,2008
• UEFA Champions League top scorer- 1997/8
• Most Valuable Player- Intercontinental Cup 1996
• Oscar AIC Italian Footballer of the Year- 1998, 2008
• Oscar AIC Top Scorer- 2008
• Serie B Top scorer- 2007
• 3 awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct
• Golden Foot Award- 2007

And the greatest award was of course the World Cup in 2006. Which I admit is a collective award and is really about the entire team, but he can truly say that he went out at the top of his game, that is when he does retire! At the age of 37 he still wants to play on, and he still could as he is like a fine wine and gets better with age. Here’s to the great man who would put the needs of his team ahead of his own. I’ll miss seeing your cheeky celebration in Serie A!

Messi V Ronaldo

People are already saying that it is a forgone conclusion and that Messi is going to win the Ballon D'or. Does that tell you something... that maybe he is a great player!! He is a team player who provides as well as score spectacular goals. He makes the most intricate pass or shot on goal look simple whereas Ronaldo does all these unnecessary stepovers that lead no where and are just about him showboating, he has to realize that it may have impressed people at the premiership, where, let's face it, they're not the most technical and the only reason it is played at a high tempo is because they can't hold onto the ball long enough! But at La liga this doesn't impress anyone. Ronaldo is a media whore, all he cares about is that he is the most talked about, he has started all this talk about being better than Messi and now what.... he realizes that maybe he's not that great.

Messi is only 24 and at this tender age he has won 50 individual awards and is still a likable individual unlike Ronaldo he is a bigger arse the more trophies he gets. Personality is the difference between a great player and a legend who will live forever. Zidane. Kaka',Nedved, Ronaldo ( Brazilian), Shevchenko and Cannavaro, C. Ronaldo may have won it once but all that has done is proved what I've been saying, he's a bigger arse now than he was before. He will not be remembered as a great just as a selfish SOB!!

I'm not just saying this because I dislike him, I do.. but also sooner or later this act of his will annoy players and team mates a like and one day he might just get an injury that will end his ascent to become the greatest ARSEHOLE!

Another thing that people often don't remember when talking about these two, Ronaldo is the whiniest player on the pitch and falls over after the faintest touch. Whereas Messi will do his best to stay on his feet and when he does fall, he tries his best to get back on his feet to continue helping his team. People are often saying that Messi is not the best because he has never Won a World Cup...Well neither has Ronaldo! I also have a vivid memory of Ronaldo saying in an interview how Kaka' did not deserve to win the Ballon D'or and it should have been him, now they are teammates, now who would go on the record and say that about a fellow professional?? Surely not a player that wants to be remember as one of the Greats.

Juventus vs Cagliari: Milos Krasic 1st goal-Happy Birthday!!

Fabio Quagliarella - ☆It's My Season 2011-2012☆ "New" HD

Where's Fabio???

Fabio Quagliarella is a talented player and Juventus bought him after a loan spell last season, and he was Juve's top scorer despite the fact that his season was cut short due to a horrific knee injury in January that meant his season was over. However this season the forward has only played in 1 game and that was as a substitute. After seeing him on the bench a couple of times, one would hope that he would get a chance to shine, but that wasn't the case.

Antonio Conte is spoilt for choice when it come to the attach with players like: Matri, Vucinic, Giaccherini, Elia, Ianquinta, Amauri, Toni and the evergreen Alessandro Del Piero, he does have a bit of a conundrum on his hands. Quagliarella is 28 years old, so not the youngest but he does have a flair for the unconventional goals which is always useful to have at your disposal. I'm also guessing that he wants to be included in Euro 2012 with the current Italy side, he can't exactly be in contention for a role in the Azzurri if he hasn't played a game all season.

It is still early in the season, and you can't blame Conte for playing Matri ahead of Fabio, Matri is in blistering form which can only be good for the team and Antonio may be slightly apprehensive about disturbing the equilibrium. Who knows, maybe we'll see a cameo next week against his former side Napoli. It would be sheer cruelty to let such a talented player waste away on the bench. Surely Juve aren't that cruel...Are they?

Inter vs Juventus

A game that had all the ingredients of being a good watch, it had drama, intrigue but above all good football by Juventus. Inter had spent the week before spreading doubt in the minds of referees, they has been moaning and complaining about how referees were to willing to give free kicks and penalties against them, and that doubt had grow in their minds and thus, Juve were denied a clear penalty just before half time when Inter keeper Luca Casstellazzi came running out the goal and brought down Claudio Marchisio, who has a flair for the dramatic goals. Not only that, but five Juve players got yellow cards, this was classic Inter behaviour, when it looks like they're losing they try to take down as many opposing players as they can, they will try anything from grabbing their face and going down to clearly antagonising the opposing player to get him sent off. But Inters childish behaviour doesn't stop at that, they whine to the referee when a decision doesn't go their way, so much so that Wesley Sneijder should have had two yellow by the end of the match, he was substitute late on probably for that reason and the youngster Ricky Alvarez was brought on, which did cause Juve some problems as by this point they were all exhausted!

The Old Lady could have been atleast 3 up before half time as they wasted opportunities again and again. The first goal came from Mirku Vucinic in the 12th minute, he had been in the right place when Alessandro Matri's shot was saved. It then took Inter till the 38th minute to get the equaliser and when he did the home fans went wild, and it was clear by Maicon's celebration what the goal had meant. But Inter were poor in defence, and if they want to win anything they have to take a look at this as it was becoming childsplay for Juve, but still Juve were not as decisive as they should be upfront. It didn't take Juve long however, as in the 33rd minute Marchisio put Juve infront yet again. He had been everywhere, running himself into the ground and working hard for the team. The 25 year old has really come into his prime but his still has a tendency to accumelate the cards, he had already had three this season and another would have seen him suspended for the game against Napoli.

Inter are in real trouble as they are dangerously close to the relegation zone and Juve have retained their place on the top, but only by two points, so I don't want to see complacency by my team as the other team from Milan are breathing down our neck!

Juventus v Fiorentina

A break neck start for Juventus, while they lost something in the second half. A narrow win that could have easily lead to another draw, which would've meant they dropped another 2 points but as fate would have it, they have regained top spot albeit by only 1 point but if Udinese lose against Napoli, they will once again have some breathing room.

Juve started off brightly with a shot from Simone Pepe on the seventh minute that forced Arthur Boruc to make his first save of the night. Pepe was by far the most hardworking and creative of the bunch, his tireless runs and his ability to get back to help the defence were inspirational. Yet for all his hard work it was not he who scored the first goal. It was Leonardo Bonucci, but it started from another little solider ; Claudio Marchisio. It was his shot on target that forced Boruc to parry the ball within the reach if Bonucci who was the first to react and opened the scoring for The Old Lady.

Juve were wasting an alarming amount of opportunities and should have been up by 2 goals before the break. Out of 21 shot only 14 were on target and only forced the keeper to save on 12 occasions. A statistic that should make the Bianconeri think about their cutting edge. More to the point, Mirku Vucinc was not exactly in sparkling form, out of 5 shots only three were on target and they were either tame or straight at the keeper making it almost an easy save. Juve should work on this as in the second half they paid for all their missed chances with an equaliser by La Viola in the 57th minute. This did cause a slight panic from Juve, which was scrappy to say the least! But Juve eventually found the rhythm and tempo from the first half and resulted in a goal from Alessandro Matri in the 65th minute, it was all due to the hard work and persistent play from Pepe, Pepe had five Fiorentina players around him but still managed to get the ball to Matri and Matri did what all great strikers do.. he banged it into the goal and Juve were once again in the lead.

With all three points collected, Juve can go into Saturday's game with Inter on a high... but they still have a lot to work on. I must say this is one of the better birthdays I have enjoyed. Thank you Juventus!