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Phalanx Prophecy: Italy Responds To John Terry's Affair Lightheartedly
There's only one proper response to the glitz of celebrity drama -- parody. Italy dealt with the visiting John Terry in a lighthearted manner this week, Zac Lee Rigg explains, before previewing the weekend Serie A action.
Feb 26, 2010 1:18:00 PM
By Zac Lee Rigg
Though his team lost and Diego Milito make him look like a bit like a turnstile, John Terry just may have enjoyed his trip to Italy this week.
Unlike the nearly puritan press of the USA and England, in Italy, well, nobody cares about affairs. Or at least there is less moral outrage towards them.
This is a country boasting a prime minister, AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who made his fortune as a media tycoon, capitalizing on sleazy and glitzy television programming. He also frequently (and less than convincingly) denies affairs with underage girls and stints with prostitutes. In his latest election, he divorced his wife after she publicly condemned his legion of models-turned-politicians in the parliament.
Salon.com used the phrase “Berlusconi's empire of boobs.”
Needless to say, Terry's infidelity looks like child's play (pun intended) in comparison. Hell, Wayne Bridge and his partner had already split up by the time the Chelsea captain got around to tasting the goods. That's hardly worth a blurb in Gazzetta dello Sport even if Terry were Italian.
But since the English are blowing their lids (bad pun intended) over it, Italy noticed, and dealt with it using the lack of regard such a trivial and sensationalized story deserves.
'Le Iene' (translation: hyenas), a television program, waited outside Chelsea's team hotel on Thursday along with throngs of fans looking for pictures and autographs. When Terry made his way through to the bus, the host of the program gave the 29-year-old a condom. At first Terry tried to ignore him, but he came back and accepted the gift with a chuckle.
Since the affair, I can't recall once seeing Terry smile, even when he's scored game winners. Instead, his face looks frozen in a determined scowl. But in light of the playful prank, he cracked a grin of genuine appreciation.
The incident may leave Terry more motivated than ever to overcome Internazionale in the Champions League, if only to leave England for a few days in the quarterfinal round.
Last week: 2/4 (50%)
For the season: 30/53 (57%)
Centurion – Palermo at Juventus
2:30 p.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 28
Fox Soccer Channel
In a race more enthralling that the title run, four teams sit within a point of each other between fourth and seventh. Juventus (41 points) or Palermo (40 points) could capitalize on this six pointer to take the lead role ahead of Sampdoria (40) and Napoli (40). Or they could both draw and lose ground. Whatev.
Alberto Zaccheroni's side comes into this one a little tired from the midweek Europa League game and a little wounded with Amauri joining the injured list and Claudio Marchisio suspended. Unbeaten in his six games in charge, Zaccheroni will square off against Delio Rossi in a fresh look for both sides' benches; neither Zaccheroni or Rossi held his current position in round seven when these sides first met this season.
Key man: Alex Manninger (Juventus) will man the pipes for the next month with Gianluigi Buffon out injured. Against Ajax the 32-year-old dropped a cross early and continued scaring the bejesus out of his defenders with some clangers early on. He settled down as the game progressed and will need to continue that more composed look if Juve want to hold on to fourth.
Prediction: Draw. With Napoli likely to drop two points against Roma as well, look for Sampdoria to take sole possession of fourth spot this week.
Optio – Atalanta at AC Milan
9:00 a.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 28
Fox Sports en Espanol
Second from top take on second from bottom. No prizes for pinpointing the favorite in this one. Atlanta has one win in six and one must go all the way back to November of 2009 to find an away win. A visit to the San Siro isn't exactly what coach Bortolo Mutti will want just now.
Since the return of Pato from injury, Milan has sizzled to three straight league wins, with Pato scoring in each encounter. Midweek, the Rossoneri scored twice in the last 10 minutes to overturn a quality Fiorentina side. Pato scored the injury time winner, his fourth goal against the Viola in four games, all wins.
Leonardo will likely shuffle the midfield for this one. Captain Massimo Ambrosini picked up a knock against Fiorentina. His replacement in that game, Mathieu Flamini, is suspended for this one. That likely means a return to the starting XI for David Beckham for the first time since the loss to Manchester United.
Key man: Andrea Pirlo (Milan) always runs the show anyways, but against Atalanta he'll need to step it up a smidge more than usual. The aging and hobbled pair of Beckham and Gennaro Gattuso will flank him, meaning the silky, gliding movement of Pirlo will need to compensate for the stagnation of those two former stars.
Prediction: Milan win. Obviously.
Decurion – Fiorentina at Lazio
2:30 p.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 27
Fox Soccer Channel
This current slump for the Viola is baffling. Victory over Livorno marked the end of a six game unbeaten streak in all competitions and seemed to indicate more good to come. However, Fiorentina lost to Milan midweek in a game postponed from December, leaving the team exasperated.
Injuries haven't helped, nor Andrian Mutu's suspension, but this Florence side really shouldn't be performing this badly.
Hailed as a savior after winning his first game in charge, Edy Reja went on to lose the second comprehensibly. The new Lazio boss asked for time before people judge him, and he probably deserves that, but those relegation spots still snarl directly below the Aquile.
Key man: Cristiano Zanetti (Fiorentina) perhaps took the most from this team with him onto the injured list. Two substitute appearances in recent days mean Zanetti should be set to go against Lazio, and his calm creativity can transform Fiorentina's possession game.
Prediction: Draw. When two poor runs come up against each other, shared points usually result.
Legionary – Bari at Catania
5:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 27
Fox Soccer Channel
Last week, both these sides gave limp performances to drop points to top-three clubs. Now each will want to put the lose behind it and put its season back on course.
Prior to that 1-0 loss to Roma, Catania had actually gone on a five game unbeaten streak under Sinisa Mihajlovic, who has steadied the ship considerably and brought the club out of the relegation zone. His opposite number in this one, Giampiero Ventura, signed a new contract despite the Milan defeat last week. Three losses in four have muffled excitement of late, but the newly-promoted side still sits in 11th place in the table.
Key man: Jorge Martinez (Catania) will only play because captain Giuseppe Mascara is suspended. However, the Uruguayan leads the Catania goalscoring charts with seven this season and could prove vital to this one.
Prediction: Catania win. Bari last won away in October, 2009. Away from the rowdy San Nicola, Bari simply isn't the same potent team.
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com. Phalanx Prophecy appears, dutifully, every Friday. You should probably read it.
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
Unlike the nearly puritan press of the USA and England, in Italy, well, nobody cares about affairs. Or at least there is less moral outrage towards them.
This is a country boasting a prime minister, AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who made his fortune as a media tycoon, capitalizing on sleazy and glitzy television programming. He also frequently (and less than convincingly) denies affairs with underage girls and stints with prostitutes. In his latest election, he divorced his wife after she publicly condemned his legion of models-turned-politicians in the parliament.
Salon.com used the phrase “Berlusconi's empire of boobs.”
Needless to say, Terry's infidelity looks like child's play (pun intended) in comparison. Hell, Wayne Bridge and his partner had already split up by the time the Chelsea captain got around to tasting the goods. That's hardly worth a blurb in Gazzetta dello Sport even if Terry were Italian.
But since the English are blowing their lids (bad pun intended) over it, Italy noticed, and dealt with it using the lack of regard such a trivial and sensationalized story deserves.
'Le Iene' (translation: hyenas), a television program, waited outside Chelsea's team hotel on Thursday along with throngs of fans looking for pictures and autographs. When Terry made his way through to the bus, the host of the program gave the 29-year-old a condom. At first Terry tried to ignore him, but he came back and accepted the gift with a chuckle.
Since the affair, I can't recall once seeing Terry smile, even when he's scored game winners. Instead, his face looks frozen in a determined scowl. But in light of the playful prank, he cracked a grin of genuine appreciation.
The incident may leave Terry more motivated than ever to overcome Internazionale in the Champions League, if only to leave England for a few days in the quarterfinal round.
Last week: 2/4 (50%)
For the season: 30/53 (57%)
Centurion – Palermo at Juventus
2:30 p.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 28
Fox Soccer Channel
In a race more enthralling that the title run, four teams sit within a point of each other between fourth and seventh. Juventus (41 points) or Palermo (40 points) could capitalize on this six pointer to take the lead role ahead of Sampdoria (40) and Napoli (40). Or they could both draw and lose ground. Whatev.
Alberto Zaccheroni's side comes into this one a little tired from the midweek Europa League game and a little wounded with Amauri joining the injured list and Claudio Marchisio suspended. Unbeaten in his six games in charge, Zaccheroni will square off against Delio Rossi in a fresh look for both sides' benches; neither Zaccheroni or Rossi held his current position in round seven when these sides first met this season.
Key man: Alex Manninger (Juventus) will man the pipes for the next month with Gianluigi Buffon out injured. Against Ajax the 32-year-old dropped a cross early and continued scaring the bejesus out of his defenders with some clangers early on. He settled down as the game progressed and will need to continue that more composed look if Juve want to hold on to fourth.
Prediction: Draw. With Napoli likely to drop two points against Roma as well, look for Sampdoria to take sole possession of fourth spot this week.
Optio – Atalanta at AC Milan
9:00 a.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 28
Fox Sports en Espanol
Second from top take on second from bottom. No prizes for pinpointing the favorite in this one. Atlanta has one win in six and one must go all the way back to November of 2009 to find an away win. A visit to the San Siro isn't exactly what coach Bortolo Mutti will want just now.
Since the return of Pato from injury, Milan has sizzled to three straight league wins, with Pato scoring in each encounter. Midweek, the Rossoneri scored twice in the last 10 minutes to overturn a quality Fiorentina side. Pato scored the injury time winner, his fourth goal against the Viola in four games, all wins.
Leonardo will likely shuffle the midfield for this one. Captain Massimo Ambrosini picked up a knock against Fiorentina. His replacement in that game, Mathieu Flamini, is suspended for this one. That likely means a return to the starting XI for David Beckham for the first time since the loss to Manchester United.
Key man: Andrea Pirlo (Milan) always runs the show anyways, but against Atalanta he'll need to step it up a smidge more than usual. The aging and hobbled pair of Beckham and Gennaro Gattuso will flank him, meaning the silky, gliding movement of Pirlo will need to compensate for the stagnation of those two former stars.
Prediction: Milan win. Obviously.
Decurion – Fiorentina at Lazio
2:30 p.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 27
Fox Soccer Channel
This current slump for the Viola is baffling. Victory over Livorno marked the end of a six game unbeaten streak in all competitions and seemed to indicate more good to come. However, Fiorentina lost to Milan midweek in a game postponed from December, leaving the team exasperated.
Injuries haven't helped, nor Andrian Mutu's suspension, but this Florence side really shouldn't be performing this badly.
Hailed as a savior after winning his first game in charge, Edy Reja went on to lose the second comprehensibly. The new Lazio boss asked for time before people judge him, and he probably deserves that, but those relegation spots still snarl directly below the Aquile.
Key man: Cristiano Zanetti (Fiorentina) perhaps took the most from this team with him onto the injured list. Two substitute appearances in recent days mean Zanetti should be set to go against Lazio, and his calm creativity can transform Fiorentina's possession game.
Prediction: Draw. When two poor runs come up against each other, shared points usually result.
Legionary – Bari at Catania
5:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 27
Fox Soccer Channel
Last week, both these sides gave limp performances to drop points to top-three clubs. Now each will want to put the lose behind it and put its season back on course.
Prior to that 1-0 loss to Roma, Catania had actually gone on a five game unbeaten streak under Sinisa Mihajlovic, who has steadied the ship considerably and brought the club out of the relegation zone. His opposite number in this one, Giampiero Ventura, signed a new contract despite the Milan defeat last week. Three losses in four have muffled excitement of late, but the newly-promoted side still sits in 11th place in the table.
Key man: Jorge Martinez (Catania) will only play because captain Giuseppe Mascara is suspended. However, the Uruguayan leads the Catania goalscoring charts with seven this season and could prove vital to this one.
Prediction: Catania win. Bari last won away in October, 2009. Away from the rowdy San Nicola, Bari simply isn't the same potent team.
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com. Phalanx Prophecy appears, dutifully, every Friday. You should probably read it.
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
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