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Rinaldi's Blog: April 2010

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Monday, April 12, 2010. Coppa Italia: Fiorentina's last dream. In terms of prestige it is pretty much accepted that the Coppa Italia ranks somewhere between the European tiddliwinks championship and the World conkers title. It is almost always compared very unfavourably with its English equivalent, the FA Cup. Crowds are small, most big teams field understrength sides and you can count the number of shocks on the prongs of your pizza fork. Cesare Prandelli shocked a few pundits by fielding an apparently ...

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Rinaldi's Blog: March 2010

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Inter: The Real Deal At Last? They celebrated as if they had won the trophy itself. Everyone at Inter Milan knew they had achieved an important result, knocking out one of the most fancied sides in the competition. In the process, they went some way to overturning their reputation as one of European football's biggest failures. Hats off to the Special One who passed his first crunch test of the season with flying colours. His tactics proved perfect at thwarting Chelsea's at...

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Rinaldi's Blog: January 2010

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Thursday, January 28, 2010. Say It Ain't So Adrian. I have always thought that when life gives you a second chance you should seize it. Think about Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol who gets the chance to see how little the world would mourn his passing. You would cherish every day after that experience, wouldn’t you? And, more importantly, you would surely never make the same mistakes again. Just one text message changed all that. “Have you seen your man Mutu has tested positive again? 8221; it said.

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Rinaldi's Blog: June 2009

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Time for a calcio breather after the Confederations Cup and Under 21 Euro Championships. Much more bitterly disappointed about the latter than the former. We never looked all that enthusiastic for events in South Africa but the young boys were desperately hard done by. However, at least there is hope for the years to come. Judicious use of these young stars in the full international team should bear fruit. And who knows what judgements Serie A will bring in the year ahead? Let's b...

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Rinaldi's Blog: February 2010

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010. Martino Uno Di Noi! They know how to say goodbye in Florence. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). A fortysomething Scottish-Italian journalist and author with a love for good food, good football and bad alcoholic beverages. View my complete profile. The oldest Twitter in town. Follow me on Twitter. Hair Colors Blond ideas In 2013. A Bhoy in Leith. My Thoughts on the World of Sports. NHL Playoffs: Western Conference. Motor City to the Eternal City. Firenze Night and Day.

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Rinaldi's Blog: July 2009

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Thursday, July 30, 2009. It sneaked up on me without allowing any real sense of anticipation. I was just finishing off my summer holidays and then, bang, there it is. The first Italian team plays the first match that really matters as Roma swing into action against Belgian outfit Gent. As always, I'll be hoping the Italian team makes progress. It would be good to have our contenders repeat Udinese's good show in the equivalent competition last year. The Giallorossi have great potential to do so. Yet even...

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Rinaldi's Blog: November 2009

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Monday, November 23, 2009. The Crazy World Of Milan. Carlo Ancelotti has got it easy. While his new team Chelsea stroll past average opposition almost every week, his successor at Milan is having kittens. You can say what you like about Leonardo’s Rossonero regime, but definitely not that it is boring. Doubts have to remain about the sustainability of this approach. Surely the wheels must eventually fall off the Milan challenge. However, a bit like one of those plate-spinning acts, it is good fun...Meanw...

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Rinaldi's Blog: December 2009

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Watch out England, the Italians are taking over. The national team is in the hands of Fabio Capello, the league leaders belong to Carlo Ancelotti, and struggling West Ham is under the guidance of Gianfranco Zola. Now the biggest of your big spenders have Roberto Mancini. If things keep going at this pace, we’ll be able to change the Premiership brand into Serie A by the end of the next decade or so. But what are Manchester City getting for their many million pounds? The big-sp...

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Rinaldi's Blog: Mancio's next mission

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Watch out England, the Italians are taking over. The national team is in the hands of Fabio Capello, the league leaders belong to Carlo Ancelotti, and struggling West Ham is under the guidance of Gianfranco Zola. Now the biggest of your big spenders have Roberto Mancini. If things keep going at this pace, we’ll be able to change the Premiership brand into Serie A by the end of the next decade or so. But what are Manchester City getting for their many million pounds? The big-sp...

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Rinaldi's Blog: September 2009

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009. Twenty years have passed since a frail-looking youngster with long dark curls lit up European nights in a purple shirt. His virtuoso performances put a huge smile on the faces of Fiorentina fans. I can feel echoes of Roby Baggio in Stevan Jovetic. This Fiorentina side is streets ahead of the team that lost its UEFA final to Juve. That year the talk in the bars around Campo di Marte was all about avoiding relegation and hoping for a brighter future. Nowadays, some supp...Yet a...