ITALIAN CLUBS

Results and news from Italy.

Torres stopped in its tracks as week 8 of Italy Serie A is played November 15, 2000

Mario Rimati

The scoring machine known as Torres has momentarily lost its momentum. After the only goal scored by Spaniard Parejo, the Sardinian club managed a tie in its home match against Agliana as did Rutten's Oristano in its 0-0 encounter against Milan. National team veteran Federica D'Astolfo came up big to score Foroni's only goal against Bardolino. Panico's Lazio in the meantime tied Gravina 4-4.

Results of week 4played on November 15, 2000
Picenum	2	Palermo 2
Gravina	4	Lazio	4
Oristano	0	Milan	0
Bardolino	0	Foroni	1
Pisa	3	Torino	0
Geas	4	Sarzana	2
Torres	1	Agliana	1
Tradate	0	Fiammamonza	5

Standings Torres 19 Foroni 19 Milan 17 Oristano 17 Bardolino 15 Geas 15 Pisa 13 Agliana 12 Lazio 11 Fiammamonza 11 Gravina 9 Picenum 8 Sarzana 5 Palermo 2 Tradate 1 Torino 0

Leading goalscorers 11 Parejo (Torres) 9 Guarino (Torres) 8 Placchi (Bardolino) 8 Gazzoli (Milan) 8 Tagliacarne (Milan) 8 Panico (Lazio) 7 Colasuonno (Gravina) 5 Buttaccio (Palermo) 4 Sodini (Oristano) 4 Zorri (Lazio) 3 Costanzo (Geas) 2 Mazzantini (Picenum) 2 Buttaccio (Palermo) 2 Pellizzer (Foroni) 2 Boldini (Foroni)

Torres' winning streak has come to a halt as it loses 1-0 in an away game to Foroni in game 7 of Italy Serie A played on November 4, 2000

"Torres' winning streak halted"

Mario Rimati

After 38 consecutive victories Torres' winning streak comes to a halt as
it loses 1-0 in an away game to Foroni. Panico's Lazio in the meantime ties
Milan. Rutten's Oristano won 2-1 against Fiammamonza and now finds itself
in a three-way tie for 2nd place along with Milan and Foroni. Serie A
newcomer Palermo continues its negative downslide losing 9-0 against
Gravina.

Results of week 4played on November 4, 2000
Palermo	0	Gravina 9
Milan	0	Lazio	0
Fiammamonza	1	Oristano	2
Agliana	1	Bardolino	2
Torino	2	Picenum	3
Sarzana	1	Pisa	1
Foroni	1	Torres	0
Tradate	0	Geas	5

Standings Torres 18 Milan 16 Oristano 16 Foroni 16 Bardolino 15 Geas 12 Agliana 11 Lazio 10 Pisa 10 Fiammamonza 8 Gravina 8 Picenum 7 Sarzana 5 Palermo 1 Tradate 1 Torino 0

Leading goalscorers 10 Parejo (Torres) 9 Guarino (Torres) 8 Placchi (Bardolino) 8 Gazzoli (Milan) 8 Tagliacarne (Milan) 7 Panico (Lazio) 7 Colasuonno (Gravina) 5 Buttaccio (Palermo) 4 Sodini (Oristano) 4 Zorri (Lazio) 3 Costanzo (Geas) 2 Mazzantini (Picenum) 2 Buttaccio (Palermo) 2 Pellizzer (Foroni) 2 Boldini (Foroni)

"Torres steamrolls to the top" in latest week of Italy Serie A competition

Mario Rimati

Nothing seems to be able to get in the way lately of Rita Guarino's Torres: the Sardinian club buried Fiammamonza with an avalanche of 10 goals
propelling it to the top of the Serie A. Former national champions Milan in the meantime won 7-1 and fellows closely behind. Walking quietly yet carrying a big stick is Jill Rutten's Oristano which won 1-0 in its away game. Oristano is not too far behind Torres and Milan at 3rd place (tied with Foroni). Lazio managed to squeeze by Silvia Fiorni's Agliana (a former USA'99 member) in its home match in Rome. Lazio's two goals were scored by Patrizia Panico and Tatiana Zorri. Betty Bavagnoli, assistant coach to Carolina Morace, was in the stands observing some new players for the national team.

The "Scorpion" had a double satisfaction on the weekend as she lead her U 20 team to an 8-1 victory in the "derby" match against archrival Roma the day after her match against Agliana. Panico has begun coaching the 3rd division club of Lazio since the outset of this year's season. She's assisted by her fellow teammate (and national team member) Adele Frollani who is also physiotherapist graduate.

Results of week 4played on October 28, 2000
Pisa	3	Palermo 1
Picenum	2	Milan	7
Geas	0	Oristano	1
Gravina	1	Foroni	3
Torres	10	Fiammamonza	0
Sarzana	5	Torino	3
Bardolino	6	Tradate	0
Lazio	2	Agliana	1

Standings Torres 18 Milan 15 Oristano 13 Foroni 13 Bardolino 12 Agliana 11 Geas 9 Pisa 9 Lazio 9 Fiammamonza 8 Gravina 5 Picenum 4 Sarzana 4 Palermo 1 Tradate 1 Torino 0

Leading goalscorers 10 Parejo (Torres) 9 Guarino (Torres) 8 Placchi (Bardolino) 8 Gazzoli (Milan) 8 Tagliacarne (Milan) 7 Panico (Lazio) 5 Buttaccio (Palermo) 4 Sodini (Oristano) 4 Zorri (Lazio) 4 Colasuonno (Gravina) 3 Costanzo (Geas) 2 Mazzantini (Picenum) 2 Buttaccio (Palermo) 2 Pellizzer (Foroni) 2 Boldini (Foroni)

Results of games of week 5 of Italy Serie A played on October 21, 2000

"Guarino's Torres unstoppable"

Mario Rimati

The women's Serie A resumed play on October 21st after the national team's successful victory against Portugal in the European qualifying play off match last week. Small changes have begun to occur now that Carolina Morace has taken over the national team, such as the sports papers actually putting the news of the 3-0 win against the Portuguese on the front page pluspictures of the match in the sports columns. Rarely did this happen under the previous head coaches.

Week 5 of Serie A
The championship saw Rita Guarino's Torres continue its domination of the championship with its devastating 10-0 victory over Tradate. Gaurino and Parejo both got hat tricks followed by goals from former national team captain Antonella Carta as well as Deiana, Masia and Placchi (the last three are all national team players). In the meantime, Milan maintains a close 2nd place as it beat Pisa 2-0, Jill Rutten's former club. Her new club, Oristano, is meanwhile quietly moving up the Serie A standings as it beat Bardolino 1-0. Torino-Lazio was not played because of major flooding which wreaked havoc last week in many parts of northwestern Italy. That match will be scheduled at a later date.

Results of week 4played on October 21, 2000
Agliana	3	Gravina 0
Palermo	2	Geas	5
Oristano	1	Bardolino	0
Tradate	0	Torres	10
Fiammamonza	1	Picenum	2
Foroni	2	Sarzana	0
Milan	2	Pisa	0
Torino	pp	Lazio	pp

Standings Torres 15 Milan 12 Agliana 11 Foroni 10 Oristano 10 Bardolino 9 Geas 9 Fiammamonza 8 Pisa 6 Lazio 6 Gravina 5 Picenum 4 Sarzana 1 Palermo 1 Tradate 1 Torino 0

Leading goalscorers 7 Guarino (Torres) 7 Parejo (Torres) 6 Panico (Lazio) 6 Placchi (Bardolino) 4 Sodini (Oristano) 4 Gazzoli (Milan) 3 Costanzo (Geas) 3 Colasuonno (Gravina) 2 Mazzantini (Picenum) 2 Buttaccio (Palermo) 2 Pellizzer (Foroni) 2 Boldini (Foroni) 2 Tagliacarne (Milan)

"Schumacher, Trapattoni, Maldini and...Panico" plus the results of Games of week 4 of the Italy Serie A played on October, 7th.

Two very exciting weekends for Italian sports aficionados: last weekend saw the close of the Sydney Olympics with Italy placing 7th (out of 200 nations) in the medal standings. This past weekend saw: Michael Schumacher bring home the Formula 1 world championship title for Ferrari after a 21-year absence, head coach Giovanni Trapattoni led Italy to a convincing 3-0 victory over Romania in the 2002 men's World Cup qualifier in Milan, captain Paolo Maldini reached the record of 113 caps with the Italian national team (surpassing by 1 game the record held by former head coach Dino Zoff) and Patrizia "The Scorpion" Panico hitting for a record 5 times
in one match. For Panico, a positive omen in light of October 14th's friendly match against France?

The Serie A also saw Guarino's Torres maintain its lead on its rivals by beating Bardolino 2-1. Torres' Parejo sealed the victory at the last minute of the game. With Panico's 5 goals Lazio not only destroyed Palermo 9-1 but helped to catapult the "Scorpion" once again at the top of the goal scorers'race. Rutten's Oristano in the meantime managed a 2-1 away victory against Picenum.

Game 5 will be played on October 22nd as the Serie A takes a break for the national team's upcoming friendly match on October 14th against France in Rome.

Italy Serie A results of games of week 3 as Torres continues its early season winning streak

Commentary

Mario Rimati

Torres continues its early season winning streak with a 3-0 win in its match at the "Sardinian derby" against Jill Rutten's Oristano. Panico's Lazio in the meantime lost 2-1 to Fiammamonza.

Next games

Game 4 will be played on October 7th:

Agliana-Foroni
Pisa-Tradate
Picenum-Oristano
Gravina-Geas
Lazio-Palermo
Sarzana-Fiammamonza
Torino-Milan
Torres-Bardolino

Results and commentary of Games of week 2 of Italie Serie A as Parejo and Guarino sink Panico

Mario Rimati

Results of week 2 played on September 24, 2000
Agliano	1	Tradate 0
Palermo	4	Milan	5
Pisa	0	Oristano	0
Picenum	1	Geas	1
Gravina	2	Fiammamonza	2
Lazio	0	Torres	4
Sarzana	1	Barolino	4
Foroni	3	Torino	0

Standings Torres 6 Bardolino 6 Milan 6 Foroni 6 Oristano 4 Agliana 4 Lazio 3 Geas 2 Fiammamonza 2 Pisa 2 Gravina 1 Picenum 1 Torino 0 Sarzana 0 Tradate 0 Palermo 0

Leading goalscorers 4 Sodini (Oristano) 4 Placchi (Bardolino) 4 Gazzoli (Milan) 3 Guarino (Torres) 2 Parejo (Torres) 2 Mazzantini (Picenum) 2 Buttaccio (Palermo) 2 Pellizzer (Foroni) 2 Boldini (Foroni) 2 Costanzo (Geas) 2 Colasuonno (Gravina) 2 Tagliacarne (Milan)

Commentary

"Parejo and Guarino sink Panico"

The highlight of the 2nd Game of Italy's Serie A was perhaps the 4-0 victory by national defending champions Torres against Lazio. The match was played in front of about 250 spectators in Rome. Torres saw the debut of former national team captainAntonella Carta who scored a wonderful goal from well outside Lazio's pk area. Spain's Angeles Parejo opened up the scoring followed by Rita Guarino. Guarino's recent two month stay with Maryland Pride this summer without a doubt helped her sharpen her skills as she also managed to score a second goal for Torres. Unquestionably both Guarino and Parejo appeared devastating on the front lines. And the "Scorpion" Panico? She was virtually annihilated by the solid defense work of national team player Daniela Tavalazzi. Working practically alone up front Panico had very few scoring chances. Lazio has also been joined this year by Anna Duo' who was also present at USA'99 with the national team.

Italian Commentary and Serie A news
Mario Rimati

True, Italy was in the so-called "Group of Death" last summer along with Germany, Brazil and Mexico as Mrs. Levati added in an interview, and this for some people penalized Italy's chances of being at Sydney (Italy placed 9th), but what still remains a mystery is why the Italians skipped fourpractices (2 in L.A. before the opener against Germany, 1 in Chicago and 1 in Boston)? Was seeing the "Hollywood" sign in L.A. or where they shoot"Baywatch" in Santa Monica more important than filing in behind Carlton Meyers (the Italian delegation flag bearer at the opening ceremonies in Sydney)? Was buying those new Nike runners in downtown L.A. or seeing the Italian district in Boston more important than having a (remote) chance of beating Mia and Co.? Who authorized that the team take off to see downtown Chicago instead of getting properly ready for that all-important match against Brazil? Was it the head of delegation? Was it the head coach? Or was it perhaps the players themselves (your correspondent was present as interpreter/pr of the national team)? All the excuses in the world came out once the team was kicked out of the World Cup: that head coach Carlo Facchinhad had little time to properly prepare the team. That the head coach brought along the wrong players. That there was little financial support from the FA and that the players were too tired from the Serie A championship. Tired? But did some of them realize that they were going to be heading towards THE most important soccer event in their lives, not to mention THE most important sporting event in women's sports and that unlike the men's World Cup, this one was going to determine who was going to make it to Sydney and who was going to watch the event at home in front of the television? Next to probably the Olympic Games, what event in the life of a soccer player could be more important than a World Cup? Playing in front of 100 people perhaps (as often happens during the Serie A games in Italy)? Apparently, for some people the qualification was not all that important.

The absence of Italy from the Olympics is not only a pity because many of the teams are minus a worthy opponent, but because there would have been something very important which is presently missing from the daily reports coming out of Sydney: coverage of women's soccer! Without Italy's participation there is virtually no printed news, nor t.v. news coverage, on women's soccer. The same situation was repeated four years ago in Atlanta. Had Italy made it in the top eight teams, it would not only have given a further boost to the sport in Italy but it would have certainly been grandiose for someone like Carolina Morace to sit on the bench as head coach privilege of being part of in her glorious soccer career (she was though part of the Italian national team at the 1991 World Cup in China). The milk was spilled back in the States last summer. There's now no use in any longer crying over it. As a consolation prize, let us now sit back and try to enjoy this year's Serie A championship (and perhaps also envy the teamwhich will soon be wearing that gold medal around its neck).

The following are the teams that are participating in this year's Serie A championship:

Agliana
Bardolino
Fiammamonza
Foroni
Geas
Gravina Catania
Lazio
Milan
Oristano
Palermo
Picenum
Pisa
Sarzana
Torino
Torres
Tradate

Some important player changes have come about this season: Midfielder Manuela Tesse has gone from Picenum to Foroni, along with national team goalkeeper Giorgia Brenzan who left Milan. American Jill Rutten has left Pisa to play for the Sardinian team of Oristano. The 33 year-old former captain of the national team, Antonella Carta (5 championship titles and 130 caps), has left Picenum for Guarino's Torres. Lazio in the meantime hasbeen strengthened with the arrival of Anna Duo' of Milan who was part of the USA'99 expedition.

Italy Serie A officially kicks off with blessing of Italian FA President

September 14th saw the official kick-off of the Italian women's Serie A and B (2nd division championship) at Rome's Olympic Stadium (site of the 1990 World Cup final between W. Germany and Argentina). Present at the official ceremony was none other than the president of the Italian FA, Luciano Nizzola (a rarity in past editions), flanked by the new head coach of the national team, Carolina Morace and the president of the female soccer division, Natalina Ceraso Levati. Nizzola's presence was not only important image-wise but also because the president pledged more support to female soccer as well as pushing for more autonomy of the female soccer division from the Italian Amateur League (of which it is presently part of). Levati lamented the absence of the national team from the Sydney games but stated that she has full confidence in what this team will do under Morace's leadership. For the second time Italy has found itself left out of the Olympic Games (1996 was the first time) and while the top 8 nations that qualified at USA'99 will be soon battling it out for the gold medal in Australia, the players of the Serie A will be quietly enjoying themselves on the various soccer fields of Italy.

Levati also spoke about the future plans of the women's Champions' League tournament slated for August 2001. There will be 8 groups made up of 3 teams each. Torres will be Italy's representative in this first-ever European competition for women's soccer. Morace also expressed her views on the upcoming championship as well as the many difficulties that she will face putting together a worthy national team: "There has to be much more work done at the club level. There's still a lot of amateurism going around which borders on what I would define as being "exasperating". There'll never be any progress made if we keep going on like this". Morace's first big international debut will be October 18th in Palermo against Portugal.

The official presentation of this year's championship which kicked of on September 16th for the Serie A (now at its 33rd edition having started back in 1968) also saw several awards being handed out to the winners of last year's championship (Torres), the Italian Cup final (Torres) and the Italian Super Cup final (again Torres). The leading goalscorer title went once again to the "Scorpion", Lazio's forward Patrizia Panico (41 goals).

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Torres wins Italian Super Cup beating Milan 4-3

The Italian Super Cup game between 1st division clubs Torres and Milan took place on Aug. 30. Torres won 4-3 taking home not only this prestigious title but also the Italian Cup title (played against Milan) as well as the recent "scudetto" (championship title of the women's Serie A).

Results of games played week 1 of the Italy Serie A

Game 2 will see the following teams:

Agliana ­ Tradate
Palermo ­ Milan
Pisa ­ Oristano
Picenum ­ Geas
Gravina ­ Fiammamonza
Lazio ­ Torres
Sarzana ­ Barolino
Torino - Foroni

Italy News and Results 1999-2000

Italy News and Results 1998-99

Italy News and Results 1998

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