Italy

Naples already preparing multi-day party for first Scudetto since Maradona era

NAPLES, Italy - The face of a young Diego Armando Maradona gazes down from a mural in Naples' Miracles Square, watching the city gear up for a celebration it hasn't enjoyed since the Argentine soccer star was at his peak more than 30 years ago.

Miracles for Neapolitans, who grew up in a city steeped in mysticism and superstition, are happening on the pitch, as their team cruise towards a third Serie A triumph and prepares for their first ever quarterfinal in the Champions League.

Harry Kane surpasses Wayne Rooney as England’s top scorer during 2-1 win vs. Italy

NAPLES — Harry Kane became England's record international goalscorer as his side began their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by beating reigning champions Italy 2-1 in Group C on Thursday.

England's skipper struck a penalty past Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly before halftime to make it 2-0 after Declan Rice opened the scoring after 13 minutes.

Serie B manager almost ends himself by celebrating win with a bicycle kick

With only nine matches remaining in the season, the battle to avoid relegation to Italy's third division is getting awfully serious in Serie B. The roll call of clubs teetering on the brink is pretty astonishing and includes recent Serie A competitors Venezia, Benevento, SPAL and Brescia.

Heading into Sunday, Cosenza sat dead last in 20th-place but hosted SPAL in a classic relegation six-pointer at Marulla Stadium. Cosenza desperately needed three points ahead of next weekend's trip to league leading Frosinone. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia takes on entire Atalanta defense and scores filthy goal

NAPLES — Goals by winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and defender Amir Rrahmani steered runaway leaders Napoli to a 2-0 home win over sixth-placed Atalanta in Serie A on Saturday, extending the visitors' winless streak to four games.

Napoli, who suffered only their second league defeat last week at home to Lazio, extended their lead at the top of the table to 18 points after second-placed Inter, on 50 points, fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to lowly Spezia on Friday.

Wild 20 seconds sees Spurs almost equalize and AC Milan hit the post at other end

LONDON — Seven-time winners AC Milan reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years as a disciplined display earned them a drab 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and a 1-0 aggregate victory.

On a freezing night in north London the Italians comfortably protected the slender advantage they established in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the San Siro as Tottenham huffed and puffed to little effect and exited with a whimper.

Moise Kean sees red after just 40 seconds in one of the worst substitute appearances you'll ever see

A swift rush of blood to the head doomed Juventus in the dying moments of their 1-0 loss to José Mourinho’s Roma on Sunday. With the seconds ticking away and a goal imperative as Juventus clung to the hope of Champions League qualification, head coach Massimiliano Allegri turned to his bench and brought on 23-year-old Moise Kean as the final hope for salvation. 

Paul Pogba returns from injury as Juventus dominates Derby Della Mole

Massimiliano Allegri’s side hosted Torino on Tuesday night, putting together a vintage display in this season’s second Derby Della Mole. Goals from Juan Cuadrado, Danilo, Gleison Bremer and Adrien Rabiot were enough to overcome a strong attack from the visitors as Juventus ran out 4-2 winners and moved up to 7th in Serie A. 

Mourinho red carded as Roma hand Cremonese their FIRST win of the Serie A season

It took all of 24 matches but Cremonese finally won a Serie A game on Tuesday, and the most remarkable thing is that they recorded it over Roma after also shocking José Mourinho's team in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals at the beginning of the month.

No club in Europe's big five leagues had remained winless this long, but Cremonese — based in the Lombardy region of northern Italy — actually moved into 19th-place with all three points (12 overall) while dropping hapless Sampdoria (11 points) to dead last.

Con Johan Vásquez trayendo a Dybala de hijo, Cremonese logró su primer triunfo de la temporada

Al Cremonese le costó, pero finalmente lo consiguió. Con Johan Vásquez como titular, I Grigiorossi vencieron 2-1 a la AS Roma de Jose Mourinho y lograron su primera victoria de la temporada 2022-23 de la Serie A.

Cierto, no suena a gran cosa, pero considerando que se jugaba la jornada 24 del torneo, uno entiende y hasta empatiza con la emoción que se vivió en los festejos del equipo una vez que el juez central pitó el final del partido.

Puzzling scenes as VAR overrules goal line technology to disallow Fiorentina goal

A bizarre Fiorentina disallowed goal vs. Braga confused just about everyone on Thursday when a VAR decision overruled goal line technology.

The introduction of technology to soccer has come with its problems, but most fans can agree the sport is in a better place now. Long past are the days of “no era penal” and Frank Lampard’s ghost goal vs. Germany. Goal line technology and VAR has seen to it that mistakes like those are incredibly rare nowadays.

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