Italy Soccer News

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Ronaldo's thigh injury is more serious than first feared, and the AC Milan forward could be sidelined for another month. The Brazilian was hurt July 31 during summer training and hasn't played since. Milan's physicians originally diagnosed Ronaldo's injury as a muscle strain and said he could return against Siena on Saturday. Further tests have revealed a more serious tear, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported Monday. ``We made a mistake in our first evaluation,'' Milan ...

CLAIREFONTAINE, France (AP) _ France will be without key players and its coach Raymond Domenech will be sitting in the stands when Les Bleus play Italy in a crucial European Championship qualifier. Defenders William Gallas and Willy Sagnol are both injured, and captain Patrick Vieira is struggling to overcome a thigh injury to be ready in time for Saturday's Group B match in Milan's San Siro stadium. ``William is a mainstay in the team,'' France winger Franck Ribery ...

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Head stewards at Italian soccer stadiums could be armed next season. Gazzetta dello Sport reported Friday that Italian authorities are considering the move as part of a revamped security package at games in Italy's top leagues. In February, a police officer was killed during rioting at a Serie A match between Catania and Palermo. In April, the government decided to adopt the so-called ``English model'' of placing stewards in charge of security inside ...

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Luis Figo will play one more season for Inter Milan before ending his career and taking on an administrative role with the Serie A champion. Inter announced the winger's one-year contract extension Sunday. ``At the end of next season, Luis Figo will make his great experience and professionalism available to the club to look after international relations,'' Inter said in a statement. Figo, 34, signed a deal in December to move to Saudi ...

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Juventus wants Claudio Ranieri as its coach next season and will try to persuade him not to return to the English Premier League with Manchester City, according to Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday. Ranieri, who quit Parma Thursday after helping the Italian club avoid relegation from the Serie A, is Juve's first choice to replace Didier Deschamps after 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi ruled himself out, the Italian sports daily reported. Deschamps quit ...

BARI, Italy (AP) _ The more pressure and controversy, the more Italy seems to thrive. A 2-0 win over Scotland put the World Cup champions back into contention of qualifying for the European Championship. It was also an emphatic response to critics who were calling for coach Robert Donadoni's job. ``The controversy brought us together even more, although that's not to say I wouldn't mind a calm week of preparation ...

LONDON (AP) _ World Cup champion Italy could be in serious jeopardy of missing out on next year's European Championship if it fails to beat Scotland on Wednesday. And England coach Steve McClaren will likely be looking for a new job if his team doesn't get a big win at Andorra. Twenty more Euro 2008 qualifying games are scheduled for Wednesday, with Group B looking most interesting as qualifying nears ...

ROME (AP) _ Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is fed up with media criticism that he's lost control of his team. The Azzurri, who face Scotland in European Championship qualifying in Bari on Wednesday, trail the Scots and France by five points in Group B. ``If the results don't come, it's right to criticize and draw conclusions. But if, if, if. Let this team play. I don't understand why there are ...

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Messina goalkeeper Nicholas Caglioni was suspended indefinitely by the Italian league on Thursday after testing positive for cocaine. The move was procedural pending a hearing before the league disciplinary committee. On Monday, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that traces of cocaine were found during a doping test after Messina and Catania drew 1-1 in the Serie A on Feb. 11. Caglioni can ask for his ``B'' ...

Months after a match-fixing scandal rocked Italian soccer, the nation's favourite sport was again in shock when massive fan rioting claimed the life of a police officer and injured scores of other people. The death of the 38-year-old policeman during a match between Sicilian sides Catania and Palermo has already caused soccer officials to suspend this weekend's matches _ the first time in over a decade. It left politicians wonder ...

Reggina had its 15-point penalty for its role in Italy's match-fixing scandal reduced to 11 on Tuesday by an independent arbitration board. The Serie A team was docked the points in August by a soccer federation sports court for allegedly trying to have friendly referees assigned to its games. The reduction would lift the club one place off the bottom of the standings to 19th. ``Reggina didn't commit any unsportsmanlike ...

Andriy Shevchenko will not be returning to AC Milan, according to club president Silvio Berlusconi. ``It's a closed argument,'' Berlusconi said in comments published on Milan's Web site Tuesday. Berlusconi had said Saturday that he wanted to reacquire the forward, who moved to English champion Chelsea in May for 30 million pounds (C$68 million) after seven seasons with Milan. The Ukraine striker, who had 173 goals in 296 games for ...

Inter Milan won 3-0 at Empoli on Sunday to equal its club record of eight straight wins in the Italian league. Hernan Crespo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Walter Samuel scored in the second half for Inter, which previously won eight straight on three different occasions. Inter leads the Serie A with 39 points, followed by AS Roma with 32 and Palermo with 31. Also Sunday, Catania moved into fourth place with a 1-0 win over Udinese. Gionatha Spinesi headed ...

Silvio Berlusconi wants Andriy Shevchenko back at AC Milan. ``If it were up to me, I would take him back straight away,'' the Milan owner told Saturday's edition of Gazzetta dello Sport. ``Don't forget that he was the one that wanted to leave and not even I could stop him.'' Shevchenko moved to English Premier League champions Chelsea in May in a four-year deal worth 30 million pounds (US$59 million) after playing for seven seasons with Milan. But the ...

Italian clubs' focus switches from the Champions League to Serie A this weekend and Sunday's Roman derby. AS Roma was Italy's third and final qualifiers for the second round of the Champions League and enters the game against Lazio on a six-game winning streak. However, captain Francesco Totti may miss out because of an ankle injury. Roma advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time, ...

AC Milan forward Ricardo Oliveira has found a way to keep his focus despite the kidnapping of his sister in Brazil nearly two months ago. ``I work. I work a lot. My teammates help me. I have to have faith and tranquillity and this too will be resolved,'' Oliveira said Wednesday, a day after scoring in Milan's 2-1 win over Brescia in the Italian Cup. ``I have to stay focused ...

Inter Milan and AS Roma advanced to the Italian Cup quarter-finals Wednesday. Inter beat Messina 4-0 with four headers _ two by Nicolas Burdisso _ and advanced 5-0 on aggregate. Roma beat second-division Triestina 2-0 on goals by Valerio Virga and Vincenzo Montella and advanced 4-1 on aggregate. Inter, the Serie A leader, led in the 27th minute when Burdisso converted a Luis Figo corner. Kily Gonzalez scored in the ...

AC Milan does not plan to acquire a goalkeeper during the January transfer period to replace injured starter Dida. ``We're not going to do anything in January. We hope he recuperates quickly,'' Milan chairman Adriano Galliani said in an interview with RAI state TV at halftime of Milan's Italian Cup match with Brescia on Tuesday. Dida is expected to be sidelined until at least February with a right thigh injury. ...

AC Milan beat Brescia 2-1 Tuesday and became the first club to advance to the Italian Cup quarter-finals. Milan advanced on 6-3 aggregate. Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira put Milan ahead in the 15th minute with a bouncing header from the top of the box. Four minutes later, an own-goal by Brescia defender Davide Zoboli gave Milan a 2-0 lead. A cross by Milan's French midfielder Yoann Gourcuff deflected in off ...

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro won the Golden Ball award Monday, the first defender in 10 years to be named Europe's best player. Cannavaro, who played for Juventus last season but then moved to Real Madrid after helping Italy win the World Cup, got 173 points in France Football magazine's annual poll of 52 journalists from around the world. Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was second with 124 points, followed by Arsenal ...

Inter Milan has reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and is unbeaten atop Italy's Serie A. Sunday's game at second-place Palermo (GOLTV, 3 p.m. ET, tape delayed) will provide one of Inter's biggest tests so far. ``We'll enjoy this victory,'' Hernan Crespo said after leading Inter to a 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Wednesday. ``But from Thursday, we'll be thinking about Palermo.'' ...

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who suggested that World Cup champion Italy may have been lucky to reach the quarter-finals, attempted to clarify that statement Monday. In an interview Sunday on SBS Television in Australia, Blatter said he was offering an apology to Australian soccer fans who saw their team knocked out of the of World Cup in the second round. The Italians won 1-0 on a penalty called with only ...

Marco Materazzi is still awaiting a handshake from Zinedine Zidane. The Italy defender was head-butted in the chest by Zidane after insulting the France captain's sister in the World Cup final on July 9 in Berlin. Zidane got red-carded and Italy went on to win the title in a penalty shootout. ``I have made my apologies. In return I have never received the offer of a handshake,'' Materazzi said Wednesday ...

Juventus won its sixth straight match in Italy's Serie B and now has two points in 18th place. Cristiano Zanetti scored the lone goal in the 32nd minute to lead Juventus over Triestina 1-0 Saturday. The Turin team started the season with minus-17 points because of its role in a match-fixing scandal. ``We didn't play particularly well but we won and that is the most important thing,'' Zanetti said. ``We'll take the three points. We need them.'' Pavel Nedved ...

Inter Milan owner Massimo Moratti is reportedly set to return as club president following the death of Giacinto Facchetti. ``I will return as president,'' Moratti was quoted by Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport published Friday. ``There are no alternatives.'' Moratti served as Inter president from 1995 to 2004 before handing over to club legend and former Italy captain Facchetti, who held office until his death last month. ``The truth is that the perfect president for Inter has passed away ...

Inter Milan has finally got two healthy strikers in form and they're not Adriano, Hernan Crespo or Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Alvaro Recoba set up two goals by Julio Ricardo Cruz in Inter's 2-1 win over Spartak Moscow in the Champions league on Wednesday. Recoba made his season debut and Cruz played his first full game of the season. ``There has been a lot of talk about Inter's strikers recently. Today everyone ...

Inter Milan finally won a game in the Champions League on Wednesday. Chelsea won another. Inter scored its first goals in this year's competition, getting two from Julio Cruz in a 2-1 win over Spartak Moscow in Group B. Didier Drogba got Chelsea's lone goal in the 47th minute, scoring from the edge of the penalty area to give the English Premier League champions a 1-0 win over defending champion ...

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes he has answered all betting allegations after being questioned for two hours by the Italian soccer federation on Wednesday. ``I'm relieved and also satisfied. It went like it did the other times,'' said Buffon, who was also questioned before the June 9-July 9 World Cup. ``If they had still had any doubts, I think they're erased now.'' He has acknowledged that he gambled on various ...

Cristiano Zanetti scored in the 31st minute as Juventus beat Treviso 1-0 in Serie B soccer action Monday for its fifth straight win. The victory improved Juventus to a league-best 5-1-0 record and left it one point short of erasing the 17-point penalty it received for its role in the Italian match-fixing scandal. Geneoa leads Serie B with 15 points. Mauro Camoranesi set up Zanetti's goal with a well-placed pass ...

Dejan Stankovic scored twice as Inter Milan beat Catania 2-1 to move into first place in the Serie A standings Sunday. Stankovic headed in Luis Figo's cross in the 29th minute, then added another in the 75th with a powerful drive from the edge of the penalty area. Also, Reggina beat AS Roma 1-0 and Atalanta topped Palermo 3-2. Inter leads the league with 14 points. Roma and Palermo have 12 points each, with Roma ahead on goal ...