Reports in the Italian press suggest that Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti will be persuaded out of international retirement in time for the 2010 World Cup campaign. Carlo Garganese asks whether this would be a good idea…
The inquest into Italy’s underwhelming Euro 2008 campaign goes on, but one thing is for certain, and that is the Azzurri were short of genuine, world class players in Austria and Switzerland. Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti undoubtedly fall into this category, and Italy could surely have only benefited from their presence (disregarding the latter’s current injury) had they both not retired from international football last year.
With it increasingly likely that Marcello Lippi will return to the fold to succeed Roberto Donadoni, there have been reports in the media that h... Read more »
There are whispers that Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta will return to international football if Marcello Lippi returns to the Italy post.
Totti retired from Azzurri duty in July 2007 after a period of uncertainty following Italy’s World Cup triumph in Germany.
He believed that the strains on his body were too great to continue to play for both club and country.
The Roma talisman resisted pleas from fellow players and Coach Roberto Donadoni and watched Euro 2008 from his sofa, but today’s newspapers suggest that he could be lured back to the fold by Lippi.
One month after Totti’s international retirement, star stopper Alessandro Nesta announced that he also wouldn’t answer Donadoni’s call.
However, Nesta said at the time: “Who knows, perhaps things will be different within three years.”
Quarter-finals, 22/6/08 (19.45 UK) Spain 0 - 0 Italy aet
Vienna, Austria
Italy are out of Euro 2008 after a penalty shoot-out, Iker Casillas saving from Antonio Di Natale and Daniele De Rossi. Spain go through to face Russia in the semi-final.
The statistics were on the Azzurri's side, as they were undefeated in competitive matches against Spain since the 1920 Olympics and their last official meeting was a 2-1 win in the 1994 World Cup quarter-final. The Iberians qualified from the group phase with a 100 per cent record, but in all the quarter-finals so far the group winners had gone out.
Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso sat out bans and were replaced by Alberto Aquilani - making his Euro 2008 debut - and Massimo Ambrosini, but the rest of the line-up that defeated France 2-0 remained unchanged. Luis Aragones rested his stars in the 2-1 win over Greece and returned to the same XI that won its opening two games. In a bi... Read more »
Milan's Champions League place is back in Fiorentina's hands after this disastrous defeat at the San Paolo.
The Rossoneri were back on track and leapfrogged Fiorentina into fourth place last week, but faced a tough test to keep hold of it, as the likes of Inter and Juventus had already fallen at the San Paolo. Cristian Brocchi filled in for the suspended Andrea Pirlo, while Yoann Gourcuff joined the injury list. Fabiano Santacroce and Manuele Blasi sat out bans for the home side, who wanted revenge for losing 5-2 at San Siro in January.
Napoli hadn't won this Serie A fixture since 1995, followed by two draws and as many defeats. There were early penalty appeals for a possible Clarence Seedorf h... Read more »
Kalac – 6.5: Slightly nervy at times but made one excellent stop from Crespo’s one-on-one and also produced a smart stop from Maxwell’s free kick.
Bonera - 7: Impressive display from the former Parma man, who was equally adept both defensively and offensively. His crossing was also good.
Nesta – 7.5: Proved once again why he is one of, if not the best, centre back in the world. Gave a lesson in the art of slide tackling today.
Kaladze – 6.5: The Georgian breezed through the first 60 minutes without working up a sweat, but had to be alert as Inter upped the ante late in the game.
Favalli – 7: Excellent in the first half before he was forced off on 41 minutes with an ankle injury. Bombed forward repeatedly down the left-hand side. A real surprise.
Ambrosini – 9: Superb in the middle-of-the-park. Ambrosini was first to every ball, got stuck in, distributed well, and was... Read more »
Pippo Inzaghi and Kaka won a dramatic derby that ruins Inter's Scudetto celebrations, cutting their lead to just three points!
Rarely has a Derby della Madonnina been so highly charged, as Inter could win the Scudetto and rub their rivals' noses in it, while Milan needed a victory to maintain any hope of reaching a Champions League spot. Bragging rights were also at stake, as the Nerazzurri were on track for a fourth consecutive derby triumph.
There were no suspension worries, but Nelson Dida, Ronaldo, Paolo Maldini, Emerson, Serginho, Olivier Dacourt, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Walter Samuel, Ivan Cordoba and Luis Figo were injured. Nuno Maniche was a surprise choice when Dejan Stankovic failed to recover from a muscular probl... Read more »
Main 
There are whispers that Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta will return to international football if Marcello Lippi returns to the Italy post. 
