Reuters Soccer Blog

Lazio soar like their new eagle

Lazio, Serie A champions in 2000 but largely also-rans ever since, came up with a not very new idea before the season to try to boost their fortunes this term.

An eagle, the symbol of the Rome club, flies around the Stadio Olimpico before home games for good luck.

So far it’s working, with Lazio top after six games. In fact, apart from England, Europe’s main leagues have a distinctly refreshing look in early October with Valencia ahead in Spain, Mainz producing miracles to win seven out of seven in Germany and Stade Rennes first in France.

Some Italian animal rights activists are unhappy with the use of the eagle but Lazio say the bird is treated well and could point to the fact they borrwed the idea from Benfica, who have had an eagle flying around before important matches for years.

But Lazio fans are not getting carried away with their soaring start just yet…they were also pacesetters at this stage two seasons ago but soon dropped down the table.

PHOTO: Lazio’s eagle before kick off. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Is there a way to stop end-of-season farces?

AS Roma are absolutely livid after Inter Milan regained the lead in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Lazio, where the home fans cheered the goals as much as the away supporters.

Lazio fans hate Roma so much that many of them wanted their own side to lose on Sunday as it meant their bitter city rivals were knocked off top spot. This was despite the fact Lazio are not clear of relegation yet.

“If I was Inter I would be ashamed of winning like that,” Roma president Rosella Sensi told reporters, despite Lazio putting up a fight in the first half.

Liverpool fans had a similar dilemma when losing to Chelsea on Sunday. Defeat meant their Champions League dreams were over but at least hated rivals Manchester United stayed behind Chelsea in the title race with one game to go.

But is there any way of stopping situations like these and haven’t they happened for decades?

In Lazio’s case, it might have made a difference if their game had been scheduled at the same time as Atalanta v Bologna because then Lazio’s Serie A fate would have been even more insecure.

‘Special One’ makes few friends in China

If Inter Milan were intending their trip to Beijing for last week’s Italian Super Cup to be a China charm offensive, coach Jose Mourinho was obviously not kept in the loop.

The accepted form for European club officials on pre-season trips to China is to politely praise everything local and talk up the footballing potential of the world’s most populous nation.

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the traditional Italian season curtain-raiser between the Serie A champions and Cup winners, Mourinho departed from the script.

The post-match news conference got off to a bad start when the local interpreter expressed his delight at Lazio’s victory and invited Chinese media to ask Mourinho difficult questions.

Matters did not improve when Mourinho, who earlier in the week had described the Bird’s Nest stadium — China’s pride and joy — as “so-so”, arrived on the podium.

The first question from state broadcaster CCTV, suggesting he had been forced into letting new signing Samuel Eto’o play a full 90 minutes, was answered politely.

The second, from a local newspaper reporter, asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win.

Kaka deal highlights Serie A decline

The departure of Kaka from AC Milan to Real Madrid marks the end of the Italian era in European football. Not only can Italian clubs not attract the best players in the world to play in Serie A but now, when they unearth a talent like Kaka, they can’t stop them from leaving.

Italians used to describe their Serie A as ‘il campionato piu bello del mondo’ , the most beautiful championship in the world. It was not just because Italians love nothing more than talking themselves up — Serie A was the first league in the world to sign up top foreign stars, bringing in international talent at a time when the English league, for example, stretched no further than Scotland in search of players.

Beginning in the late 1950′s when the likes of Brazilian Jose Altafini (AC Milan) and Welshman John Charles (Juventus) were among the top performers, Serie A prided itself on being the league that had the money to bring in the best in the world.

After the 1966 World Cup, where Italy was humiliated by North Korea, foreigners were banned as part of an attempt to strengthen the domestic talent base and the national team, but when the rule was relaxed in 1980, the top clubs began importing talent again and before long Italy had become the first league to truly take on global status.

Frenchman Michel Platini at Juventus led the new wave and then the biggest name of all, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly led Napoli to titles in 1987 and 1990. The great Milan sides of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello were built around foreign stars — the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten helped transform Serie A from a league dominated by cautious and defensive teams into a showcase for the world’s best talent.

Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus and Andreas Brehme helped Inter to the title in 1989, and by the nineties, any player in the world who could be considered a match-winner was being snapped up by an Italian team.

Just ten years ago, the top teams in Serie A included players such as Ronaldo at Inter, George Weah and a young Andriy Shevchenko at Milan, Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina, Hernan Crespo, Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastian Veron (all at their peak) at Lazio and the best of his generation, Zinedine Zidane at Juventus. It was the departure of the latter to Real Madrid in 2001 that suggested Spain was beginning to replace Italy as the place where the world’s best could get paid best.

Vlog on the pitch – Who are Romans supporting in the Champions League final?

The Champions League final is almost upon us and the views of the Roman locals are quite interesting.

As Paul Virgo explains above, AS Roma fans are rooting for Barcelona while Lazio supporters want Manchester United to win.

The Stadio Olimpico is eerily quiet but it will soon be buzzing on Wednesday when the hordes of fans descend on the venue for what many are calling a ‘dream final’.

Macheda highlights Serie A’s impatience with youth

Serie A clubs are understandably upset about English sides scooping up youngsters such as Federico Macheda from their academies.

Lazio President Claudio Lotito cried foul after the 17-year-old, a product of the Rome club’s youth system, scored a stunning winner for Manchester United against Aston Villa in his Premier League debut on Sunday.

He has a point. After doing the hard part of nurturing the players’ talents, wealthier foreign sides can step in and enjoy the benefits. It’s not the best way to encourage clubs to invest in their academies and FIFA and UEFA are looking at tightening the rules on the transfer of under-18s.

But Lotito’s annoyance is only justified to a certain degree as, if Macheda had stayed at Lazio, it seems unlikely that he would have got the chance United boss Alex Ferguson gave him to hit the headlines at such a tender age.

“I doubt an Italian team would have made the move Ferguson did,” respected Italian sports writer Italo Cucci told Rai television.

Indeed, while Serie A clubs are good at producing young players, they are frequently criticised in Italy for not giving them the chance to shine.

How did United’s Macheda get away, asks Italy

Most Manchester United fans had no idea who Federico Macheda was before the Italian netted a stunning stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa on Sunday.

The 17-year-old’s goal could ultimately be the one that sealed the Premier League title for United.

He has been scoring regularly for United’s youth and reserve teams since joining the club in September 2007 after developing through Lazio’s youth system. Born in Rome, he signed professional forms last August and is regarded as one of the most promising young prospects of Italian soccer.

what irks Italians is that he is plying his trade in England. AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has said it is a scandal that young Italian players can get hoovered up by big European clubs.

Remember Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi first appeared at United before finiding his way to Villarreal.

FIFA and UEFA want to do something to protect under-18 players and keep them at their local clubs. The trouble is that until they sign professional contracts, the ownership of young footballers is complicated.

What if the mafia had bought Lazio?

The silly season has been packed with strange stories, none more so than the mafia trying to buy Lazio.

Italian authorities believe a bid by a consortium in 2006 was actually a front for the Casalesi, an organised crime gang within the Camorra – the Naples version of the mafia.

Corruption and scandal have been rife in the Italian game, as proved by the 2006 match-fixing affair and fresh allegations from last season, but nothing could have matched a Serie A club being secretly controlled by the mafia.

One can only wonder what would have happened if their audacious bid had been successful. Would they have made sure Lazio won every game? What would have happened to the coach if they failed?

One thing is sure…the players’ suits would have been extra smart at the cup final.

PHOTO: Lazio supporters cheer for their team during a Serie A match against AS Roma in Rome. March 19 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

What’s been going on at Inter?

On February 16 Inter Milan were 11 points clear at the top of Serie A. Since then, a lot has happened and by the time the champions visit Lazio on Saturday their lead could be down to just one point.

First they lost to Liverpool in their Champions League last 16 first leg when Marco Materazzi was harshly sent off and important centre back Ivan Cordoba was ruled out for the season with ligament damage.

Patchy form and defensive lapses followed, with Javier Zanetti grabbing a late equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with second-placed AS Roma, who went on to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League as their form generally picked up.

Inter were eliminated by Liverpool after losing 1-0 at home and 3-0 on aggregate, a hammer blow to their confidence, so much so that coach Roberto Mancini bizarrely announced after the game he would quit at the end of the season.

Mancini quickly appeared to change his mind, although the suspicion remains that he will leave in June with Italian newspapers packed with speculation of a fall out with club owner Massimo Moratti. Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez and Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli have all been linked should the job become available.

Quite what the players thought about Mancini’s outburst is unclear, but confidence has continued to be low and last weekend they lost their first home league game of the season against old rivals Juventus.