(Look, it’s Hamsik when he still had hair!)
I realise this is quite possibly going to be the last spam ever to appear at ASA (damn Livejournal and its tricks!), but this is the first trophy Napoli have won since 1990, so my window of opportunity is small. Plus, the team were amazing, slashy and took a lot of their clothes off, so I intend to enjoy their success. *Basks* Aaaahhhh.

Somewhat astoundingly, Pandev has now won the Coppa Italia every year for the last four years. Least likely good luck charm ever. Lavezzi is probably going to leave now, and quite possibly Cavani as well, but they gave us a good send-off. I love you, lads.

Napoli 2-0 Juventus (Highlights)
17' 2h Cavani pen., 38' 2h Hamsik

Napoli: De Sanctis, Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica, Maggio, Dzemaili, Inler, Zuniga, Hamsik (40' 2h Dossena), Hamsik's hair, Lavezzi (27' 2h Pandev), Cavani (48' 2h Britos). Unused subs: Rosati, Grava, Fernandez,Vargas. Coach: Mazzarri
Juventus: Storari, Barzagli, Bonucci, Caceres, Lichtsteiner (23' 2h Pepe), Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Estigarribia, Borriello (28' 2h Quagliarella), Del Piero (23' 2h Vucinic). Unused subs: Manninger, Marrone, Giaccherini, Matri. Coach: Conte

( 200 pictures of celebrations, hairless Hamsik and topless Lavezzi. )

(Being [a] bounced, and [b] ogled by children. All is right with the world.)
Though this match was notable chiefly as the last home appearance of “Orc”, as Martha’s phone insists on calling him, I believe we did also win a derby, bag three points, get the first derby hat-trick since 1959 and, er, hand the Scudetto to Juve. All right, we didn’t mean to do that last one, but Dirtbunnies will be pleased.

Also, Maicon is not 100% useless. Dilemma!

Inter 4-2 AC Milan (Highlights; tactical analysis; unusually good Guardian mbm in which the bloke only criticises Italian football once, as a joke; Gazzetta pagelle)

Scorers: Milito 14, Ibrahimovic 44 (pen), Ibrahimovic 46, Milito 52 (pen), Milito 79 (pen), Maicon 87.
Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 55 Nagatomo; 4 Zanetti, 19 Cambiasso, 14 Guarin (Obi 62); 11 Alvarez (Pazzini 48), 10 Sneijder (Cordoba 84); 22 Milito. Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 2 Cordoba, 17 Palombo, 23 Ranocchia, 28 Zarate. Coach: Andrea Stramaccioni.
AC Milan: 32 Abbiati (Amelia 35); 20 Abate, 13 Nesta, 76 Yepes, 25 Bonera (De Sciglio 21); 22 Nocerino, 4 Van Bommel, 14 Muntari (Cassano 77); 27 Boateng; 70 Robinho, 11 Ibrahimovic. Unused subs: 5 Mexes, 8 Gattuso, 18 Aquilani, 21 Maxi Lopez. Coach: Massimiliano Allegri.

( Milito, Milito, IRC, Milito, Milito )

Fabio Cannavaro Interview In Dubai

Fabio Cannavaro was appointed as a global brand ambassador and Technical Consultant of Al Ahli Club of Dubai on 25 August 2011. He now lives in Dubai, in the Palm Jumeirah villas.
The Beautiful Game Show by Abu Dhabi Sports TV, visited Cannavaro and spent a day with him.


he shows us his home and hairdresser and talks his career, I presume (it's in Italian) 
first few minutes in English - "This one is my home.."

Thanks to el_defe for providing me with the footage and images, I have finally seen the amazing (horror? brilliance?) that is Bobo dancing. I shall leave you with the video. You are welcome. 




( more photos )

bustedflush and I agreed that Pippo HAS to be in the stands. I accept nothing less from him.

This is, officially, the funniest thing anyone has ever done with Elf Yourself -- not to mention the first video evidence of Cuchu's off-pitch career. My god, Sex Machine's face! It's perfect. THE WHOLE THING IS PERFECT.

(It's the Italy v England show!)
So, Milan get a their chance for revenge against Arsenal, while Napoli are gearing up to thrash Chelsea. Oh, and Inter are playing freaking l'OM, which Twitter tells me is a personal rematch of sorts for Tink and Dider Deschamps -- Deschamps' Monaco beat Tink's Chelsea, once upon a time.


In the Europa league, meanwhile, Udine take on PAOK, AKA The Team of Ex-Reggina Scary Bald Bruno Cirillo, and Lazio face Atletico Madrid. If they win, Udine will play the winners of AZ v Anderlect, while Lazio have the winner of Braga v Besiktas.

The first legs of all the ties will be played in mid-February.

Go, Italians, go!

LOOK AND WEEP, FOR I HAVE THE NAPOLI CALENDAR! NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW! And, also, the new one comes out tomorrow. Verily, my cup runneth over. I have been scanning away like a mad ’un ever since it arrived, and all I need to know now is whether I should do a 12 Days Of Christmas thing posting one picture every day, or confine it all to one post. Plz vote.

Poll #1803500 Calendario!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

How much Napoli Calendar do you want?

( Blurry picspam of the lads and their WAGs doing... something. )

Finally, you may remember that Napoli fans like to make songs about their players and put them on Youtube. Well, they’ve caught up with Inler, and he has posted the result on his website instead of, say, burying it under a rock for a hundred years. I managed twenty seconds before collapsing in hysteria.