[IT] Serie A 2004/05 (3 Viewers)
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Did you catch this UEFA.com article on Livorno? Those guys are really cool -- fans, team, etc. They crack me up.
(Now I wish I got off the tracks and got to visit there last year when I whizzed by ... accidentally boarding an express train from La Spezia to Torino that I thought was stopping in the Cinque Terre. :doh: )
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=8/newsId=275323.html
Livorno live Donadoni's dream
Friday, 28 January 2005
By Paolo Menicucci
Roberto Donadoni could not have had a better start to his new adventure as AS Livorno Calcio coach. After a 3-1 win against FC Messina Peloro in his first game in charge after replacing Franco Colomba, he led his team to a 1-0 victory against Italian champions AC Milan last Sunday.
Special win
The triumph was a special one for Donadoni, who spent ten successful seasons with the Rossoneri as a player, winning five Serie A titles and three European Champion Clubs' Cups during his spell at the San Siro. "It was a very strange day for me," he admitted. "Obviously I'm not sad but this game was very special considering my professional career. It's never good for me when Milan lose but we played an extraordinary game."
Unforgettable victory
The whole town exploded in celebration after the win against Milan. "It was an historic day for Livorno," said club president Aldo Spinelli. "We played a great game, it was simply wonderful. This town will remember this victory against Milan forever."
Political undertones
Corrado Colombo's 28th-minute winner capped a special sporting day for Livorno, but it also prompted a major political celebration at a club which is renowned for the left-wing leanings of its supporters and even some of its players, notably captain Cristiano Lucarelli.
Leftish leanings
With Milan being owned by Italy's right-wing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose 'Forza Italia' party polled barely ten per cent of the vote in Livorno, there was plenty of scope for political friction at the Armando Picchi stadium. Livorno, after all, are a side whose fans unfurl banners of revolutionary Ché Guevara at matches and sing communist songs in support of their team, notably one entitled 'Communism and Liberty'.
Positive atmosphere
However, while the feelings that may underlie the relationship between the two clubs are perhaps not the friendliest, the two meetings between the teams this year have passed without incident. This despite 10,000 Livorno fans travelling to their side's 2-2 draw at the San Siro last September for their first Serie A game for 55 years.
Bandana gag
On that occasion, the Tuscan sense of humour was very much in evidence. Most of the Livorno fans wore a special white bandana - a sarcastic tribute to the one worn by the 67-year-old prime minister as he hosted his British counterpart Tony Blair at his Sardinian estate a few days earlier.
'Sign Dal Bosco'
There were further jokes at Berlusconi's expense this weekend as Livorno fans waved banners saying: "Spinelli, sign Dal Bosco", exhorting their club president to sign the 28-year-old builder from Padova who gained notoriety in Italy after hurling a camera tripod at the prime minister while Berlusconi was shaking hands with tourists in Rome's busy Piazza Navona square on New Year's Eve. "I cannot stand him, I couldn't help myself," explained Dal Bosco, who was later forgiven by Berlusconi after apologising for his attack.
Perfect hosts
However, Milan had no complaints. Milan vice-president and Lega Calcio president Adriano Galliani said: "It was a bad day for us. However, the Livorno fans were extremely kind to us, not only after winning the game. We did not receive any insults and they treated us well during the whole match."
Double triumph
Berlusconi's right-hand man added: "From that point of view I think it was our best away trip this season." A great victory for Livorno, then, both on and off the pitch.
(Now I wish I got off the tracks and got to visit there last year when I whizzed by ... accidentally boarding an express train from La Spezia to Torino that I thought was stopping in the Cinque Terre. :doh: )
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=8/newsId=275323.html
Livorno live Donadoni's dream
Friday, 28 January 2005
By Paolo Menicucci
Roberto Donadoni could not have had a better start to his new adventure as AS Livorno Calcio coach. After a 3-1 win against FC Messina Peloro in his first game in charge after replacing Franco Colomba, he led his team to a 1-0 victory against Italian champions AC Milan last Sunday.
Special win
The triumph was a special one for Donadoni, who spent ten successful seasons with the Rossoneri as a player, winning five Serie A titles and three European Champion Clubs' Cups during his spell at the San Siro. "It was a very strange day for me," he admitted. "Obviously I'm not sad but this game was very special considering my professional career. It's never good for me when Milan lose but we played an extraordinary game."
Unforgettable victory
The whole town exploded in celebration after the win against Milan. "It was an historic day for Livorno," said club president Aldo Spinelli. "We played a great game, it was simply wonderful. This town will remember this victory against Milan forever."
Political undertones
Corrado Colombo's 28th-minute winner capped a special sporting day for Livorno, but it also prompted a major political celebration at a club which is renowned for the left-wing leanings of its supporters and even some of its players, notably captain Cristiano Lucarelli.
Leftish leanings
With Milan being owned by Italy's right-wing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose 'Forza Italia' party polled barely ten per cent of the vote in Livorno, there was plenty of scope for political friction at the Armando Picchi stadium. Livorno, after all, are a side whose fans unfurl banners of revolutionary Ché Guevara at matches and sing communist songs in support of their team, notably one entitled 'Communism and Liberty'.
Positive atmosphere
However, while the feelings that may underlie the relationship between the two clubs are perhaps not the friendliest, the two meetings between the teams this year have passed without incident. This despite 10,000 Livorno fans travelling to their side's 2-2 draw at the San Siro last September for their first Serie A game for 55 years.
Bandana gag
On that occasion, the Tuscan sense of humour was very much in evidence. Most of the Livorno fans wore a special white bandana - a sarcastic tribute to the one worn by the 67-year-old prime minister as he hosted his British counterpart Tony Blair at his Sardinian estate a few days earlier.
'Sign Dal Bosco'
There were further jokes at Berlusconi's expense this weekend as Livorno fans waved banners saying: "Spinelli, sign Dal Bosco", exhorting their club president to sign the 28-year-old builder from Padova who gained notoriety in Italy after hurling a camera tripod at the prime minister while Berlusconi was shaking hands with tourists in Rome's busy Piazza Navona square on New Year's Eve. "I cannot stand him, I couldn't help myself," explained Dal Bosco, who was later forgiven by Berlusconi after apologising for his attack.
Perfect hosts
However, Milan had no complaints. Milan vice-president and Lega Calcio president Adriano Galliani said: "It was a bad day for us. However, the Livorno fans were extremely kind to us, not only after winning the game. We did not receive any insults and they treated us well during the whole match."
Double triumph
Berlusconi's right-hand man added: "From that point of view I think it was our best away trip this season." A great victory for Livorno, then, both on and off the pitch.
