Juventus Transfer Rumours & Updates

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Andrea Pirlo dalla A alla Z

AGNELLI «Quando viene a Vinovo è come l'allenatore, chiede di vincere come la Juventus è storicamente abituata a fare e di dare sempre il meglio per questa maglia».

BRASILE «Spero di arrivare a giocare quel Mondiale. Non sono mai stato in Brasile...».

CRESTA «Un taglio alla Balotelli se dovessimo vincere la Champions? Vediamo... Ne parlerò con i miei compagni».

DEVASTANTI «Gli allenamenti di Conte possono davvero essere devastanti. Ma è veramente un grande allenatore: assomiglia a Lippi».

ESTERO «Ho ancora un contratto di un anno. Poi vedremo...»

FUORICLASSE «Non so se lo sono, lo devono dire gli altri. Penso di aver combinato qualcosa di buono nel calcio, ma mi considero un buon giocatore». G IOCO «Il nostro modo di giocare è aggressione immediata, pressando alto, tenendo sempre il pallino del gioco. E' una mentalità nuova, un calcio che
diverte sia noi che siamo in campo che ci guarda da
fuori».

HABITAT «Sto iniziando ad apprezzare Torino. E' una città che mi assomiglia, tranquilla, sobria. Milano mi manca sempre di meno».

INUTILE «Ma il vero motivo del mio trasferimento è stato un altro: Allegri voleva piazzare
davanti alla difesa Ambrosini o Van Bommel e io avrei dovuto cambiare ruolo. Allora ho detto 'no, grazie' e ho scelto la Juve, che mi offriva motivazioni importanti. Ci tengo a dire che non è stata una questione economica. Il Milan ha deciso che non servivo più. L'ho capito subito durante quel colloquio. Nel mio ruolo Allegri preferiva altri giocatori».
JUVENTUS «La Juve è la squadra più famosa, anche nel mondo, con tantissimi tifosi a favore e altrettanti contro. 

Quando si vince è normale che ci sia accanimento, ma siamo abituati e la cosa non ci distrurba».

LACRIME «A Trieste ho pianto. Non era il primo scudetto della mia carriera, ma ho pianto. Lacrime di gioia perché la vittoria è stata bella e intensamente voluta. Ci tenevo molto. E mentre piangevo ho abbracciato Buffon: parlavamo di quello scudetto dall'inizio della stagione»

MEZZALI «Vidal e Marchisio sono due vere mezzali, autentiche: sanno inserirsi in avanti e anche coprire. E' un piacere giocare con loro, perché per me è più facile sapere che mi coprono e, nello stesso tempo, aggredire gli spazi e darmi la possibilità di lanciarli».

NATURALE «E' un dono naturale, che va coltivato. Io l'ho fatto fin da piccolo. Due volte alla settimana, alla fine dell'allenamento, mi fermo una mezz'oretta e mi esercito. Non provo soltanto il tiro ad effetto. Se una punizione è tirata come si deve, è imparabile. Io ho imparato guardando Platini in tv, da piccolo. E nel Brescia mi allenavo con Baggio. Lo studiavo bene. Ma in Italia le barriere sono troppo vicine. A livello internazionale, invece, gli arbitri fanno rispettare di più la distanza».

OBIETTIVO «La Champions? Noi siamo la Juventus e abbiamo il dovere di iniziare ogni competizione con l'idea di vincerla. Senza presunzione, ma senza paura. La Coppa o il campionato? Se devo scegliere dico Coppa».

POGBA «Impressionante. E' un ragazzo giovane, di prospettiva sicura. E' un gran colpo averlo strappato a un club così importante come il Manchester United».

QUALITA' «Il talento è importante, anzi fondamentale. Ma devi lavorare per coltivarlo, altrimenti solo con il talento non vai da nessuna parte. Il talento mette i presupposti, ma è il lavoro che ti porta a raggiungere gli obiettivi».

ROSE' «Con la mia famiglia abbiamo rilevato un'azienda viticola, la Pratum Colmer, sforniamo 41mila bottiglie l'anno. Rosè, bianco e rosso».

SEGRETO «Mi diverto. E amo il mio lavoro. Mi diverto a giocare e ad allenarmi, quando non sarà più così smetterò».

TEMPO «La barba? Non mi dà fastidio e così non perdo tempo a radermi».

UNICA «La maglia della Juventus è unica. E mi trovo molto bene a indossarla. Vestire una maglia che rappresenta anni di successi e tradizione mi regala un senso di orgoglio, dopo aver indossato per tanti anni un'altra maglia come quella del Milan, similmente ricca di successi e tradizione. Sono molto soddisfatto e contento».

VERRATTI «Ha caratteristiche simile alle mie ed è bravissimo. Dategli solo il tempo di crescere e sbagliare in santa pace. Può essere la mia continuazione».

ZEMAN «E' un allenatore particolare, che fa discutere. Anzi, è un grande allenatore e le sue squadre giocano bene. Fuori dal campo ogni tanto dice delle cose un po' strane, ma è parte del suo carattere o ormai lo conosciamo».

L'edizione odierna di Tuttosport ci parla di Andrea Pirlo dalla A alla Z.

Serie A chiefs give Juventus break ahead of Champions League clash with Celtic

JUVENTUS have succeeded in bringing forward their vital Serie A match with Fiorentina to prepare for their Champions League showdown with Celtic. The Parkhead side have been drawn against the Italian giants for the last 16 clash.

Serie A leaders Juve were due to face Fiorentina – who are also in the running for the title – at home on Sunday, February 10 just two days before they face the Hoops in Glasgow. The Italian league bosses have now agreed to move the game forward a day to help Juve prepare.

It will now kick off at 6pm in Turin on the Saturday night. Celtic face Caley Thistle in Inverness that weekend before welcoming the Italians to Glasgow.  The Parkhead men will be heartened by the fact Juve have a difficult February fixture list squeezed in between their two legs against the Hoops.

They must travel to high-flying Roma and Napoli and also face Siena before welcoming Neil Lennon’s team to Turin for the second leg later that month.

Meanwhile, Marcello Lippi reckons Juve have one of the best managers in the world.

The Old Lady warmed up for the showdown with the Hoops by coming from behind to beat Cagliari 3-1 in Parma on Friday and extend their lead in the league to 10 points.

Lippi – an Italian World Cup winner and twice former manager of Juventus – has been impressed with Antonio Conte as the Turin side seem certainties to win another Serie A title.

And he is adamant they have got themselves one of the best in the business.

He said: “Antonio has given Juve a belief.  “That’s because the DNA of Juventus is winning and the manager is a big part of that.

“They are a very strong team and have one of the best managers in Europe. He is an exceptional coach.”

Interpol expects Italy fixing arrests in Singapore

Interpol expects imminent arrests in Singapore linked to Italy's mushrooming 'Calcioscommesse' football match-fixing scandal, a report said.

The global police body's chief Ronald Noble said more links to the Asian city-state had been revealed following this week's arrest in Italy of Serbian footballer Almir Gegic, after more than a year on the run.

"In the near future, Singaporeans will be reading about arrests made here in Singapore of people linked to illegal betting or match-fixing either in Singapore or outside Singapore," Noble told the Straits Times.

He added that Gegic, suspected of involvement in Calcioscommesse (football betting), had links to Singapore's Tan Seet Eng or Dan Tan, "one of the leaders of an organised crime group" who is reportedly also wanted by Italian police.

Noble was speaking during a conference on match-fixing in Singapore, which has been identified as a hub for football corruption affecting leagues across the globe. In one of the most notorious cases, Singapore's Wilson Raj Perumal, an alleged associate of Dan Tan who was suspected of rigging games in several countries, was jailed in Finland in 2011.

Calcioscommesse whistle-blower Simone Farina, a former left-back with Italian lower-league side Grubbio, told the Interpol conference a former team-mate offered him 200,000 euros ($259,131) to throw a match last year. "I was told that this amount was guaranteed because of his support from an organisation based here in Singapore," Farina said in an address on Wednesday.

Nineteen people were arrested during raids in May, including some senior figures in Italian football. Juventus manager Antonio Conte is currently serving a four-month ban over the affair. Indicating the scale and extent of the problem, in recent weeks Zimbabwe disbanded its national team in the wake of a 2009 scandal -- also linked to Singapore -- and Czech authorities probed fixing claims in its top league.

"The size of the illegal gambling market has been estimated at close to 500 billion euros per year," Noble told the Singapore conference.

"The sizes of the bets can be in the tens, and even hundreds of thousands of euros. There are estimates that the large Asian bookmakers have revenues on the same scale as the Coca-Cola company." (As reported by the French Associated Press)

Agnelli calls for reform

Although Italy were runners-up to Spain in Euro 2012 this year, clubs have struggled in Europe in the last two seasons as top talent has drained away from a Serie A riddled by scandals, dilapidated stadiums and a lack of investment.

"We have to ask ourselves what Italian football will be like in a few years' time," Agnelli told the club's shareholders at a meeting in Turin.

"Many nations have experienced a decline but none have had such a sudden collapse. We are seeing a complete structural collapse and it can't just be explained away as being part of the financial crisis.

"Football is evolving and it won't wait for Italy. That is a fatal presumption."

Agnelli was speaking after an especially poor week in European club competition for the six Italian teams involved.

In the Champions League, beleaguered AC Milan lost 1-0 at Malaga while Juventus needed a late goal to force a 1-1 draw with Danish newcomers Nordsjaelland in Copenhagen.

Of the four teams in the Europa League, only Inter Milan won but they needed a late goal to beat Partizan Belgrade 1-0.

Lazio drew 1-1 at Panathinaikos while Udinese lost 3-1 at Young Boys and Napoli were beaten by the same score at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk with both defeated sides drawing media criticism for fielding weakened teams.

Italy lost its fourth Champions League place to Germany this season and Udinese, third in Serie A last term, failed to get through qualifying only two years after Inter lifted the trophy.

"Club presidents, the media and general observers ask us if we support this or that candidate to lead Serie A or the Football Federation (FIGC)," Agnelli continued.

"Unfortunately, no one asks what needs to be done to fulfil these two important roles.

"Who does Juve support? We support a structural reform of professional football ... those who don't condemn Italy to being marginalised in Europe and the world.

"Reform of the league, the number of professional clubs and the youth sector. Reform of the status of professional sports, currently governed by a law from 1981 - trademark protection, stadium regulations.

"Comprehensive reform of sporting justice, which cannot deal with investments worth millions of euros as though they were a dispute in a local sports club."

Agnelli, who has been outspoken about the ban handed to Juve manager Antonio Conte for failing to report match-fixing, also spoke out in favor of clubs balancing their books, saying that Italian football was in danger of being left behind.

Giving his backing to UEFA's Financial Fair Play program which demands that clubs live within their means, he said: "Our first objective was to change the club and the team.

"In two years we have forged ahead but winning the title means we must not forget our mandate, which is to win while maintaining a balanced financial position in order to give ourselves prospects for the future.

"Juventus have always promoted the principle of change in the world of football. There is a need for change in Italian football to put it at the level of the rest of Europe."

Juventus, who won the Serie A title last season without losing a match having recovered from a 2006 match-fixing demotion, are unbeaten in their last 47 league matches dating back to the final game of the 2010-11 season.

They will be looking to stretch the run at seventh-placed Catania on Sunday. Milan hold the record for an unbeaten Serie A streak at 58 matches from 1991-93.

Quagliarella with Juventus amid Roma speculation

Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella has dismissed suggestions that he is interested in moving to Roma. He has scored three goals in seven appearances for the Old Lady so far this season but was excluded from the line-up for the Champions League match against Nordsjaelland on Tuesday night, heightening conjecture that he could be set to be included in a potential swap-deal with Roma's Pablo Osvaldo.

The 29-year-old was quoted as saying earlier this week that he wants to work with Roma coach Zdenek Zeman.

"I want to explain that my words have been misinterpreted," he wrote on his official Facebook page. "I responded to a question about Zeman like any other player.

"He is a coach who preaches an attacking brand of football that allows all of his forwards to express themselves in a good light.

"But I have no intention of leaving Turin. It is a fantastic city, I'm happy here with Juventus, a club with whom I have won things with."

Quagliarella who joined Juventus from Napoli in 2010, appears to have fallen out of favour with national coach Cesare Prandelli and also finds his Juventus position under threat from Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic.

Del Piero set for 800th game

Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero will play his 800th professional game on Sunday, admitting he never dreamed of reaching such a landmark.

The 37-year-old former Juventus legend has impressed in all three games he has played for his new club Sydney FC, including scoring the winner against Western Sydney last weekend.

Piero said he was grateful to still be performing. "I'm not 100 percent, definitely," he told reporters after training on Wednesday. "But I'm feeling good because I'm training every day and this is important."

Del Piero has spent 19 seasons with Juventus, two with Padova as a youngster and played 91 internationals for Italy, with his fourth appearance for Sydney this Sunday against Perth Glory taking him to 800 matches.

He said he never dreamed of playing so many games.

"If I'm honest, no, but I'm happy it will happen here,"  Del Piero said of the milestone. 

"It (800 games) is a long time. I'm happy to be here and I broke a lot of records in Italy. Now I start here."

"When I played my first game, I was really happy -- it was enough," he added. "I was 18 and I didn't know what would happen with the future. I had a lot of dreams and a lot of them have happened and I'm lucky for that."