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Tag: Seria A

  • Serie A: Super Eagles goalie, Okoye excited at making Udinese debut

    Serie A: Super Eagles goalie, Okoye excited at making Udinese debut

    Super Eagles goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, is in joyous mood after making his debut for Udinese in their 2-1 home loss to Cagliari in Wednesday’s Coppa Italia round of 32 clash.

    The clash against Cagliari was the first game for the goalie in 14 months.

    The 24-year-old joined the Italian side from Watford but had to wait three months before getting his chance to play.

    Okoye made eight saves during the encounter and was rated Udinese’s best player despite conceding a late equaliser which forced the game to extra time.

    The former Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper also made 73 per cent pass accuracy from the 38 touches he made.

    Despite the loss, Okoye was delighted with his teammates’ display.

    “It was unfortunate but I think that in recent times we have been developing a good mentality, offensive and pattern,” Okoye said.

    “I thank the club for giving me this opportunity to play, I will learn from this experience. It’s been a long time since I saw the pitch, I also thank the fans. I’m sure I will enjoy playing for this shirt.”

    “I think we pushed hard, some of us have waited a long time for this moment. We wanted to play and win, it’s difficult to finish like this because we conceded goals in the last minute. I would have been ready to face penalties but unfortunately, we didn’t get there,” the goalkeeper added.

    However, the goalie is full of confidence that his serie A debut will come anytime soon for Udinese.

    Okoye has missed out on  many Super Eagles games and will be full of hopes that coach peseiro will extend invitation to him for Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe later this month.

     

  • Serie A: AC Milan appoints new manager

    Serie A: AC Milan appoints new manager

    AC Milan have appointed Stefano Pioli as their new manager, following Marco Giampaolo’s sacking on Tuesday after just three and a half months in charge.

    Italian Pioli, 53, is the Rossoneri’s ninth full-time manager since they last won the Serie A title in 2011.

    The hashtag #PioliOut was the top trend on Twitter in Italy on Tuesday, with fans unhappy at the prospect of his appointment.

    Milan are 13th in Serie A, three points above the relegation zone.

    Milan beat Genoa 2-1 on Saturday after Pepe Reina saved a penalty in injury time for only their third win in their opening seven games and it followed three successive defeats before that, against rivals Inter, Torino and Fiorentina.

    Giampaolo, 52, succeeded Gennaro Gattuso in June after the former Italy midfielder quit because Milan missed out on Champions League qualification.

    He had left Sampdoria at the end of last season after guiding them to a ninth-placed finish in Serie A.

    Former Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio manager Pioli has signed a two-year deal at the San Siro.

    AC Milan, seven-time champions of Europe, have not played in the Champions League since 2013-14.

    The club would have qualified for this year’s Europa League but are currently serving a one-year ban from European football over breaches of Financial Fair Play rules.

  • AC Milan sack coach after poor start to season

    AC Milan sack coach after poor start to season

    AC Milan have sacked manager Marco Giampaolo after only three and a half months in charge because of a poor start to the season.

    Milan are 13th in Serie A, three points above the relegation zone, after three wins in their first seven games.

    Giampaolo, 52, succeeded Gennaro Gattuso in June after the former Italy midfielder quit because Milan missed out on Champions League qualification.

    Former Inter Milan boss Stefano Pioli has been linked with the role.

    The hashtag #PioliOut was the top trend on Twitter in Italy on Tuesday, with fans unhappy at Pioli being reportedly set to take over.

    “The club is grateful to Marco for the work carried out and wishes him all the best to come in his professional career,” said AC Milan in a statement.

    Milan beat Genoa 2-1 on Saturday after Pepe Reina saved a penalty in injury time, but had three successive defeats before that, against rivals Inter, Torino and Fiorentina.

    Giampaolo left Sampdoria at the end of last season after guiding them to a ninth-placed finish in Serie A.

    AC Milan, seven-time champions of Europe, have not played in the Champions League since 2013-14 and last won the Serie A title in 2011.

    The club would have qualified for this year’s Europa League but are currently serving a one-year ban from European football over breaches of Financial Fair Play rules.

  • AC Milan lost $300 million the past three seasons

    AC Milan lost $300 million the past three seasons

    Italian soccer team AC Milan has reportedly lost a total of $300 million the past three seasons.

    According to Calciomercato.com, “The reason for AC Milan’s quiet January transfer window has been revealed and it does not make happy reading for the accountants. The Rossoneri’s financial records from 2015 to 2017 show a loss of €250M ($307 million at today’s exchange rate); a colossal amount compared to Uefa’s ruling that the permitted limit should be no more that €30M.”

    The losses of the past three years would bring AC Milan’s aggregate net losses since 2005 to about $700 million, or an average of almost $40 million a year.

    In 2016, Silvio Berlusconi sold AC Milan to Yonghong Li for $828 million, with part of the financing coming from the U.S. hedge fund Elliot Management. Three months ago, the soccer team and Highbridge Capital Management, part of JP Morgan, were on the verge of an agreement to refinance Elliott Management’s debt.

    But that deal reportedly fell through because AC Milan was “unwilling to meet Highbridge’s demands for a refinancing deal.”

    The Italian soccer team needs money and a collapsing stock market and rising interest rates will not help. It is increasingly looking like AC Milan could change hands soon at a bargain price.
  • Serie A Update : Gonzalo Higuain scores hat-trick as Juventus win 7-0

    Serie A Update : Gonzalo Higuain scores hat-trick as Juventus win 7-0

    Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat-trick as Juventus thrashed Sassuolo 7-0 on Sunday to keep the pressure on Napoli in the Serie A title battle.

    Juve were already four goals to the good at half-time, Sami Khedira’s brace sandwiched by strikes from Alex Sandro and Miralem Pjanic.

    And Higuain took centre stage after the interval, scoring in the 63rd, 74th and 83rd minutes to give the scoreline an emphatic look.

    Napoli will have the chance to respond when they take on rock-bottom Benevento in the evening kick-off.

    Roma had earlier beaten Hellas Verona 1-0, with rising star Cengiz Under scoring the winner inside a minute.

    The Giallorossi lost Lorenzo Pellegrini to a red card early in the second half but held on for the three points.

    Ten-man AC Milan, though, were held to a 1-1 draw at Udinese.

    The visitors took an early lead through Suso but Davide Calabria’s dismissal and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s unfortunate own goal – the ball going in off his arm after Kevin Lasagna’s cross deflected off Leonardo Bonucci and deceived him – pegged them back.

    Cagliari picked up an important three points against relegation rivals SPAL.

    Luca Cigarini scored in the first half and Marco Sau made the game safe in the second to lift the Sardinians seven points clear of their opponents who occupy the top relegation position.

    Fiorentina won 2-1 at Bologna, with goals from Jordan Veretout and Federico Chiesa either side of Eric Pulgar’s equaliser, while Gianluca Mancini earned Atalanta a 1-0 win over Chievo.