A welcome message from Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo
Ciao a tutti,
It's nice and important for me to be the first voice of this new initiative from Serie A in North America. After me, fans, players, journalists... we are all united by the same passion: calcio. This newsletter will be a regular appointment with curiosities, news, and insights; an ideal way to bring the sport closer to those who love it, "calcio door-to-door” delivering our beloved Serie A. Good Calcio Weekly.
Luigi De Siervo
Weah looking forward to “truly special match” against USMNT teammates
This Sunday, AC Milan host Juventus at the San Siro (2.45pm ET on Paramount+), with USMNT stars Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tim Weah and Weston McKennie all available for selection.
🇺🇸 On Tuesday evening, all four American players were on the field for the USMNT’s 4-0 win over Ghana in Nashville. On Sunday, Weah and McKennie will face Pulisic and Musah as domestic league opponents for the first time.
🗣️ “It will truly be a special match, I can’t wait,” said Weah in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. “It will be wonderful to challenge two national team teammates like Pulisic and Musah. For us, then, it is a very important match against the team at the top of the table, I hope it gives us satisfaction.”
🔝 AC Milan goes into the match at the summit of Serie A, having won its last four league games. Juventus are in third, and could close the gap at the top to a single point with a win.
💡 Did you know? It’s a particularly meaningful game for Tim Weah, whose father George won the Ballon d’Or while playing for the Rossoneri in 1995. (Oh, and Rossoneri is Milan’s nickname, which means “Red and Blacks” and refers to their kit colors.)
👉 Read more
🧤 Christian Pulisic: goalscorer and… goalkeeper?
🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic has certainly hit the ground running in Milan, with four goals from eight leagues appearances, including an 87th-minute winner on the road at Genoa before the international break.
🤯 The Genoa match ended with striker Olivier Giroud going between the sticks, when Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan saw red in the 98th minute, and Stefano Pioli had already made all his substitutions. However, had things gone differently, it might not have been Oli who picked up the gloves…
🗣️ "A few guys ran over and they said, 'Who's going to go in goal?' And I said, 'I'll do it. I'm happy to do it if that's what it takes,’” said Pulisic. "But then once Olivier obviously said he would do it and I think the goalkeeper coach agreed he was safer. He is a little bigger, but I think I would've been OK. But [Giroud] went in and did a great job, so I was very happy with that…
After scoring in both USMNT friendlies over the break, Pulisic goes into the huge clash with Juve having scored four in his last five games for club and country.
So it’s probably best that he keeps conducting his business in the opponent’s penalty area…
Napoli suffer Osimhen injury blow
🤕 Defending Serie A champions Napoli will be without star striker Victor Osimhen when league play returns this weekend, with the club confirming he picked up a grade 2 (partial) hamstring injury while on international duty with Nigeria.
According to Sky Italia, Osimhen will be out for 4-6 weeks, meaning he may miss next weekend’s clash with Milan, and two Champions League clashes with Union Berlin.
Osimhen has six goals from eight league appearances this season, and was Serie A top goalscorer last season, with his 26 goals guiding Napoli to their first title since 1989-90.
This statistic from WhoScored suggests Osimhen will certainly be missed while sidelined…
FIFA President praises Fiorentina’s new HQ
👏 FIFA President Gianni Infantino has offered congratulations to Fiorentina on their ‘world-beating’ new training facility, Viola Park.
💜 The state-of-the-art facility, located just outside Florence, officially opened last week, after breaking ground in 2019. Viola Park features 10 pitches for the men’s, women’s and youth teams — one of which includes seating for 3,000 spectators.
🗣️ “Florence is a city that boasts world-famous monuments and it is no exaggeration to say that it has just gained another one. Of course, this is a more modern monument and, this time, it is thanks to the wonderful game of football” - Infantino
Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso believes the new facility is so good that it will make “some players want to come to Fiorentina rather than Juventus.”
➡️ Up next for La Viola : Vincenzo Italiano’s side, who are riding high in fourth place in Serie A, are hosting Empoli on Monday (2.45pm ET on Paramount+).
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🤔 Where will Antonio Conte coach next?
Since leaving Tottenham in March, Antonio Conte has been linked with a number of managerial roles.
Conte, pictured above featuring in a Juventus Legends game during the international break, won five scudetti as a player and four as a manager.
The 54-year-old has been linked to both Napoli and Roma this season, and has not ruled out either as his next destination…
🗣️ “Those are two clubs that I’d like to try for the passion fans have” said Conte. “I hope one day I’ll have a chance to live this experience.”
The four-time Serie A Coach of the Year, however, has made it clear that his next move will not come during the current campaign: “I don’t take jobs during the season because there are situations that have been created before I arrived.”
💬 Calcio Conversations
Did you know? The Panenka penalty, when the ball is scooped or chipped into the net from the spot, is named for Antonín Panenka, who famously attempted the audacious technique in the 1976 European Championships Final.
But in Italy they would say “Fare il cucchiaio” instead.
Why? It literally means “to do a spoon,” and was popularized when Francesco Totti pulled it off on several occasions, including in a shootout at Euro 2000 🥄🥄🥄
So, you could say, Totti used some silverware to try and win some silverware. (Sorry, not sorry….)
Udinese’s Marco Silvestri: “We can get out of this”
🫤 It’s been a less-than-auspicious start to the season for Udinese, who have failed to win any of their first eight outings.
🧤 Goalkeeper Marco Silvestri is confident Udinese can start pulling away from 17th place, where they currently sit…
🗣️ “There is certainly pressure and we are well aware that the moment is not it's positive,” said Silvestre. “But we have to be the ones to control it in the right way and take it as a stimulus. I've seen the coach is calm, he believes in us and is convinced we will get out of this period.”
🦓 Fun fact: Udinese are known as Le Zebrette, or “The Little Zebras” due to their black-and-white home uniform.
➡️ Up next for The Little Zebras: Udinese host mid-table Lecce on Monday (12.30pm ET on Paramount+), against whom they’ve only taken a single point in their last three meetings.
Social post of the week: Roberto Baggio says Lautaro has the WOW factor!
🙌 The modern calcio equivalent of “praise from Caesar” is surely “praise from Baggio.” One of the greatest Italian players of all time is very impressed with Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez…
😍 Just imagine the alternate reality where Lautaro and The Divine Ponytail shared the field in Serie A….
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports and Paramount+
⚽️☕️ Calcio e Cappuccino coverage for Milan v Juventus starts at 2pm ET on Paramount+
Saturday
Verona v Napoli (9am ET)
Torino v Inter Milan (12pm ET)
Sassuolo v Lazio (2.45pm ET)
Sunday
Roma v Monza (6.30am ET)
Salernitana v Calgiari (9am ET)
Bologna v Frosinone (9am ET)
Atalanta v Genoa (12pm ET)
Milan v Juventus (2.45pm ET)
Monday
Udinese v Lecce (12pm ET)
Fiorentina v Empoli (2.45pm ET)
⚽️ Matteo Bonetti’s Pick of the Round
Naturally, CBS Sports/Paramount+ Analyst Matteo Bonetti will be paying close attention to Sunday’s huge clash between Milan and Juventus:
There's few games that get me as excited as a commentator than Milan v. Juventus: the most successful Italian team in European competition against the most dominant one domestically.
This match up early on in the season is full of intrigue, as usual. Milan are in first place, thanks to a lot of their new signings settling into the team more quickly than expected.
However, manager Stefano Pioli will have to do without goalkeeper Mike Maignan and explosive fullback Theo Hernandez due to suspension, while Juventus will be looking to move past the suspension of their young midfield Nicolo Fagioli due to his gambling-related ban. Juventus will also be without their two best attacking players in Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, who have minor injuries and are expected back in late October.
Tactically, Milan will be looking to be in control with the second-highest possession percentage in the league. Juventus has been a bit more inconsistent with their play. We’ve seen their brilliance in the games against Udinese and Lazio this season, but have at other times reverted back to the more pragmatic and defensive approach typical of a Max Allegri side.
The Rossoneri have taken chances with their play, using a high line and relying on the brilliance of Fikayo Tomori and his aggression to close down spaces.
It’ll be a brilliant chess match between Pioli and Allegri, and a result that could have important implications at the end of the season given that Milan and Juventus are fighting for the same objectives.
Grazie e arrivederci!
We hope you enjoyed the first-ever edition of Calcio Weekly.
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