The nominees for the Italian Association of Footballers’ Calcio Oscars 2006-07 have been announced.
The awards are voted for by the players of Serie A and will be presented at a ceremony in Milan on January 28, 2008.
World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro won Best Overall Player, Best Italian Footballer and Best Defender last year, but this time around no one player is set to dominate.
Milan’s Andrea Pirlo will battle Roma duo Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi for the Best Italian Player prize, while Ballon d’Or favourites Kaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic compete for Best Foreign Player along with Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu.
Gigi Buffon isn’t eligible for Best Goalkeeper as he was banished to Serie B with Juventus.
The Azzurri shot-stopper has won for five of the last six seasons and Fiorentina’s Sebastien Frey, Inter’s Julio Cesar and ex-Lazio veteran Angelo Peruzzi will look to take advantage.
Fiorentina’s Riccardo Montolivo and Giampaolo Pazzini are up for Bes
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'We're sad about what happened, these things hurt football.' THE WORDS OF GALLIANI, ANCELOTTI, AND NESTA
TURIN - Here are the words of Adriano Galliani, Carlo Ancelotti, and Sandro Nesta from Bergamo:
ADRIANO GALLIANI
'There isn't much to say right now. The decision was made by the Chief of Police, it's clearly his decision to make. It's sad, these things certainly hurt football. I don't know what happened to this poor Lazio fan, I don't know the facts so I can't say anything. I don't want to draw any conclusions, I will comment when I know the facts.'
CARLO ANCELOTTI
'It's unfortunate what happened. The Chief of Police took this decision and we accepted it. We stood by his decision, which was communicated to us by the referee. We feel bitterness, disappointment. When we came on the pitch, we thought things would go the right way. That's not what happened.'
Milan defender Alessandro Nesta has declared that he would be “extremely happy” if Alessandro Del Piero were to join him at San Siro.
Del Piero is currently having serious problems in renewing his contract in Turin and this has led to speculation over the past few days that Milan may launch a bid for the striker.
“If we could sign Del Piero I would be extremely happy,” stated Nesta. “He is a player who does not talk much, but when he does he always says the right things.”
Milan are in desperate need of some attacking reinforcements. The European Champions are going through a dismal run of form, which has seen them go five Serie A games without a win.
The main problem is up-front where they have scored just five goals in their last five league games, with two of these being penalties. No Milan str
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Milan defender Alessandro Nesta has expressed his delight at being named in the FIFPro World XI and has thanked his club for helping him through some difficult times last year.
FIFPro is the worldwide representative organisation for professional football players. Every year votes are taken from members for the FIFPro annual awards. This time around Kaka won the individual prize for FIFPro Player of the Year, and his Rossoneri teammate Nesta made it into the team XI.
“I’m really pleased to receive this award by my colleagues, because the respect of my team mates is really important,” said Nesta.
“From the World Cup till today, I went through a difficult period. I broke my shoulder and mentally it was
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Milan leave Siena with a draw: the Rossoneri, who were behind until the 90th minute, found an equaliser in injury time. It was Nesta who found the right spark with a great right-footed shot that made it 1-1. In the final minute, Seedorf hit the crossbar.
The sense that against Siena it would be a tough match, had already surfaced in the hours preceding the encounter. Andrea Mandorlini's team, still on 0 points in the standings after the matches against Sampdoria and Roma, perhaps underservedly, were very eager to get a result. The determination announced in the words found its confirmation on the pitch. Siena were a determined and gritty opponent from the first minute to the last, an attitude that earned them the first point in the standings. Milan, who were behind almost until the very end, managed to equalise
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MILANELLO - Silvano Ramaccioni spoke about Nesta's farewell from the national team: "I saw him decided. I think that his was a thought and pondered choice. I didn't think it was the case to interfere. Despite the injury during the World Cup, he still left as a World Champion; it was a nice way how to give his farewell."
