Ranieri: Giovinco Will Play

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri insists his side will fight for the Coppa Italia and he has demanded a win against Catania in tomorrow night’s last 16 clash.

The Bianconeri welcome the Sicilians to the Stadio Olimpico Grande and both teams will be fighting for a place in the quarter finals. However, reports have suggested that Juventus are not keen on the Coppa, preferring success in the Champions League and Scudetto races.

Nevertheless, Ranieri has come out to reassure fans that his side will continue to fight on all fronts, rather than snub Italy’s domestic cup competition.

“This is a game that we have to win. We are keen on the Coppa Italia and we want to win,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.

“We know it will be a difficult match for us because Catania will also want to progress, therefore I will try and play my best formation without risking any of my players too much.”

With Sebastian Giovinco itching to play, this is an opportunity for Ranieri to rest some players and give the youngster another chance to prove himself.

“Giovinco? I think there will be space for him and, as for Chiellini, he is recovering well and he could be back by the end of the week,” added the coach.

“The Coppa Italia is within our objectives. Perhaps the Christmas break posed us some problems, but I would prefer to keep to the same players.”

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Visit new website here and tell me what you think.

four points

Juventus moved to within four points of Serie A leaders Inter Milan thanks to a 1-0 win over Siena today.

A trademark free-kick from Alessandro Del Piero in the 34th minute was enough to earn the Bianconeri all three points and allow them to take full advantage of Inter’s slip-up – a 1-1 draw with Cagliari – yesterday.

Claudio Ranieri’s men were made to work hard for the win, particularly in the second half as Siena pushed forward for an equaliser.

Siena coach Marco Giampaolo opted for Emanuele Calaio instead of Mario Frick in his attack, which was without the injured Massimo Maccarone.

Juve’s injury list was still long enough to fill an entire team, even after the three-week winter break, but at least they had Pavel Nedved back on the wing instead of former Siena defender Paolo De Ceglie.

The Czech winger’s first intervention almost presented the opening goal to Mohamed Sissoko, who went within a whisker of heading in Nedved’s cross.

Nedved was proving to be the Bianconeri’s most productive outlet, but Siena soon got an extra man back to mark him.

The visitors were then able to build their own game and they were claiming a penalty when Calaio’s shot brushed the arm of Nicolas Legrottaglie, although there was no intent on the part of the Juventus defender and the referee rightly waved play on.

Siena were growing in confidence and preventing Juventus from mounting any attacks, but keeping them 25 yards away from their goal was not enough, particularly with Del Piero around.

The Italy international dispatched a direct free-kick into the top left-hand corner of Emanuele Manitta’s goal to put Ranieri’s side ahead 10 minutes before the interval.

The second half told a similar story to the first with Siena remaining disciplined and well organised, preventing the home side from moving the ball around as they would have liked.

However, they were still chasing the game and, sooner or later, they knew they had to abandon their defensive style and search for an equaliser.

The arrival of Frick changed things as the Liechtenstein international’s introduction allowed the game to open up.

He had Siena’s first chance of the second half in the 63rd minute when he raced onto Daniele Galloppa’s long ball forward, but Olaf Mellberg slid in to clear the ball.

It was Juve’s turn to defend with Siena trying to find a way through the massed ranks of Bianconeri shirts for the final half hour of the game.

At the other end, Del Piero had the chance to seal the win when he was released by Amauri, but he lacked the accuracy he had shown with his first-half free-kick and fired into the side-netting.

It was a nail-biting finish for the home side as Abdelkader Ghezzal tested Alexander Manninger with a right-footed shot which the Juve goalkeeper pushed behind for a corner.

Ghezzal’s next effort was blocked by Zdenek Grygera as Juve held on.

Serie A Preview: Juventus vs Siena

Old Lady Ready To Restart Her Engine

Juventus head into the new year with great expectations. A decent challenge for the Scudetto is needed and Siena represent an easy chance to snap up three points and close the six point gap with Inter.

Coach Claudio Ranieri demanded a good performance against Monaco in the mid-week friendly. The display was not special from the Bianconeri as they showed some old frailties and things will need to change against Siena.

Juve headed into the Christmas break in stunning form. Unbeaten in four Serie A matches, they racked up 13 goals during those fixtures. Only league leaders Inter have scored more and conceded less than the Bianconeri, and the Turin based side will be hoping to overtake their bitter rivals in the goals for and against chart. Their only slip up was the defeat to the French side in the exhibition match, but Ranieri will forgive his players if they take three points off Siena.

Amauri has been key for the Old Lady this term. His 11 goals in 17 league games have been vital to Juve’s Scudetto push. The Brazilian has a habit of scoring against the smaller teams and he will relish the chance to make his name stand out in the Capocannoniere charts.

The Bianconeri’s record against Siena is superb apart from last season’s abysmal 1-0 loss away from home. In the last six matches between both bianconero teams, the Turin-based side have won five and lost one. In those games, the Old Lady has smashed a massive 13 goals against the Tuscan minnows, conceding just one. A great record and they will be looking to add to it this weekend.

Juventus will take comfort from the fact that apart from rock bottom Chievo, Siena have the lowest goals for record in the league and with the Old Lady boasting a rock solid defence, all the odds are stacked heavily in favour of the two-time European Champions.

Ranieri will be hoping the engines start up first time on Sunday after Tuesday night’s stuttering in Messina. The players have had their annual Christmas service and so they should all be revved up and ready to speed towards maximum points against the lesser known Bianconeri.

Siena Searching For Safety

The first game of the year is always hard, especially after the break and the club will not be looking forward to a trip to snow covered Turin on what is likely to be a frozen Sunday afternoon.

However, Marco Giampaolo’s men are still feeling the heat from their 2-1 defeat to Inter on the final Serie A game of 2008. Many will remember the way Robur lost out to Jose Mourinho’s side because of fatal errors. All the rage and frustration is likely to come out against Juve, and thus the players will be all fired up heading to Turin.

The Bianconeri are well on course to reach their Serie A safety target. Giampalo’s side are currently two points off 13th place which is an astonishing achievement given the fact that they finished last season in that position.

Europe is likely to remain a dream, but they will not be dreaming in the Tuscan town if they manage to pull off the near impossible and beat Juve on Sunday. The records go against Siena in every way, but the Old Lady have various injury problems to deal with and, following the Inter game, the Toscani will fancy their chances. In their last six games, Siena have won twice, lost three times and drawn once.

Their lack of a goal threat up front has taken its toll even though Houssine Kharja, Massimo Maccarone and Abdel Ghezzal have been impressive but only in phases. The trio have only scored seven goals between them this term.

As well as this, the team has only won once away from home all season. The other eight matches ended in seven losses and a draw. All the players can do is hope that a lacklustre Juventus turn up and maybe, just maybe, they will pull off the first shock of the year.

Download Section Now available!!

Sebastian Giovinco Fansite is proud to present new section where you are free to download a bunch of video. It contains Sebastian’s goal, match highlight which he plays and some fan videos…

Download section is currently under development, so if you have any Giovinco’s video, please help the site by sending me it. Thanks.

Juve – Monaco Update!!

After spend 2 hours finding Gio’ photo from yesterday match, finally, I found one and only one…

And I just made a video from Juve – Monaco match highlight contains all Giovinco’s skills, goal chances and especially his penalty shoot.

“The important thing is that we’re well”

On from the first minute of the second half Sebastian Giovinco showed his worth once again against Monaco with a number of good moves and goal chances including

«I think we did well. We played a good first and second half apart from the penalties.
Unfortunately I hit the post but I’m happy because we’re all well».

Asked whether the Juventus have managed to re-gain their concentration after the Christmas break the Atomic Ant answered : «We are a good team and we have managed to recover important players. There are three competitions to play for and we will do our best to win».

Monaco Beat Juve On Penalties

Vincenzo Iaquinta’s stoppage-time strike started 2009 with a 1-1 draw against Monaco, but Paolo De Ceglie’s decisive spot-kick was saved.

Gianluigi Buffon had been out of action since the end of September with a groin strain, but started this evening’s Trofeo Citta’ di Messina at the Stadio San Filippo.

With Mauro Camoranesi, David Trezeguet and Giorgio Chiellini sidelined, youth team captain Ariaudo was given a starting role in central defence. Monaco opted to rest Flavio Roma, former Roma man Leandro Cufrè and ex-Milan defender Dario Simic.

The scoreline was at the very least flattering to the French outfit, as Juve created numerous chances in the first half and were repeatedly denied by goalkeeper Ruffier.

Amauri shook off a challenge to test the shot-stopper seven minutes in, then his header brought an even better save soon after. Alex Del Piero should’ve done better on the half-hour mark when he swept Zdenek Grygera’s assist wide with the inside of his left foot.

It all went horribly wrong for the Bianconeri when Nicola Legrottaglie brought down Adu for Leko’s penalty to send Buffon the other way.

Ruffier continued his spectacular individual performance by flying to tip a Del Piero free kick out of the top corner.

There were numerous changes at half-time, as Claudio Ranieri introduced the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Paolo De Ceglie and welcomed back Christian Poulsen and Hasan Salihamidzic from long-term injuries.

Buffon was one of those to make way, playing just 45 minutes of this comeback match, though Alex Manninger was also replaced by Antonio Chimenti.

Giovinco came closer than anyone to an equaliser on 67 minutes, but his free kick curled on to the frame of the goal and another effort was kept out by substitute goalkeeper Thuram-Ulien.

Giovinco successfully converted his penalty this time.

The Atomic Ant also had penalty appeals for a clash with Modesto, but it was his strike partner Iaquinta who avoided defeat in the final minute.

Iaquinta ran on to a Cristiano Zanetti searching pass from midfield and smacked his angled drive past the Monaco goalkeeper to force penalties in this friendly match.

Chimenti failed to stop a single spot-kick, but Thuram-Ulien parried De Ceglie’s effort to decide the trophy in Monaco’s favour.

Giovinco, Esposito, Salihamidzic and Legrottaglie successfully converted their penalties.

Juventus 1-1 Monaco
(Monaco win 5-4 on penalties)
Scorers: Leko pen 35 (M), Iaquinta 90 (J)

Juventus: Buffon (Manninger 46) (Chimenti 71); Grygera (Salihamidzic 46), Ariaudo, Legrottaglie, Molinaro (De Ceglie 46); Marchionni (Esposito 46), Sissoko (Poulsen 46), Marchisio (Zanetti 46), Nedved (Ekdal 46); Del Piero (Iaquinta 46), Amauri (Giovinco 46)

Monaco: Ruffier (Thuram-Ulien 46); Modesto, Mongongu (Nkoulou 64), Adriano, Mangani; Sagbo (Mollo 64), Leko (Doufau 75), Pokrivac, Diaz (Boulot 74); Adu (Germain 68), Gapke (Bakar 46)

Match Highlights

Gallery Update!!

Another boring week passed, life sucks without football . But good news is Serie A will return this Saturday and I’ve added some old Gillette champion photo to Gallery section. Also, one new wallpaper’s been added.

And here is the Gillette advertising video.

Giovinco: I Will Be Juventus’ Greatest

The ‘Formica Atomica’ has stated his desire to stay in Turin and his aims are as big as his claims…

Juventus starlet Sebastian Giovinco has warned interested clubs that he has no intention of leaving during the January transfer window.

Speculation surrounding his future in Turin has been rife and a number of clubs have shown an interest in him. His agents have always stated Giovinco’s desire to earn some corn with the Old Lady and now the protagonist has gone even further to cement his days with Juve.

Tuttosport have published an extract of a conversation between Giovinco and one of his agent’s Andrea D’Amico where the player’s intentions are clear.

“Andrea, why should I leave and change teams? Just because I play less? Here I train with superstars and I will find space sooner or later,” Giovinco said.

“Whether it’s now or in six months it doesn’t matter. I will train hard and always be ready. I am going to burst onto the scene.

“I think I will become the best at Juventus.”

Coach Claudio Ranieri has used the 21-year-old sparingly this season. Del Piero’s stunning form has kept Giovinco bolted to the bench.