Thursday, July 23, 2009

Juventus Coach Ciro Ferrara Forgives Amauri For Outburst During Friendly

Amauri - Juventus-Vicenza - Friendly match (Grazia Neri)

In today's friendly draw between Juventus and Vicenza (1-1), striker Amauri got himself sent off after losing his temper and attacking an opposing player by hitting him on his back.

As he left the pitch, while captain Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Cannavaro tried to calm him down, the Brazilian was still furious and showed the referee the finger.

This obviously conditioned Juve's performance, with coach Ciro Ferrara forced to shuffle his team around after they were left behind with ten men. After the match, the coach talked about this episode, warning his team against this type of indiscipline happening again when the official games start.

"Amauri immediately apologised to all of us for what he did," Ferrara said to Tuttosport.com. "I'm not sure what happened, but we have to try to avoid these things, especially when we start playing official matches.

"Today we played a friendly, but remaining with ten men forced everyone to do extra work. Although I didn't get any indications on the new system, at least the lads put minutes in their legs, I care about getting to the start of the season with all the players in the same level of form."

Danilo Pochini, Goal.com
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David Trezeguet's Agent Tight-Lipped On AC Milan Talk

David Trezeguet - Juventus (Grazia Neri)

David Trezeguet's future is less than clear as his agent stays quiet over the Milan rumours.

Antonio Caliendo, who deals with the Juventus striker's movements, did nothing to confirm nor deny today's reports. It is suggested that Milan are interested in the striker as their move for Luis Fabiano appears to have hit a brick wall. Marco Borriello was said to be the player Milan would offer in return for the Frenchman.

"I am staying quiet today," Caliendo told Tuttomercatoweb.com.

"I have already spoken about my client in the past and so today is a day of silence from me."

Caliendo was seen wining and dinning in Milan on Tuesday night with Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani. Coach Leonardo said he liked Trezeguet, but Galliani then denied reports of a move for the Frenchman.

"Marco Borriello will not be part of any David Trezeguet deal," the chief told the club's official website.

Voices regarding an exit grew louder last night when the striker refused to take the captain's armband during a heated 1-1 friendly against Vicenza.

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com
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Martin Caceres Could Be A Juventus Player In 10 Days

Jose Martin Caceres - Barcelona

It is well documented that Martin Caceres is wanted by Juventus, and the player's agent, Daniel Fonseca, has repeatedly said that a move is in the offing, and he appears confident that a deal can finally be sealed.

"Nothing has changed since we last heard, but Juventus are optimistic about the signing," Fonseca told tuttomercatoweb.com.

"I think that in 10 days time the situation will be resolved. Does it depend on Barcelona or Juventus? Neither of them - we are waiting for the player's answer, which should arrive in 4-5 days, and then we can finally move forward."

Caceres has been told by Pep Guardiola that he is free to move on, as the Barca coach cannot guarantee him regular first team football. The 22-year-old found himself behind Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique last year, and his chances are even thinner this season with the return of Henrique from his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen and Gabriel Milito on his recovery from a serious injury.

The Blaugrana are currently in negotiations with Inter for the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and this is also holding up Caceres' potential move. Juventus are eager to take the Uruguayan on board, as he can play anywhere across the back four to provide invaluable cover for the full-backs.

Anthony Wright, Goal.com
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Felipe Melo: "I Will Work Hard To Win The Championship And The Champions League"


It was a rather quick and unexpected signing and yet it seems to be , together with that of Diego, the greatest signing in the Italian transfer market. Felipe Melo has joined Juventus the team which he admired as a child, the one captained by Roberto Baggio.

The fans expect Juventus to challenge Inter seriously for the championship and Melo believes that this is possible:

"I am not scared of Inter. It is a big club but so is Juve and if we all work together I am sure we can reach great goals". He defines his move to Juventus as a leap in quality: "I think the fact that the club did a rather big financial effort to sign me, this makes me feel good. I am happy to have reached this level and now I will work hard to win the championship and the Champions League".

An ongoing debate is whether football should be spectacular or aimed at results and who better then a Brazilian can answer such a question?

"I think it is more important to win rather then to be specatacular. I played in great teams which were spectacular but did not win anything and in others were we weren’t specatcular but we won because we were united. We must be united like a family and work as a team so as to obtain our objectives".

Journalists have compared Felipe Melo to Emerson and Dunga: "I have just joined a great team and I just want to think of working hard. In two years or three years time, after having won some important titles, then perhaps I will be in a position to be compared to other greats like Emerson and Dunga but not at the moment".

"The Brazilian national team?I am now at Juventus. I will work hard for Juventus because this club must always be at the top. I will work hard and then if I do well the Brazilian national team call-up will come as it has in the past but I am a Juve player and I will work hard to be worthy".

"We must all work hard. With or without Diego or Melo, Juve are strong and so we must work hard and be united to be as strong as possible. I can’t wait to be in the dressing rooms, speak with the other players and get to know them. I once played against Sissoko in Spain and now I am really curious to speak to him and play by his side".

Told that the fact that last year he was shown quite a number of yellow and red cards, the audacious Brazilian answered:

"Last year I was shown quite a few cards. It was my first year in Italy and this could have been the reason since in 4 years in Spain I only got shown one red card. Now I know the methods of the referees here in Italy and even though as a midfielder I am bound to be shown cards I will definitely be more careful and shown less cards".

Felipe Melo is destined to become a Juve fan idol and this can easily be deduced from his conclusion to the press conference:

" I came here because Juventus is a club that can win anything. All we have to do is work hard. If we work hard and do so well the scudetto will be a bit closer".

Juventus.com
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Secco: "The Signing Of Felipe Is An Important Signing For The Club"


Felipe Melo’s signing has been well received by the fans and highly acclaimed by the journalists and ver rightly so because the 26 year old midfielder has nothing less then 9 years of professional experience with the last season spent at Fiorentina aiding the viola to qualify for the Champions League preliminaries.

Juventus sports director, Alessio Secco, explained the strategy by which Melo was signed: "The signing of Felipe is an important signing for the club. We mate quite a financial effort but I am sure it will be worthwhile because he will give an important contribution to the team. He had a very good season and when we got to know that we could afford the expense we went straight ahead with it. In fact it was very quick".

At the end of the conference Alessio Secco took the opportunity to thank Marco Marchionni and Olof Mellberg for all they did at Juventus.

Juventus.com
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26 Off To The Peace Cup


After the friendly on Sunday in Joeuf against Nancy, the new 2009/10 Juventus is about to breathe some international air again. The squad is ready to leave for Andalusia where it will take part in the 4th edition of the Peace Cup, to be held in Europe for the first time.

In contrast to the recent summer training camp in Trentino, Ciro Ferrara will have practically the entire squad at his disposal.

This means that for the first time those players who were not in Trentino will also form part of the group: new-signing Felipe Melo, Nicola Legrottaglie and Sebastian Giovinco.

In all the squad will be made up of 26 players including two from the Primavera: Luca Marrone and Ciro Immobile. Poulsen and Almiron will not form part of the group but will remain in Turin to train.

Not all the players present will take part in the tournament. According to regulations only 25 players may be enlisted. Paolo De Ceglie was not inserted in the list since he is still recovering from the injury to the left angle suffered a month ago during the Under 21 European Cup held in Sweden.

Juventus.com
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A Day Of Relax Before The Next Departure


The luggage of Juventus are always ready at the start of this new season. After having returned from Trentino, where they had the first part of the summer preparation, the bianconeri are ready to leave again. As from Thursday the Spanish adventure of the Peace Cup begins.

Ciro Ferrara’s team will be playing two matches – against Seville and Seongnam – but most of all the trip will serve as a new phase of work, even though in a warmer climate when compared to the one in Pinzolo.

While awaiting the departure to Andalusia, all the bianconeri that took part in the summer camp in Val Rendena were granted a day of rest, with the exception of Paolo De Ceglie who worked in the gym in Vinovo in order to pursue his recovery following the injury to the left ankle.

The player from Valle D’Aosta, however, was not alone at the Juventus Center. Together with him were Nicola Legrottaglie and Sebastian Giovinco. The 2009/10 has just officially begun for them. After the holidays, the two bianconeri made their first steps while waiting to join the group tomorrow for the departure. Everything is fine for both, especially the young playmaker who returned to normal activities exactly 22 days after the surgical operation he underwent on the 1st of July.

The only player who is still yet to join is last signing Felipe Melo but this will soon be settled. The Brazilian will today receive his baptism in bianconero during a press conference which is to be held at the Juventus Media Center in Vinovo at 17:30hrs. The presentation will be aired live on Juventus Channel.

Juventus.com
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