About Me

An avid fan of the game for 30 years, Italia '90 was the tournament that first captured me. Being Italian and the World Cup being played back home in the country of my heritage had my family very excited. I remember the exploits of that event. The legend of Toto Schillaci, my first introduction to a youngster named Roberto Baggio and his wonder goal vs Czechoslovakia during the group stage and the heart-breaking semifinal loss to Argentina (after leading 1-0 and not having conceded a goal in the tournament until the 67th minute of that match).

Fast-forward to 4 years down the road, the Azzurri were back at it trying to win their fourth World Cup. Having come up short as hosts and favorites the last time around, this time it was the first time the World Cup would be played on North American soil in the USA. The group would be anchored by a spine of players from the powerhouse of Italian and European football; AC Milan. The likes of Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta would be relied upon to continue making the Italians the hardest club to score on and up-front Roberto Baggio would now be expected to lead the attack, fresh off winning the Ballon d'Or as European Player of the Year for 1993. After a slow start to the tournament in the group stage, the Azzurri would pull themselves into the knockout rounds by virtue of securing a wildcard spot and it was from there forward that the fun would begin. From the round of 16 onward, Baggio caught fire, scoring 5 goals between the match vs Nigeria, the quarterfinals vs Spain and the semis vs Bulgaria to take the Azzurri into their fifth World Cup final.

The Azzurri would ultimately end up losing the final to their arch-nemesis Brazil again in heart-breaking fashion on penalties with Baggio unfairly wearing the goat-horns for his shot over the bar to end the tournament but I had been captured and was now fully in love with the game. The legacy of of USA'94 begin a love affair for me that is now 25 years in the making and counting!

The following years would see me immerse myself into following Serie A and by virtue of Roberto Baggio having become my favorite player, I naturally became a fan of his club team Juventus. I still remember like yesterday watching him lead Juventus to their first Scudetto in nine seasons in 1995 and then the subsequent Champions League victory by the Juve squad he left for Milan the following year in 1996. Those teams displayed a spirit and will to win the symbolized not only the image of Juventus as a club but Italian football in general of the 1990s.

Being a fan has provided me with many highs, but also many lows. From the triumphs of winning trophies, to the agony of losing many finals, the culmination of all would come in the summer of 2006 when the Azzurri would win their fourth World Cup after having lost in 1990, '94 and '98 on penalties and then 2002 being total refereeing debacle. The World Cup victory was the ultimate triumph as a fan and an incredible feeling of pride as the son of 'Italiani al'estero'. It was also a fantastic cap to the careers of many of the players I spent years watching and cheering for growing up.

While the World Cup triumph was the high-point, the following years would prove to be the low-point. Since 2006, Italian teams have won but two trophies in Europe (Champions League titles for AC Milan in 2007 and Inter Milan in 2010) and the Italian national team has been shut-out from any silverware since July 9, 2006. Despite reaching a Euro final in 2012, the Azzurri would follow-up their fourth World Cup in 2006 with two consecutive group stage ousters in 2010 and 2014 and then the ultimate disaster, the failure to qualify for the tournament in 2018.

While the years since that legendary day in 2006 have been tough, there is now a renewed optimism brewing in the world of Italian football. The Azzurri are fresh-off qualifying for Euro 2020 with a perfect 10-0-0 record (the first time they have ever gone perfect in qualfying for any major tournament) and after more than a decade where it seemed that the never-ending Italian factory of elite-level talent had shut-up shop, it seems as if the operation is back up and running with a new crop of exciting youngsters who are beginning to establish a core of stars upon which the future can be built upon.

Only time will tell where this will ultimately go and if it will lead to future successes or triumphs or fizzle out into a whole lot of nothing but suffice to say there is reason for renewed optimism in calcio and that for all us who have grown up loving this game is a great thing!

MY VISION FOR SIGNORE CALCIO:

After flirting with sports writing and commentary for many years throughout my life, this past fall I had a renewed will to get back into game! I launched a new twitter account (@SIGNORE_CALCIO) to follow the daily goings-on in everything from Serie A to Serie C and in-between, as well as the Italian National Team.

This site is but an extension of that renewed effort, where I will be able to post blogs about various topics I would like to expand upon outside of limited scope of twitter, as well as the odd editorial piece here and there.

There is a space to leave me feedback and comments if you would like to be interactive with me beyond twitter through email @Signore.Calcio13@gmail.com and come some-time in early 2020 the potential that I may launch a weekly podcast show which would be available via YouTube and SoundCloud.

Its possible that we are in the very early stages of a renaissance for the Italian game and not only that that ends up being the case, but that I can be along with you during the ride to both discuss and enjoy it, every step of the way through!