Early Christmas Gift for Quags in Spain

By: vin | August 23rd, 2008

First off, before someone points it out, we all know that a team’s success (or lack thereof) during this pre-season friendly period doesn’t mean much.

Well, guess what: We’re still going to talk about it.

Well… Marino asked for difficult pre-season friendlies, and damn it, he’s received them. Ironically though, the Zebrette have managed to come out on top of their toughest test of the summer, and on the heels of losses to less powerful opponents. Villarreal, who finished second in the Spanish Primera division last season, were vanquished by a Di Natale-gifted Quagliarella goal. (That said, it should be noted that Villarreal finished the match with ten men due to a Cani red card.)

As he has done in every friendly this summer, the coach managed to give quite a few players time on the pitch; in this case, 19 of them, to be precise. That number included Sanchez, who came on with Di Natale and Obodo in the 58th minute. NOW – WHY am I bringing up “Wonder Boy” Sanchez? I mean… the kid just came in off loan, after all, right?

Well, around the beginning of the month, it was rumored that none other than Villarreal were interested in him, and when I saw Villarreal’s name on the friendly fixtures list, the word “audition” most definitely popped into my mind. (I think Marca started the rumor, in case you’re wondering.) Of course, Sanchez’ playing time probably had nothing to do with Villarreal’s alleged interest, but you never know. The calciomercato can be shady like that.

Speaking of the mercato…

Until this past week, I was clinging to the somewhat naive hope that Udinese was pretty much through with trading for the summer, and that no more Zebrette would head for the door.

Then Chievo swooped in.

Point being, two zebras are now temporary donkeys, which I thought was rather disappointing, since I was really hoping to see Langella back up his fratelli Napolitani at some point this season. Pinzi, on the other hand, I can understand, as his performance had dropped off over the past couple years.

While I should’ve seen the donkey departures coming, I really can’t blame myself for being surprised at this next gem: La Gazzetta is reporting that the Zebrette are linked with Domizzi (from Napoli) and Terlizzi (from Catania). Both are defenders, and both tend to join in the attack, albeit to slightly different degrees. Also, both are around the same age (28ish), and both were born in Rome. Despite all of these similarities, they’re not really equals; I’d definitely go with Domizzi if I had to choose. Many of us will recall remember him being an integral part of Napoli’s impressive season in ‘07-’08, and it’s hard to argue with eight goals from a defender. It’s surprising that nobody else has scooped him up, to be honest.

Up next… Udinese have Espanyol tomorrow (Sunday), and another victory would be less than shocking; with the influx of new faces, it makes sense that the squad would get better as the weeks progress and the ragazzi have had time to become familiar with each other.