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 | |  | | | | Notices | Welcome to FMFormation! FMFormation is a Football Manager community with over 70,000 members, 12,000 threads and 100,000 posts. Why don't you take a minute to create your own account and join the many FM related discussions on the Forums? As a member, you can join discussions, download files and much more! Please enjoy your stay on FMFormation! | | |  | |  22-02-07, 09:07 PM | #101 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | 
  Torino - Udinese 15th of April 2007 Stadio Olimpico, Turin Italian Serie A 2006/2007 - Week 32     7' 11' 40'  Elvis Abbruscato - 74' 84' Juan Surraco
Elvis Abbruscato scored a historical first-half hattrick that mathematically secured Torino a place in next year's Champions League six matches before the end of the season againist Udinese!
Torino had two major injury problems to handle with as both of the starting wingers Stefano Fiore and Nikola Lazetic had to sit out with injuries as Cedric Konan & Iacopo Balestri replaced them respectively. Udinese had a thrilling draw with Granata earlier this season.
It was a nice start for the visitors, Giampiere Pinzi twice got dangerous shots which both flew over though and the price was soon to be paid.
Just on the 7th minute Alessandro Rosina managed to round an opponent after a throw-in to send a low pass towards Elvis Abbruscato in the box who sent the goalkeeper wrong way and tapped the ball in from few meters.
 Abbruscato didn't allow Udinese to make even one marking mistake
And another goal was quick to arrive for the new star of the calcio, after Morgan De Sanctis had problems with handling a Comotto cross a trouble arrived in the box which saw Roberto Stellone setting up Abbruscato for a goal from around the penalty spot as the ball bounced into the goal through post.
Torino was enjoying it's play and even allowed to make a 35-metre shot on a counter-attack, though Simone Barone's powerful effort wasn't on target.
Udinese then got their feet back in after the shock of two goals in four minutes, but Gyan Asamoah headed over a Antonio Di Napoli's cross and then he saw his shot saved on line by a brilliant Gianluca Comotto who recently announced doubts about him continuing in the Torino shirt next season eventhough Granata was willing to pay almost huge 8 million pounds to Roma!
Though Elvis Abbruscato had his powerful shot pushed away in a counter-attack at the other end as both teams had couple of more chances in the end to end match.
The best one before the break resulted in to a goal aswell, Stellone's shot got blocked by Damiano Zenoni in another pacy counter-attack, but only into the path of Abbruscato who showed a true match-killer instinct by taping the ball in from 12 meters.
 Abbruscato hold off an Alex challenge to net in his third hattrick of the season!
At half-time the hero game off as Tursk didn't want to risk with any injury for him or to have him recieve a yellow card which would make him miss the Roma match. Luis Figo steped in.
Cristiano Lupatelli made a great save on Gyan Asamoah as the Ghanian broke into the box from the wing and Tursk also bringed out Simone Barone quickly after that situation for more defensive minded Diego De Ascentis.
Rio Mavuba shot wide from the edge of the area though Udinese finally had a break-through when substitution Juan Surraco headed in a Antonio Di Napoli cross at near post.
Scharner headed wide from 10 meters and Luis Figo wasted an incredible through pass from Alessandro Rosina at the other end before Surraco got a second goal aided by an Asamoah cross as Schiavi was beatten in the Air-Force 1 duel.
A classical defender for striker substitution after that did it's work though as Ivan Francheschini who replaced Stellone managed have nice eight minutes on the pitch and Torino made a self-sacrificing display to keep the 3-2 scoreline.
With the win and Milan drawing Torino clinched a place in next years Champions League, eventhough it was more than certain. Now the next goal for the Turin side is to secure their place as second of Italy, though it shouldn't be hard with Sampdoria being 14 points behind, just like leaders Inter are 14 ahead.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto, 16-Giuseppe Pancaro; 24-Cedric Konan, 8-Simone Barone (63' 15-Diego De Ascentis), 22-Iacopo Balestri; 10-Alessandro Rosina; 19-Elvis Abbruscato (45' 5-Luis Figo), 11-Roberto Stellone (85' 14-Ivan Francheschini)
Cautioned  : None
Other Results
Cagliari 2-0 Reggina
Empoli 1-1 Messina
Ascoli 0-0 Roma
Catania 0-3 Inter
Chievo 2-2 Livorno
Lazio 0-0 Parma
Milan 1-1 Palermo
Sampdoria 1-0 Siena
Atalanta 3-4 Fiorentina
Torino Position: 2nd | | |  |  | | 02-03-07, 09:37 PM | #102 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Roma & Torino both hit the woodwork in the game that ended with a rather thrilling goalless draw in Rome.
The game in Rome didn't have much importance besides showing their potential for Torino as the 2nd place in the table was basically secured for them, but Roma was fighting for the last two Champions League places alongside Milan and Sampdoria.
They had David Pizarro and Christian Chivu out, while Torino had to play without Nikola Lazetic, Stefano Fiore and Andre Zuba. Zuba got injuried for 5 months in an unlucky training collision with Roberto Stellone.
Gianluca Comotto played his freekick to Cedric Konan who set through Elvis Abbruscato in the opening minute, but the ball was too long and due to that Abbruscato had too hard angle to shoot from and the goalkeeper punched it away.
Though from the following corner Torino got very close, Abbruscato's header cracked back off the crossbar and the striker could only grab his head in disbelief.
Cristiano Lupatelli got his first save on the 9th minute when he managed to keep out a powerful Francesco Totti free-kick from 30 meters.
Doni in Roma's goal had to make a great save when he managed to keep out an Abbruscato header towards the near post after a Roberto Stellone cross from the wing.
On the other end closely after Lupatelli managed to get fingertips to Simone Perrottas header, though after the twenty minute break Doni had to make another save on Abbruscato, which was almost a copy-paste of the Torino's previous dangerous attack.
Perrotta shot over in a box scramble before injuried Iacopo Balestri came off for Luis Figo after the half-time break.
Lupatelli then made an amazing save on Daniele De Rossi's header after a cross and also saved an Aquilani free-kick before Simone Perrotta's follow-up struck back off the post.
Though Torino almost "netted" a hillarious equalizer just before the break, Roma defender Rodrigo Defendi's header went totally the wrong way, but luckily for him Doni managed to tip it over the bar.
Second half started with Raffaele Schiavi trying a volley from the edge of the Roma area, but it flew over as the central defender is jet to score for the Granata despite several chances during corner-kicks.
Torino had to thank the luck just few minutes later when Vincenzo Montelly managed to turn an easy tap-in into a missed chance as he shot wide from a central position just few meters from goal.
Daniele De Rossi shot over a header, but a brilliant chance opened up for Abbruscato at the other end who though wasn't having a great day and managed to shoot the ball to row 7 when being face to face with Roma goalkeeper Doni.
Lupatelli pushed away a Simone Perrotta lob and De Rossi's 30 meter shot didn't trouble the former Roma goalkeeper, before Torino introduced Masashi Oguro for Roberto Stelllone.
Though Alessandro Rosina's free-kick which flew wide on the 84th minute was the only remaining chance of the dull second half and late on both sides grabed offside goals which were obviously disallowed.
With the draw Torino's 2nd place securing moved foward another week and the next chance to do so is by ending Inter's unbeatten run in the league as the Nerazzurri haven't lost a single match in Serie A this season.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto, 16-Giuseppe Pancaro; 24-Cedric Konan, 8-Simone Barone, 22-Iacopo Balestri (31' 5-Luis Figo); 10-Alessandro Rosina; 19-Elvis Abbruscato, 11-Roberto Stellone (67' 12-Masashi Oguro)
Cautioned : None
Other Results
Fiorentina 1-2 Cagliari
Inter 0-0 Ascoli
Livorno 1-2 Sampdoria
Palermo 4-0 Catania
Parma 1-1 Milan
Reggina 0-2 Chievo
Udinese 1-0 Atalanta
Siena 1-0 Empoli
Messina 2-2 Lazio
Torino Position: 2nd | | | | | | | 03-03-07, 12:02 PM | #103 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Torino - Inter 29th of April 2007 Stadio Olimpico, Turin Italian Serie A 2006/2007 - Week 34  2' 12' Roberto Stellone, 35' Elvis Abbruscato - 52' Florent Malouda, 60'  Dejan Stankovic, 65' Frank Ribery
In the clash of leaders Torino finally ended the amazing streak of Inter's unbeatten league games as they became the first side to defeat the leaders this season!
Eventhough there wasn't much at stake in Turin, the tie with Inter and Torino was without a doubt an eagerly waited occasion. Eventhough it was secured that both teams will be placed 1st and 2nd respectively, but there was a question which was asked. How strong is Torino really? Granata had gone unbeatten for 19 games, while Inter's run had been 33 games long.
The previous encounter between the sides ended with an amazing 4-3 victory of Inter, last loss of Torino and both teams said before the game that one streak ends for sure as another show of football was on cards despite Nikola Lazetic, Andre Zuba and Iacopo Balestri being out for Torino. Stefano Fiore was fit enough for bench, as Figo was handed a start againist the club he is on loan from.
It was an incredible start for the home-side, some quick passes after a free-kick allowed Cedric Konan to cross in for a on-target Roberto Stellone header from the penalty spot as he beat Walter Samuel in the air duel.
 Stellone opened the scoring after 2 minutes!
Julio Cesar managed to get his hands onto another Stellone shot while Cristiano Lupatelli had to make an incredible save on Fabio Grosso after the left-back was left unmarked in the far post.
Dejan Stankovic shot five meters wide from the edge of the area before Torino surprisingly doubled their lead.
In a three touch move, Torino split open the Inter defence. Luis Figo latched a high ball after a throw-in to Elvis Abbruscato who headed it behind the defence for a Stellone first touch shot next to the far post as Julio Cesar had no chance of saving.
Fabio Grosso got another chance when was again left unmarked, but his shot which was aimed at far post went just centimeters wide of the goal and that miss proved costly.
Luis Figo's free-kick met the diving header of Elvis Abbruscato in the near post and the hitmen grabed his 31st goal of Serie A with elegance.
 Malouda failed to get his head to the shot going towards top corner
That was the last chance of the first half and the second half started with Inter hunting for three goals to save the unbeatten run.
They got one back quickly, a low pass was allowed through by defence as Florent Malouda perfectly struck the ball past goalkeeper to the low near corner.
Cedric Konan got injuried and Stefano Fiore returned from injury as shortly after he was involved in a team-move which led to a brilliant Simone Barone curling bomb from 30 meters, only to be denied in fantastic fashion by Julio Cesar in Inter goal.
David Villa then dribbled through half of Torino defence, but as soon as he was past the last player Lupatelli was there to smother his shot with feet.
Then Grosso's header got saved by Lupatelli who had another fantastic game and Torino got a sigh of relief on the 60th minute.
Dejan Stankovic was caught hitting out at Alessandro Rosina and referee didn't hesitate in showing the red card, leaving Inter with 10-men.
Though Inter still didn't give up and Marco Di Loreto's bad marking allowed Frank Ribery to go past him and shoot David Villa pass into low corner five minutes after the red-card incident.
Di Loreto got punished for his mistake and Ivan Francheschini's introducing over him secured the Granata back-line for the rest of the game.
They even managed to almost net a 4-2 goal, but Elvis Abbruscato's header flew over the far post from a man of the match Figo cross, it would've been a sure goal if between posts as Julio Cesar was moving completely the other way.
With the victory Torino mathematically secured a second place in the league, therefore a straight place in Champions League. The gap with Inter though is 11 points so Inter would need to lose all the remaining games for Torino to have a chance to win the title this season.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto (66' 14-Ivan Francheschini), 16-Giuseppe Pancaro; 24-Cedric Konan (54' 7-Stefano Fiore), 8-Simone Barone, 5-Luis Figo; 10-Alessandro Rosina; 19-Elvis Abbruscato , 11-Roberto Stellone
Cautioned : None
Other Results
Atalanta 0-2 Roma
Cagliari 0-1 Udinese
Chievo 2-2 Sampdoria
Empoli 0-3 Livorno
Lazio 1-1 Siena
Milan 2-0 Messina
Reggina 0-2 Fiorentina
Torino Position: 2nd | | | | | | | 04-03-07, 01:01 PM | #104 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Updated: May. 01, 2007
TORINO STRIKES DEAL WITH TAMAS 
Serie A sensation Torino has announced that their team will be joined by two new defenders coming summer, including Celta Vigo's Gabriel Tamas.
The Turin outfit has been fantastic in Serie A this season, though manager Tanel Tursk has been constantly unhappy about the defending of the team.
"The high balls are a problem, Tamas is a great addition to fix this problem. Whether it's just a partly solution or not, we'll see later. I lived in Romania for a long time after U Cluj, I knew his father as he played under me, he is a great player and I believe he will be a great part of the upcoming legendary Torino side," he said.
Gabriel Tamas was reportedly signed for a undisclosed fee, but according to Gazzetta Dello Sport it's around 3,5 million pounds. The Italian newpspaper also told that Tursk was handed a huge 10 million pounds to spend this summer.
The Romanian center-back didn't give out any words yet and told that he just wants to end his Celta sting without any problems. The local fans wanted him to continue there as he has been a vital part of the team lately.
In another news Torino, who recently ended Inter Milan winning streak, has also struck a deal with a young 19-year old Italian U19 defender Marco Rossi from Parma in a deal worth 1,1 millions. Rossi is currently playing in Serie B club Arezzo on loan.
In January the side also announced that they will sign Stefano Fiore, Giuseppe Pancaro, Cedric Konan and Cristiano Lupatelli permanently, while central midfielder Lionel Mathis and striker Cacau will also join the squad.
"We've still got some problems. I want us to have the abilty to make a surprise Scudetto request. We've made some great transfers, though with [Luis] Figo and [Gianluca] Comotto leaving, we've got some problems there. I've got 5 millions additional spending budget at the moment, but I need to be very careful with my transfers. We will also depart from couple of more players in summer," said Tursk in a revealing interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport.
It's reported that young Marco Andreolli from Inter will be a replacement for Gianluca Comotto and Tursk admits it, eventhough there are some problems.
"He would cost us a lot of money. We've talked with Inter when Comotto said he doesn't want to continue here. Andreolli is a great talent no doubt. I haven't talked to him in person, though we will see the chances of bringing him here," he told.
Torino has also been said to be looking for players in few more positions - a new left-back, a substitution for Alessandro Rosina, Luis Figo's replacement and a goalkeeper. | | | | | | | 05-03-07, 07:49 PM | #105 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Palermo - Torino 6th of May 2007 Renzo Barbera, Palermo Italian Serie A 2006/2007, Week 35   59' Amauri, 64' Fabio Simplicio - 45' Simone Barone
It took some bad finishing and two huge defensive blunders for Torino's unbeatten run end just after they highlighted their season with a 3-2 victory over Inter.
Eventhough Torino had their goal for this season reached they didn't went for a reserves day againist Palermo who still has a slight chance in the hunt for the 4th place which would take them to Champions League.
Cedric Konan, Iacopo Balestri and Andre Zuba were out, while 16-year old Italian-Nigerian A Obinza Ogbonna was given a chance at the bench after a succesful season with the Primavera outfit. Simone Barone and Cristiano Lupatelli faced their former clubs.
Torino amazingly managed to get a dangerous strike on goal just after the kick-off, Stefano Fiore sent through Elvis Abbruscato whose shot was luckily for Palermo smothered away by Federico Agliardi, who is in Torino's watch list for a new goalkeeper.
Though Palermo went even closer at the othe rend as David Di Michele used his pace to get a free shot at the far post, but it bounced back into play off the post.
Alessandro Rosina got a bad knock and Luis Figo replaced him as Stefano Fiore moved up.
Torino was the first side to break through, but incredible slow decision making of the referees interrupted the goal celebrations of Elvis Abbruscato. He thought that his strike was legit, but the linesman notified the first official that Roberto Stellone who gave 'Abbru' was offside at the start of his run, around ten seconds before the whistle went.
Amauri got past Raffaele Schiavi, but his shot was from too hard angle and Lupatelli saved.
Though Torino put in a second gear for the final minutes of the half.
First Stefano Fiore found Roberto Stellone on a diagonal run towards the box, but Stellone, who scored twice vs. Inter, saw his shot amazingly saved by Agliardi.
Then Nikola Lazetic broke into the box from the wing, getting into shooting position, but his 10-meter drive was denied by a diving Agliardi save at near post and Roberto Stellone amazingly couldn't get the follow-up on target and the ball amazingly flew to a throw-in.
Though Lazetic again proved vital when his cross found Simone Barone in the middle of the box. This time they made no mistake and Barone powerfully netted it into the near top-corner against his ex-employees.
 Barone opens the scoring in the final minutes of the first half
Torino made no subs at half-time and incredibly Roberto Stellone managed to hit his volley wide of an empty goal after a brilliant ball from Abbruscato.
This proved to be crucial, at the other end Raffaele Schiavi hold the ball under pressure for too long and lost it to Amauri who with ease used the one on one opportunity with Lupatelli.
Another bit of unluck came to Torino just minutes later, Lazetic almost got another assist, but Schiavi failed to make up his mistake in defence as his free header towards the far post struck the inside of the post to fall into the arms of Agliardi.
And again miss upfront ended up with a goal at defence, another giant mistake, this time from Cristiano Lupatelli as he came out to clear the ball, but his clearence fell to Fabio Simplicio who could send the ball into empty net from 30 meters out.
 Lupatelli made a game-costing mistake with a clearence
Young A Obinze Ogbonna made his debut at left-back position while another youngster Vitaly Denisov also joined the Torino forces, but that wasn't enough. After the goal much didn't happen and it ended with a 1:2 loss for Torino, first after 20 game unbeatten run in league.
Inter secured the title with a 3-0 win over Atalanta.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto, 16-Giuseppe Pancaro (64' 18-A Obinze Ogbonna); 7-Stefano Fiore, 8-Simone Barone , 17-Nikola Lazetic; 10-Alessandro Rosina (13' 5-Luis Figo) (64' 33-Vitaly Denisov); 19-Elvis Abbruscato, 11-Roberto Stellone
Cautioned : None
Other Results
Fiorentina 3-0 Chievo
Inter 3-0 Atalanta
Livorno 1-2 Lazio
Messina 3-0 Catania
Parma 1-1 Ascoli
Roma 1-0 Cagliari
Sampdoria 1-1 Empoli
Siena 1-1 Milan
Udinese 1-2 Reggina
Torino Position: 2nd | | | | | | | 26-03-07, 06:03 PM | #106 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Torino - Parma 13th of May 2007 Stadio Olimpico, Turin Italian Serie A 2006/2007 - Week 36  45' Nikola Lazetic - 28' 48' Domenico Morfeo
Two blunders got a young Torino side a second consecutive loss as Domenico Morfeo scored a brace for Parma.
Torino went for a youthful side for this encounter without no pressure. Alessandro Rosina was injuried, so Diego De Ascentis took the defensive midfielder position, while Barone moved up foward to fill in the place of Rosina.
Young central defender Claudio Cornacchia, striker Claudio De Sousa were on the starting line up, while Simone Camolese & A Obinze Ogbonna were part of the few youths on bench.
Match started with Cristiano Lupatelli pushing over an Igor Budan header, as Parma was one of his ex-employees.
Then Budan had another shot, but a bomb from the edge of the area flew wide of the post.
Though Parma did get their goal, young Cornacchia had little positioning problem, though it wasn't entirely his fault. A very slow pass somehow got through the Torino defence line and Domenico Morfeo got a bit lucky touch at the ball, as Lupatelli did nothing to stop a shot which really wasn't from a Roberto Carlos foot.
Elvis Abbruscato got the first chance for Torino, but his shot on angle was saved.
Torino managed to equalize just before the half-time break, Claudio Cornacchia cross found Abbruscato who threaded through for a Nikola Lazetic tap in at far post.
 Lazetic has scored many goals and given loads of assists despite being out of many games
Igor Budan couldn't restore Parma's lead with a last kick of the half as he curled the ball over from 25 meters.
At half-time left-back A Obinze Ogbonna joined the game for Giuseppe Pancaro, but Torino was soon behind again.
Cristiano Lupatelli stupidly ran out in a rather innocent situation, allowing Morfeo to send the ball into empty net from the edge of the area.
 Morfeo got his second one easily
Simone Camolese got a try-out for Stefano Fiore and Ivan Francheschini replaced fellow central defender Marco Di Loreto.
Abbruscato failed to turn in a Claudio De Sousa set-up play at the near post as more bad news came to Torino with Gianluca Comotto coming of injuried, leaving Toro with ten men.
De Sousa shot from free-kick went over and so did Nikola Lazetic's lob before the referee whistled for the game to be ended.
Torino is set to try out youngsters in the remaining games of the season too with second place secured.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 44-Claudio Cornacchia, 25-Marco Di Loreto (62' 14-Ivan Francheschini), 16-Giuseppe Pancaro (45' 18-A Obinze Ogbonna); 15-Diego De Ascentis; 7-Stefano Fiore (21-Simone Camolese), 8-Simone Barone, 17-Nikola Lazetic ; 19-Elvis Abbruscato, 44-Claudio De Sousa
Cautioned : None
Other Results
Ascoli 1-0 Messina
Atalanta 0-0 Palermo
Cagliari 0-3 Inter
Catania 4-0 Siena
Chievo V. 3-1 Empoli
Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese
Lazio 0-1 Sampdoria
Milan 1-1 Livorno
Reggina 0-6 Roma
Torino Position: 2nd | | | | | | | 15-04-07, 10:18 PM | #107 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
 YouToro - Torino goes to Youtube
Turin, 16th of May 2007 - Torino today opened up their own youtube channel where they will post highlights of the teams games and much more.
 Torino owner Urbano Cairo greeting the fans not only in stadium anymore
"It's a pleasure to advertise Torino and give our foreign fans more chances to see us play," said Urbano Cairo in the press-conference where Torino announced the channel.
"The updating will be done by manager Tanel Tursk himself who wants to get even closer to the fans. This should help us reach out for more audience. Espescially since we are in the Champions League next season and hopefully it will raise our popularity around the world," said Cairo.
The channel is already supposed to start with the highlights next weekend after a game againist Messina. Eventhough Cairo said that it takes time to get more quality to it, as they rushed a bit.
The channel can be found by clicking here.
More to follow | | | | | | | 15-04-07, 10:22 PM | #108 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Messina hit the bar in a match that ended in a rather boring 0:0 draw. Torino had most of the ball, but young squad failed to make them into chances.
Torino had many problems going into the match at San Filippo, though the league position wasn't one of them. With 2nd place secured manager Tanel Tursk continued to give youngsters some chances, but still he could not play Gianluca Comotto, Iacopo Balestri, Matteo Melara, Cristiano Lupatelli, Alessandro Rosina and Cedric Konan.
Messina got a brilliant chance in the ninth minute, but Christian Rigano' saw his free volley at the far post fly over the bar.
After some dull half hour where only event was Nikola Lazetic's yellow card and Stefano Fiore's free-kick that flew wide Diego De Ascentis showed some nice bit of skill.
The veteran defensive midfielder sailed through the Messina defence only to discover himself to lack a finishing gene as he bursted the ball over one on one with the goalkeeper.
Carmine Coppola got closest to the goal just before the break though, his long range shot caught Andre Zuba out of the goal and it hit the crossbar and bounced back in as Torino cleared the ball.
At half-time Luis Figo came on for Stefano Fiore, but it didn't make much difference.
Thiam's soft shot for Messina went meters wide and Simone Barone shot over with a powerful curler.
Nikola Lazetic and Claudio Cornacchi, who both had been given yellow cards were replaced by Simone Camolese and Renato. The later getting his debut for Torino after being signed in January.
Renato enjoyed a good half-hour with highlight of his game being a goal-line clearance as Floccari had Zuba already beatten.
Diego De Ascentis shot over from a situatiun where Claudio De Sousa had the ball kicked away right from his feet as he prepared to shoot.
A Obinze Ogbonna tried a last minute shot after a corner, but a soft and central shot didn't bother Marco Storari.
The game ended with a 0-0 draw which means nothing to both sides who have pretty much secured their positions for this season.
Torino: 1-Andre Zuba; 16-Giuseppe Pancaro, 44-Claudio Cornacchia (63' 30-Renato), 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 18-A Obinze Ogbonna; 15-Diego De Ascentis; 7-Stefano Fiore (45' 5-Luis Figo), 8-Simone Barone, 17-Nikola Lazetic (63' 21-Simone Camolese); 19-Elvis Abbruscato, 44-Claudio De Sousa
Cautioned : 19' Nikola Lazetic, 58' Diego De Ascentis, 62' Claudio Cornacchia
Other Results
Data Lost | | | | | | | 15-04-07, 10:35 PM | #109 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
The channel is/was weird for me (that's why I thought I couldn't post it), dunno does it keep chaning things for you too atm, but video is there for sure. But it should be alright by morning.
Anyway, it's my solution for those who are too lazy to read. Eventhough viewing takes more time probably, this is compensated by some music. | | | | | | | 20-04-07, 05:11 PM | #110 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Torino's season finale ended with a 1:1 draw with Siena eventhough Torino was the dominant side in this affair. Giuseppe Pancaro scored a Claudio De Sousa earn penalty to equalize.
Torino were having major problems with missing players. Claudio Cornacchio and Nikola Lazetic were banned, while Gianluca Comotto, Iacopo Balestri, Matteo Melara, Cristiano Lupatelli, Alessandro Rosina and Cedric Konan were injuried.
To end the season with a victory manager Tanel Tursk went to play with a Roberto Stellone & Elvis Abbruscato striking partnership.
Torino had a quick start to the match, Roberto Stellone's header scrambling back to the pitch from bar after a Stefano Fiore cross.
Dozen minutes later Elvis Abbruscato send a bomb over the Reggina net from around 25 metres.
Erjon Bogdani headed a set piece over at the other end of the pitch and then shot wide from the edge of the area.
Best chance of Siena came through a direct free-kick though. Andre Zuba had to make a flying save to keep out a Diego Souza shot straight towards far post.
Diego De Ascentis saw his long range shot deflected into hands of goalekeeper and Rinaudo sideneted at the other end of the pitch.
Though Elvis Abbruscato showed his worth as he went past quite a few Siena defenders before he saw his shot saved by goalkeeper Alex Manninger at near post.
At half-time Vitaly Denisov and Luis Figo joined the Torino party.
Mario Frick had the first shot of second half, but a central shot, that would've probably not even troubled Zuba, flew over the bar.
Frick made up for his mistake soon though, after getting a pass from Souza he unleashed a beast of a shot from 25 metres out that curled next to the post, leaving Zuba with no chance at all.
Claudio De Sousa then came on for disappointing Roberto Stellone while Abbruscato's deflected shot was pushed out for corner by Manninger.
Giuseppe Pancaro's great cross was headed just wide by Simone Barone as Torino was all out attack.
Soon it paid off though, young De Sousa did some tricks in the box and earnt a penalty after he was hacked down by a bunch of Siena defenders. Pancaro steped up and converted the shot under bar.
 Pancaro calmly sloted it home
De Sousa was then put through by a great long pass from Raffaele Schiavi, but his shot was saved at near post. Diego De Ascentis follow-up was also kept out by a spectacular jump from Alex Manninger.
Elvis Abbruscato squeezed himself through a bunch of challenges in the added minutes, but his shot ballooned over the bar.
Despite the slow finish at the end of the season which saw Torino try out many youngsters, the season had been finished with a 2nd place quite comfortably.
At the end of the game Torino fans run at the pitch to celebrate the fantastic return to Serie A with the players.
Torino: 1-Andre Zuba; 16-Giuseppe Pancaro , 25-Marco Di Loreto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 18-A Obinze Ogbonna (45' 33-Vitaly Denisov); 15-Diego De Ascentis; 7-Stefano Fiore (45' 5-Luis Figo), 8-Simone Barone, 21-Simone Camolese; 19-Elvis Abbruscato, 11-Roberto Stellone (69' 44-Claudio De Sousa)
Cautioned : None
Other Results
Cagliari 1-2 Parma
Fiorentina 1-0 Inter
Milan 2-0 Empoli
Udinese 1-2 Roma
Reggina 1-0 Palermo
Ascoli 3-1 Livorno
Atalanta 1-1 Messina
Catania 1-2 Sampdoria
Lazio 1-1 Chievo
Torino Position: 2nd
Check Torino Channel FM at YouTube | | | | | | | 30-04-07, 12:19 PM | #112 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Abbruscato tops the stastics
Elvis Abbruscato is the main man in the statistics of Torino for this season in Serie A, topping goals, assists and appearances charts.
Goals (Torino):
1. Elvis Abbruscato - 31 in Serie A (39 in all competitions)
2. Roberto Stellone - 17 (17)
3. Simone Barone - 7 (9)
4. Alessandro Rosina - 4 (6)
5. Luis Figo - 4 (4)
Goals (Serie A):
1. Elvis Abbruscato - 31
2. Luca Toni (Fiorentina) - 27
3. David Villa (Inter) - 27
4. Francesco Totti (Roma) - 23
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter) - 23
Assists (Torino):
1. Elvis Abbruscato - 13 in Serie A (14 in all competitions)
2. Nikola Lazetic - 12 (16)
3. Alessandro Rosina - 8 (8)
4. Giuseppe Pancaro - 7 (7)
5. Masashi Oguro - 5 (5)
Assists (Serie A):
1. Frank Ribery (Inter) - 21
2. Amantino Mancini (Roma) - 13
3. Elvis Abbruscato - 13
4. Nikola Lazetic - 12
5. Martin Petrov (Fiorentina) - 11
Appearances In Serie A (Torino):
1. Elvis Abbruscato - 38 appearances
2. Raffaele Schiavi - 37
3. Roberto Stellone - 36 (1 from substitution)
4. Marco Di Loreto - 35
5. Gianluca Comotto - 34 (5 from substitution)
Serie A Final Table  *ECC - Champions League qualification *EC - UEFA Cup qualification *EV - Intertoto Cup qualification *R - Relegation | | | | | | | 30-04-07, 04:13 PM | #113 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 |
Tursk With Fans (Part 1)
Turin, 29th of May 2007 - Gazzetta gives you the full lenght two hour online interview where Torino's manager Tanel Tursk answered to different questions from fans. This is part one of the interview.
"After such a succesful season, aren't you interested in coaching much more important team? Such as Juventus or Real Madrid?"
"I never thought of going this season. I've stated that my goal is to make Torino a succesful team, we took our first step. towards it with this season. And to be honoust, it's not so appealing for me to be in the tight fight fom promotion to Serie A where Juventus currently is in Serie B."
"Was it Elvis Abbruscato whom we saw yesterday to go out with your girlfriend?"
"I've got no information about that. You have to ask Elvis. He is a great dude and I've got a great girlfriend, they'd make a lovely couple."
"How is your relationship with people from Juventus (players, staff, board, etc)?"
"My raport with them is unexistant unfortunately. I exchanged words with few Juventus players after our cup games. I like Boumsong a lot, he screws things up around there. I've tried to contact him, but I cannot recieve him. They are using some kind of private SIM card there in Juventus, referees have one too."
"After [Marco] Di Loreto, [Stefano] Fiore, [Gianluca] Comotto etc, are you planning to sign more ex-Firoentina players?"
"It all depends. There are many ex-Fiorentina players or those who are in Fiorentina that I'd love to see in my team. They are a great team, so great players have gone through them."
"Do you like Italian beer?"
"It's a really pathetic attempt of beer they make around here. In Italy there isn't the right climate to make beer, Italy is wine country. I hate wine though."
"How far do you expect your team to get in the Champions League?"
"I obviously want to advance from the groups. Champions League is a tournament I know very well, you need to time everything for the knockout stages, the form etc. You cannot make a single mistake as it costs you a fortune. I'd say my sight is on the quarter final, but it all depends on the opponents. If we'd get Barcelona in the first knockout stage, I'd be happy just to have a chance to play them."
 "We may be black sheep"
"Is your team ready to challenge Inter for Lo Scudetto?"
"No, it isn't. Next season we'll try get another similiar position like this one, then we can go for Scudetto. We've got one team that is great, Inter and for example Juventus, Fiorentina, Roma and Milan have got induvidually better options than we have. But we benefited on the team spirit this season, if the mentality is right and the big ones are having a bad season, we may be black sheep.
"Are you going to bring in some stars, or you prefer to invest in promising youth?"
"We don't have the money to bring in big stars, though one or two bigger names that can make a big difference for club like ours will definately be on my plans for the next transfer season. We obviously need to look for the youth aswell, I'm doing that and the scouts are too. We've already got young players like Rosina, Zuba, Schiavi who have got great potential."
"Do you think it'll be hard to keep your star players? Above all Elvis [Abbruscato]."
"I've gotten a promise from the guys that they'll stay atleast for next season. Elvis is a hot name in the world of football after this season, no doubt. But I have a great raport with him and so do the fans, we even resigned his contract bit earlier until 2012! He is still in his mid-20's so it isn't such desperate move to secure him."
"Can Elvis [Abbruscato] repeat his fantastic season?"
"He can and he will. He took the feet from the gas at the end of the season while the youngsters were playing, but he'll get even better over the summer."
"What will you do with the ageing players?"
"It's a situation we're always closely following. It's a bad term to call someone ageing, different players reach their peak and start going down at different times. We're bringing some fresh young blood to the team already, though until the older ones continue to play good, the only thing I'll do with them is putting them into the starting line-up.
"Is it true that [Francesco] Totti is a queen?"
"Totti isn't a queen. I disagree with that opinion. He has got too much temper for a queen, I'd say he is a young princess."
"Which areas of your team are you going to strenghten?"
"All, hopefully."
"When did you started to feel that this season could be so succesful?"
"Somewhere in mid-december. We were playing great from the start, but couldn't find consistency. Then we got things right and the results started coming. Since then it was 'never look back' for us."
"Did you expected Elvis [Abbruscato] to became so huge?"
"No. He was good in the pre-season training and that Coppa Italia hattrick was a hint for us, but his start to the Serie A season was slow and I was becoming worried about our strikers, until Elvis changed the gear."
"Is it true you have good relationship to [Luciano]Moggi?"
"It is true. His son is, or actually was, my agent until recently. He is a close family friend of ours. He used to come into our house to fix our phone-lines. My dad was a referee."
"How many of Toro player will make it to Euro 2008?"
"I hope to see many of them. I think [Elvis] Abbruscato will be there with Italy for sure, and [Simone] Barone is a certain international aswell. I'll get some new players aswell, they may happen to be in a national team which gets to the Euro's aswell. I'd say there'll be around 6-7 Torino players in Austria-Switzerland."
"Is it true that your players are training diving?"
"We have to go with the modern flow of football. Once a week we have a thirty minute diving practice, yes. We are trained by a 3-time diving Olympic gold medalist Klaus Dibiasi. We practice different technics, I think now you can't even understand that we dive."
"Is [Giuseppe] Pancaro bald?"
"He does have few hairs in front, so not. Though I don't know are they real."
"Are you going to do formation/tactics changes going into next season?"
"I don't think so. Maybe we'll try out some defensive changes in the pre-season, but time will tell."
 "She is great in bikini!
"Do you consider [Giuseppe] Pancaro's fiancee [Vincenza Cacace] beautiful?"
"She is great in bikini! I swaped with [Giuseppe] Pancaro in our "Torino players swap their bed partners" night."
"Did [Giuseppe] Pancaro ever told you how he managed to get her?"
"They met in the cosmetic section of a shop in Rome. She was looking for nail polisher, Giuseppe wanted something to polish his head with."
"Do you like Juventus?"
"I like Juventus, they are my favourite team in Serie B. There are few problems with their team, though you'll see more when I finish my 1000-page book about Juventus faults."
"Would you ever accept their job offer?"
"Unfortunately, I have a clause in my contract that says that in case I ever go to Juventus, I must give Urbano Cairo a blow-job and I cannot do that."
"Would you rather sign [Alessandro] Del Piero or [Francesco] Totti?"
"I'd take Totti hands down, don't like either of them that much though."
"Is [Raffaele] Schiavi the next [Alessandro] Nesta?"
"He could be, I have faith in him. He needs to give 100% of himself and he may become a worldwide known defender like Nesta without a doubt. Though he reminds me more of [Fabio] Cannavaro or Marco Materazzi."
"Do you think you'll be Toro's 'Ferguson'?"
"Hopefully yes, I already had a long career with U Cluj in Romania. I don't mind another such era of greatness."
Part 2 coming up later tonight | | | | | | | 30-04-07, 09:42 PM | #114 (permalink) | | Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | | | |
