Parma-Catania, oh I’m sorry did I fall asleep?

By: Francesco | January 29th, 2008

The match between Parma and Catania was played between two teams who quite simply did not want to lose. And that led to a boring 0-0 draw. Seriously, this game was one of the most boring of the season, few chances, and lots of boredom. Although, most of Serie A was pretty dull over the weekend, at half-time on Sunday every game was 0-0 except for Atalanta-Reggina! More on the game after the jump.

Well, the point was good (only our 3rd point away from home), as usually we are terrible away from the Tardini, but it would’ve been better to have actually tried to win. The first thing was Di Carlo was allowed to sit on the bench for this match, I guess nobody realized he was sent off vs. Inter.

Parma went with a 4-4-1-1, with Kenyan youngster McDonald Mariga starting ahead of Reginaldo to add more steel to the midfield.

Here are the highlights:

Catania dominated the first half, and Bucci saved everything. Spinesi had a goal disallowed which to be honest looked regular.

In the second Reginaldo missed that open net, that was our best chance.

All in all, we got a point, and that’s always good.

Next up we have Atalanta at the Tardini, the Bergamo club has been doing well under Gigi Del Neri.

Thanks, but it’s a little too late

Ex-International referee and current referee designator Pierluigi Collina admitted that Couto’s handball was not a penalty. Thank you Mr. Collina, but it’s worth nothing now.

Transfer Rumors/De Melo Saga

The De Melo saga finally seems solved. Today Ghirardi stated that Parma and Palermo have worked out a deal where De Melo will play for Palermo, but he will be co-owned by both clubs. It was rumored that Parma wanted winger Aimo Diana to fully give up De Melo, but Diana looks set for a move to Torino.

Another rumor today says that Capitano Corradi is getting worried that Lucarelli may eventually take his starting spot away, and that he may be tempted to move to Torino, who lack a powerful striker. Corradi is owned by Manchester City, and we don’t even pay his full salary, so Torino would have to work something out with the English club.

Torneo di Viareggio

One of the biggest youth tournaments in the world, the Torneo di Viareggio, kicked off yesterday. This is the tournament where all the scouts go and look out for promising players. Like the other Italian teams, we are sending our Primavera squad to the Tuscan city. We have been placed in Group 8 with Sampdoria, Club Guarani of Brazil, and Benevento.