Italy

As international football heaves its bloated corpse over the horizon of our collective attentions, trying to find any kernel of interest becomes increasingly tough. Because of this, we have the British Isles wrestling with the political absurdity of trying to cram as many poppies as possible into one fixture, Lionel Messi hoping that colouring in his tattoos will help Argentina win in Brazil, someone called Radamel Falcao starting to scoring goals again and a certain section of North London declaring war on the sovereign state of Chile due to the possibility of one man’s muscle tear.

It's been another great season for Sebastian Giovinco. Seventeen goals and 15 assists for the "Formica Atomica" helped lead Toronto FC to the MLS Eastern Conference final, a sumptious Canadian derby showdown against the Montreal Impact. 

The diminutive Italian has been absolutely on fire once again this season, and after watching Toronto ruthlessly dismantle NYCFC, the other conference finalists will be shaking in their boots at the prospect of facing him. 

Inter sacked Frank de Boer on Tuesday morning. He had been the manager for 85 days, right up until the moment a conference call confirmed that his services would no longer be required.

It is obvious to note that De Boer’s tenure was doomed from the start. Even putting aside the notion that Dutch coaches are somehow the ideological opposite to their Italian counterparts, the way he swept into the club so late in the transfer window was an early indication that everything was not quite right.

It’s almost as if Milan's young talent, 18year-old Manuel Locatelli and 17-year-old Donnarumma are constantly trying to one up each other.

In Milan’s stunning win over Juventus last week, Locatelli scored a goal of the season contender to put the Rossoneri in front and to deliver Milan a victory over Juventus for the first time since November of 2012.

Written a few days ago, this article would've been very different. In the cold light of Monday morning, many people were welcoming the revived glories of AC Milan. A young, exciting squad packed with home grown Italian talent, led by one of Serie A’s most promising and intriguing managers, had taken on the champions of the last five years and won. 'Milan beat Juventus — they’re back!' came the shouts. A new era was upon us. 

M’Baye Niang’s young career has been plagued by controversies and inconsistent play, but his goal on Sunday not only proved his doubters wrong, it also showed a new maturity from the French international. Watch as he celebrates his goal with a memorable gesture to Riccardo Montolivo, Milan’s captain who is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury:

It's no secret that Serie A’s UEFA coefficient has been in decline for over 15 years. The UEFA coefficient, used to determine how many teams from each domestic league are entered into competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, is based on the European success of a club within the last five years.

Right now, the Italian national side does not have an identity. On paper, drawing a match with Spain and winning against Macedonia might seem perfectly acceptable, but those who watched the games will know that there’s trouble afoot. 

Spain should have won by a comfortable margin but consistently shot themselves in the foot when it came to actually putting the ball in the net. Italy were bad and deserved to lose.

No player wants to receive a yellow or red card during a match — what they do want now is a green card. What’s a green card? A green card is given to a player to reward them for their good sportsmanship and other acts of virtue on the pitch. Chivalry is alive and well.

Green cards can be earned for such actions as stopping play when a player is injured, helping the referee make the appropriate call or admitting to diving. 

In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, Roma captain Francesco Totti shocked many by naming a somewhat controversial figure as his best teammate ever. The player Totti named was Antonio Cassano, the maverick who's appeared for seven different clubs in his career.