Catenaccio N/A

As anticipated yesterday, Giuseppe Rossi held a press conference this afternoon in Florence. "The past few months have been tough for me, of hard work and with the support of my family, my team mates and Luke Bongiorno. Now I'm well, and I must thank all of those who helped me ", remarked the 27 year old from New Jersey. On his return to the scoresheet, Rossi said " Yesterday's goal was truly beautiful , alas it was only our second versus the four that Sassuolo scored. I dedicate it to my father, but also to my girlfriend and my sister who flew over just to see me play, and to Fiorentina fans, who've always supported me". What interests Serie A lovers and those who hold dear the fate of the Italian national team, however, is Pepito 's return to la Nazionale: "All I have to do is play and demonstrate that I'm in good physical form and am able to lend a hand to the azzurri . I never thought about not going to the World Cup. I want to...

Giuseppe Rossi returned to Serie A action in style today, against US Sassuolo. The 27 year-old, sidelined due to injury since January, picked up where he left off by scoring Fiorentina's second goal, his 15th in Serie A this season .  This was perhaps the only good news for the viola as they fell to a very motivated US Sassuolo, who was battling relegation. Pepito   led the Serie A scoring charts when he picked up a serious injury on January 5th, with 14 goals in 18 games. His goal today is quite timely, as Rossi will hold a press conference tomorrow at 15:00 CET . CatenaccioNA, the blog for the Italian soccer movement in North America, wishes our North American hero continued success for the remaining games this season and in projection for representing Italy at the upcoming World Cup in Brazil.

Giuseppe Rossi’s agent Andrea Pastorello spoke about his clients possible return today. “Rossi’s knee continues to heal well, and we haven’t seen any problem that may typically arise in this phase of rehabilitation. Beyond that, Giuseppe is in great spirits, which helps in the work that is being done to bring him back” he intimated to Firenzeviola.it . “Giuseppe’s rehabilitation is dependent on daily responses to tests. According to the schedule that we have fashioned with [world-renowned physical therapist] Luke Bongiorno and based on progress made thus far his return to practice is projected for March 20, thus, 10 days earlier than predicted”, he said happily.  From that point, Rossi will need about a month of preparation in order to get up to speed. With respect to Rossi’s chances of making the World Cup, Pastorello said: “ACF Fiorentina’s medical staff is in contact with their counterparts in the national team. I have become personally involved in this upon ...

With Giuseppe Rossi injured until April, Michael Bradley sold to Toronto FC , the weekly round up of North American players in Serie A leaves only the "Canadian" Bryan Cristante.  Cristante was hardly the protagonist. In fact, he featured in a match that saw the explosion of Sassuolo's Domenico Berardi who was the first player to score four goals against AC Milan, ever.  A poor performance by AC Milan, but a decent performance by Cristante who started the game humbly, but made up for it, featuring in two of AC Milan's goals.  On the play that led to the led to Robinho's go-ahead goal, he recouped a ball in the midfield; and minutes later he took full advantage of an error by Sassuolo to provide an assist to Balotelli who slammed in the 2-0.  The rest of his performance, however, is marred in what seemed like a nightmare performance by the rossoneri , one that led to the eventual sacking of coach Massimiliano Allegri, and the advent of fan-favourite Cla...