Roma's Francisco Totti & Michael Bradley Star in VW Commercial

Volkswagen has recently started airing a commercial in Italy, as part of its Viva il Calcio campaign, featuring Roma's Francesco Totti and Michael Bradley playing of the language divide with each making attempts at speaking the other's language.

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[Video] All of Totti's 225 Serie A Goals

Earlier this month, Roma forward Francisco Totti picked up his 225th Serie A goal in a match against Genoa. That goal tied Totti with Gunnar Nordahl for second place on Serie A's all-time scoring list. Totti, who is 36, made his debut with Roma back in 1993 and was part of Italy's 2006 World Cup winning squad.

The number one all-time scorer in Serie A is Silvio Piola, who scored 274 goals. Totti has indicated a desire to play into his 40s and to beat Piola's record, it seems unlikely that will happen, but only time will tell.

Here is a video of all of Totti's 225 goals, almost an hours worth of goals:

Your Friday Goals - February 22, 2013

Another week of European Nights, another bad outing by Arsenal, Carlos Ruiz is back in MLS, it's time for your Friday goals:

More after the Jump:

Derby della Capitale - The Coppa Italia Version

On Wednesday January 19, 2011, Lazio and Roma will meet at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome for a rare Coppa Italia version of the Derby della Capitale. While the match's result does not impact either club's standing in the 2010/2011 Serie A Scudetto campaign, a place in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals and capital city bragging rights are on the line.

The teams last met on November 7, 2010, when Roma won, not without some controversy, 2-0 thanks to penalty kicks by Marco Borriello and Mirko Vucinic.

Lazio had a stronger start to the 2010/2011 Serie A season and are currently tied with Napoli at second place on the table, each with 37 points. Roma, which had another slow start that saw them languish in the relegation zone for several weeks, sits right behind Napoli and Lazio with 35 points.

This past weekend saw Lazio pick up a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria, Lazio's first win since the winter break, and this coming weekend Lazio travels to Bologna. Lazio's depth is not as great as Roma's depth, and Lazio coach Edoardo Reja will have to choose between resting key players like Hernanes and Brocchi for Sunday's match with Bologna and trying to appease Lazio fans hoping for redemption against their bitter rivals.

Going into this past Sunday's match at Cesena, troubles were brewing behind the scenes at Roma, troubles linked to the team's most famous player, Francesco Totti. The aging Totti has been unhappy with his playing time this season and what he perceives as a marginalized role under coach Claudio Ranieri's recent roster and substitution decisions. Possibly at the bequest of club president, Rosella Sensi, Ranieri started Totti this past Sunday and chose to leave Totti on the pitch while substituting out Mirko Vucinic and Jérémy Menez, who were both having better matches than Totti. Vucinic, visibly upset by being subbed off, headed straight for the team's dressing room, but soon emerged as a bizarre sequence led to an own goal by Maximiliano Pellegrino, giving Roma a shocking victory over a team that troubled them so back in the season opener. It's hard to say if Sunday's victory has healed all wounds at Roma, but the news from Trigoria has been upbeat and positive.

Most of the predictions I have seen say Roma will win 1-0.

The match starts at 1:45 pm central time and will be broadcast live in the United States on GolTV.

And So It Is: The Weekend that was in Football

Poor Chivas USA just can't get a break when it comes to playing the Houston Dynamo. Last month, Chivas USA came to Houston looking to kick the Dynamo, who had just lost 0-2 at home to the L.A. Galaxy, while they were down. Unfortunately for Chivas, the Dynamo bounced back with a solid 3-0 victory. Saturday night, the Houston Dynamo paid their only visit to Chivas USA in LA, coming off a rough 1-0 loss at home to FC Dallas on Wednesday. Once again, Chivas wasn't able to overcome the Dynamo who picked up their first road victory of the 2010 MLS season.

Brad Davis set the tone for the match when he scored a beauty of a goal in the 4th minute, putting the ball over the head of Chivas keeper, Zach Thornton, who had come too far off the line to even think of making a save. In the 8th minute, Adrian Serioux picked up the second, and last, goal of the night when he headed in a corner kick from Brad Davis.

Credit to Chivas for not letting up during the entire match, but once again they were unable to break through the Dynamo's backline, which looked light-years better than it did this past Wednesday. In the end, Chivas only managed 2 shots on goal.

Here's some video highlights from the Chivas USA - Houston Dynamo match:



Up next for Houston is a visit to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy (Big Love), Utah on Thursday night. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 7:00 pm central time.

The interesting story line of the weekend in MLS was the number of goals scored. Real Salt Lake, the Dynamo's next opponent, picked up a 3-0 home victory over Philadelphia Union. Los Angeles Galaxy went up to Seattle and pummeled the Sounders, 4-0. Landon Donovan finally picked up his first goal of the 2010 season, and for once, none of the LA goals came from Eddson Buddle. New England's offense showed up at Columbus, but so did the Crew's offense, end result was a 2-1 victory for the home side. Toronto managed a solid 4-1 victory over Chicago, while San Jose pulled off a 4-0 victory over RedBull New York. Finally, FC Dallas took advantage of the shambles that is DC United with a 1-0 victory in Frisco, Texas.

Galaxy's strong victory over Seattle puts them atop the table in the west and in the lead for the Supporter's Shield with 22 points. Seattle, a team picked by many to go far in the playoffs, sits at the bottom of the table in the west with 9 points. Over in the East, despite losing to San Jose, New York sits atop that table with 15 points and both Philadelphia Union and DC United share the bottom with only 3 points apiece on the season.

Meanwhile in Europe, the seasons are winding down and champions are being named. The big news today was Chelsea clinching the title in the English Premier League. The even better news for US Soccer fans is that Stuart Holden came off the bench in the 66th minute for Bolton in its 2-1 victory over Birmingham City.

Bundesliga also wrapped up its season this past weekend. In the end, Bayern Munich, who face Inter in the European Champions League final on May 22nd, picked up the German title. On the downside, Hertha Berlin were relegated, meaning Berlin won't be represented in Bundesliga next season.

There's still one match day left in France, but Marseille have already locked up the title in Ligue 1. This is Marseille's first title since the 1992-1993 season. Meanwhile, Charlie Davies did not suit up for Sochaux in its 0-2 loss to Bordeaux. We'll see if he suits up on Wednesday when Sochaux hosts Auxerre on Saturday in their last match of the season.

The title race is still not over in Spain, where Barcelona have a 1 point lead on Real Madrid. The 2010 La Liga season ends next Sunday, with Barcelona hosting Valladolid and Real Madrid visiting Malaga. Both of these opponents are hovering in the drop zone as they, and two other sides have 36 points. The only team assured of relegation is Xerez, which has 33 points.

Finally, it's still status quo in Italy as Serie A heads into its final match day next Sunday. Inter still holds a 2 point lead over Roma, but it was a rough day for both teams. Inter managed a 4-3 victory over a Chievo Verona squad that refused to give up and looked close to getting an equalizer to end the match 4-4. Roma took on a scrappy Cagliari that got the first goal in the 73rd minute. The Cagliari goal fired up the Roma offense and Francesco Totti picked up the equalizer in the 79th minute, after missing a sitter, and then converting a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Next Sunday, Inter has to face a Siena squad headed to Serie B next season, but it's also a Siena squad with a close relationship with Inter's foe Juventus. Inter cannot take their match at Siena lightly. Meanwhile, Roma hosts Chievo Verona, and based on how the Flying Donkeys played against Inter today, Roma could have their hands full on Sunday.

Honouring Franco Sensi

The departed A.S. Roma Patron and President will be laid to rest at the basilica of S. Lorenzo fuori le mura on Wednesday August 20, 2008. On that same date, the Italian National Team will be playing a friendly against Austria in Nice. In honor of Franco Sensi, the Azzurri will be wearing black armbands during that match and there will be a minute of silence in his honour prior to the match.

Meanwhile, there is talk of building a new stadium in Rome, one that will be named after Sensi.

It goes without saying that my thoughts and prayers are with the Sensi family, as well as the entire extended A.S. Roma family.

Here is the tribute of Roma Captain Francesco Totti, the son that Sensi never had:

"The death of president Sensi is very painful. We have lost a figure of pivotal reference in the history of Roma and this sport, but above all a man who was kind, passionate, true.

"He leaves us with 15 years of love which will remain indelible in my mind and my heart.

"Every day I spent with him is unforgettable, but the memory that I have most fixed in my mind at this time is that day at the Circo Massimo and his happiness.

"He loved Roma and did so much for this club and also on a personal level for so many players."


http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/aug19p.html

http://www.acmilan.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=70892

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/italy/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/08/19/SOCCER_Ita-Roma_Sensi.html&TEAMHD=italy

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=825994

http://www.goal.com/en-india/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=824262

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/italy/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/08/18/SOCCER_Ita-Roma_Sensi.html&TEAMHD=italy

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601092&sid=a.1hA2qKicqY&refer=italy

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601092&sid=a10FzMFc5tco&refer=italy

Good News for A.S. Roma

News coming out of Rome is that Roma Captain Francesco Totti is fully recovered from his ACL injury and subsequent surgery. He's played 30 minutes, and scored in a goal, in a friendly against Egypt's Al-Ahly and will be available for the SuperCoppa on August 24.

Additionally, after months of speculation and rumor, Real Madrid and Roma have come to terms on a deal that will see Julio Baptista join the Giallorossi.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=819408

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCEcMsvtHJtQ8lYjwcAuLmyFXHdw

http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=46&a=91997

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=562921&sec=europe&cc=5901

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghYPCNMKC5AdN7bdm_8NzWoddXCw

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=811127

Thursday: A Million Little Fibers

First off, the Houston Dynamo made their 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup debut last night, taking on CSD Municipal in Guatemala City. The game resulted in a 0 -0 draw, and while the Dynamo would have liked a win and the away goal it would bring, this is the first time that the Dynamo have not lost an away leg in the CCC. The Dynamo looked good, but not great, and between luck and the steller goal tending of Pat Onstad, Municipal could have easily had a win. On the whole the defense looked much improved since the Osaka Gamba game in the PPC, much of that was due to the presence of Craig Waibel and Eddie Robinson. Once again the midfield had a good game, but it was up front that the Dynamo were soft. The second leg of the tie will be held at Robertson Stadium in Houston on Wednesday night.

More news about the Dynamo's international play was released today. The Dynamo have been grouped with Atlante, Chivas Guadalajara, and DC United in the 2008 SuperLiga. Houston will host Atlante on July 12 and Chivas on July 15, then play at D.C. on July 19.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/5617193.html

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080313&content_id=143146&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp

http://superliga2007.com/

The Dynamo at FC Dallas drama continues, due to accomodating a concert (so much for the Slice being a soccer specific stadium), that leg of the Texas Derby will be held on Wednesday May 28, 2008. Yet another blow to the concept of fostering a great atmosphere within the stands, its a school night and the Houston SGs will be represented, but not in the numbers that would have been there on a Saturday or Sunday.

http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/schedule/index.jsp?year=2008&month=05

http://blogs.chron.com/soccer/archives/2008/03/dynamo_escape_g.html

On to Italy and Serie A: the Gazzetta dello Sport reports that A.S. Roma's Francesco Totti is very postive about Roma's prospects in the Champions League and Serie A:

http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/Primo_Piano/2008/03_Marzo/13/totti.shtml

In the will he or won't he bin, Inter President Massimo Moratti has indicated that Roberto Mancini will not be leaving at the end of the season. I suspect that Mancini will be gone, but Moratti is trying to stop the disintigration in the locker room, disintigration that could give Roma a leg up in closing the 6 point gap with Inter.

http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/Primo_Piano/2008/03_Marzo/12/english_moratti.shtml

And speaking of Mourinho (you know what I mean), gotta share this clip and the laughs it brings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwbu59aDtbo