Juventus gathers on Monday for training camp, a pretty early start given that there is no CL qualifying round to worry about this year. Apparently, that's to leave time for yet another Far East trip - this time to China - in the first week of August. Here is the full list of friendlies and tournaments Juve has scheduled so far:- July 14 - at Voghera (Serie D) July 17 - at Pavia (Serie C1) July 20 - Trofeo Tim (triangular w/Inter and Milan) July 23 - vs Standard Liege (in Geneva) July 27 - at Cesena (Serie B) July 31-Aug 8 - North America trip, 2 friendlies, August 3 Toronto August 6 NY opponents TBD Aug 9 - Roma (Serie A, in Palermo) Aug 12 - Trofeo Moretti (triangular w/Inter and Napoli in Naples) Aug 14 - at Milan (Trofeo Berlusconi) Aug 17 - vs Juventus Primavera Aug 20 - Italian SuperCoppa vs Inter (site TBD) Aug 24 - at Barcelona (Trofeo Gamper) Along with newcomers Kovac and Giannichedda, these players from last year's roster are expected to arrive on Monday - Buffon, Chimenti, Bonnefoi, Zebina, Cannavaro, Thuram, Zambrotta, Birindelli, Pessotto, Camoranesi, Tacchinardi, Blasi, Olivera, Nedved, Del Piero, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet, Zalayeta, Mutu. Emerson and Appiah will be given a little extra rest time before arriving because of time they spent with their national teams in June. Among returning loaned-out players, Miccoli, Maresca, Tudor, and Legrottaglie are all expected to arrive although their departures seem imminent. Chiellini is also expected but should stay. Also arriving - a player from Cervia named Lorenzo Spagnoli won the opportunity to join Juve's training camp for a month, I guess through that club's reality TV show. Not there from last year's team - Ciro Ferrara has retired, Paolo Montero is gone, and Olivier Kapo has been loaned out to Monaco.
There's been no official confirmation, but today's La Stampa reports that the China tour is off since Juve didn't get the money they wanted. They are now trying to organize a North American tour. Today's GdS mentions two possible friendlies in New York and Toronto.
Same here... NYC is 3 hours away and Toronto is about 4 hours. I could hit both games, especially since my vacation is scheduled during that time.
My father is from Frosinone, I've been there a number of times though. I still have a lot of family there.
Another friendly has been added to the pre-season schedule, July 27 vs Cesena of Serie B (in Cesena).
I'm going back to Italia tomorrow morning and will be checking out some of the pre season games, will take my digital camera and get some pics to post up for when I am back. Will be back in about a month.
I noticed Juve entered the training ground on the first day in those slick red/white/green jerseys - are they just training shirts as somebody has suggested?
I didn't see pics of them doing any actual training, I did see them enter the presentation wearing red polo shirts.
Well, I only caught it briefly on Sportsera, I'll have to go back and look again to make sure I wasn't seeing the same thing you did.
Never mind man i think Juve should use those white jerseys as a game jersey those are dead sexy man i like it alot.
I would like to know others' opinions on Kovac and Giannicheda. I do not know much about these players. However, it is hard for me to believe that these players provide little more than a security blanket in case (God forbid) Cannavaro, Thuram, or Emerson goes down. I don't anticipate either of these newcomers to have a significant impact this season. Also, I might be alone in this boat, but with our surplus of quality attackers I would like to ship at least one out so that we can bolster our midfield and defense. With Del Piero and Ibra firmly established, and Trez being the enigma that he is. At least one out of Mutu, Miccoli, and Zalayeta seem expendable. It would be nice, however, to hold on to Maresca. I think he would develop into the heart of Juve's midfield in years to come. I also feel a little uneasy about giving up on Appiah so easily.
Now that the Viera move is official, our official roster (help me out if I miss a few): Keepers: Buffon 1, Chimenti 12, Bonnefoi 22 Defenders: Cannavaro 28, Thuram 21, Zambrotta 19, Zebina 27, Birindelli 15, Tudor 5*, Pessotto 7, Kovac, Chiellini Midfielders: Nedved 11, Emerson 8, Camoranesi 16, Blasi 20, Appiah 18*, Tacchinardi 3*, Giannicheda, Viera, Maresca* Attackers: Del Piero 10, Ibrahimovic 9, Trezeguet 17, Mutu 30, Zalayeta 25, Miccoli* * denotes that player may not be with team by the start of the season Also, I've heard a name Mozart mentioned a few times on different posts. Who is this guy. I had previously never heard anything about him.
Mozart is Reggina's Brazilian midfielder. Sort of creative but also a tackler. If they get him, he'd be a backup at best to Emerson and Vieira. As a Reggina fan, I hope he doesn't come to Juve. BTW, La Gazzetta is reporting Maresca's move to Spanish club Sevilla is imminent.
Juve won its first friendly match of the summer, 7-0, over Serie D club Voghera. Ibrahimovic scored three goals while Nedved, Mutu, Zalayeta and Trezeguet had one each. Miccoli, Chiellini and Zebina did not play while Mutu (obviously) and Giannichedda made their Juventus debuts.
The friendly schedule must've changed a bit because Juve played at Pavia today, winning 5-1 in Patrick Vieira's first game wearing the bianconeri. Juve actually fell behind in the 20th minute but then equalized on an own-goal and took the lead at halftime through Ibrahimovic. Mutu, Zalayeta and Spagnoli scored in the second half. Spagnoli is the player from Cervia - they let him take a penalty (which he had drawn), and he scored. What a dream for him.