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| | | Udinese Calcio Turn Talents Into Stars And Successfully Play In The Italian Serie A | | | | [29.09.] In Germany, Udinese Calcio from the North Italian Friaul are mainly known because former German internationals Oliver Bierhoff and Carsten Jancker used to play there. However, the most expensive BVB signing of all time, Marcio Amoroso, and other international stars like Brazilian Zico, Italian goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff and Ghanaian Steven Appiah have all played in the black & white Udinese jersey. | | |  | | Udinese Calcio's coach: Pasquale Marino (46) |
However, there has been no huge success in the history of the club. Udinese has never won Serie A or the Italian Cup. But the Northern Italian club has been a permanent fixture in Serie A since the 1995/96 season.
They finished in fifth place after the 1996/97 season, third a year later and had a surprising 4th place finish after the 2004/05 season. These have been the best results for Udinese to this point. The fourth place after 2004/05 qualified them for the UEFA Champions League where they beat Sporting Lisbon twice. Still, the CL adventure came to an end after the group stages where FC Barcelona and Werder Bremen clinched the first two spots. Further experience with German teams has come in the UEFA Cup. Twice, Udinese were matched up wtih Bayer Leverkusen. In 1998/1999, Leverkusen won. A year later, Udinese took revenge in the same competition. The only international title for the Italian club came in 2000 when they won the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Last season Udinese finished seventh in Serie A. And after two matchdays of the new Serie A season, Udinese Calcio is again in seventh place. Their biggest star, Antonio di Natale, started the season the way he finished the last one - scoring goals. He had two beautiful goals against US Palermo in the season opener, paving the way for a deserved 3-1 win in Udinese. After taking an early lead in the ninth minute through di Natale, Udinese cruised to victory.
On Serie A´s second match day, Juventus Turin beat Udinese 1-0 and prevented the Northern Italians from jumping into first place. After a surprise win for Udinese last year, Juve goalkeeper Buffon saved his team three times against Udinese striker Quagliarella, keeping the three points in Turin. This shows how difficult it is to play Udinese Calcio...
 | | Alex Frei's colleague in the Swiss national team: Gökhan Inler, Best New Foreigner in the Italian Serie A in 2007/2008. |
Usually, coach Pasquale Marino prepares his team to play in a 4-3-3-system and waits for counterattacks. However, against Juventus, Udinese played in a 3-4-3-system.
The two strikers Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio di Natale are both members of the Italian national team. One further international, Swiss player Gökhan Inler, is also on the team. Serie A´s Best New Foreigner for the 2007/2008 season. Juventus Turin and FC Barcelona have already expressed interest in the Swiss player, but the midfielder has extended his contract with Udinese.
One of the main reasons for Inler to stay is the so-called "Project Udine". Unlike other clubs that throw money at players and other clubs to buy one star after another, Udinese Calcio´s strategy is to buy young talents, build them up and sell them at a much higher price. But apparently they won´t let everyone just walk out the door...
Original article by Christina Reinke - translated by Chris Schuepp | | | Projected Line-Ups |
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