January Transfer Window (calcio mercato)

With the conclusion of our first tournament of the year, the annual January transfer market now looms on the horizon.

BOYS
Grade 8	Grade 7	Grade 6
Niccolo'	Elias F	Cristian
Giuseppe	Alex D	Pietro dP
Ale Z	Michele	Ottaviano
Manfredi	Jacopo	Joel
Peter	Gavyn
Ivan	Ale N
	Anthony
	Lorenzo
	Daniel Tommaso C

In the Boys' tournament, the first 20 players in the points table are now 'on sale' and each of the five new captains will have €115 million to spend on four players (maximum spend on one player is €100 million, minimum is €5 million).The market offers some tempting opportunities! Niccolò, top scorer and best player, will surely be an expensive buy and anyone looking to shore up their defence will need to shell out a pretty penny to get Elias F in their team. Cristian looks like being the most expensive G6 player on the market and the signatures of Alex, Manfredi and Giuseppe will also be hotly contested.

GIRLS
Grade 8	Grade 7	Grade 6
Lucrezia	Annie	Carolina
Matilde	Gea
Natalie	Selina
Gabeen	Sofia dM
Allison	Gaia dR
Mia

In the Girls' tournament, the top 12 classified players will be up for grabs and captains will have €110 million to spend on three players, with the same rules applying. Lucrezia will offer value for money at any price and captains will have to decide whether their team has more need of a tenacious defender like Annie or a proven goalscorer like Mia.

ANSPI: Ambrit u13s make it 5 Wins out of 5!

Fooling around before the game but then they got serious!

After winning their 5th match on the trot, Ambrit sit proudly at the top of the table as we head into the Christmas break!
In this latest match against the league's bottom-placed side, Coach Moses juggled things around a bit and started with Pietro, Alex and Ludovico in defense, Elias in midfield and Giorgio and Tommaso up front. Giacomo subbed in for Eric as goalie when he got injured and Joel went in for Tommaso.
The first goal was an own goal by the opposing goalkeeper who panicked when Tommaso crossed the ball to the center of the area. Ambrit managed to lose the ball in defense to allow Guadalupe to make it 1-1. This woke up the Ambrit team, who went on to score goal after goal. Giacomo off an Alex assist, Tommaso with a shot from outside the box, Pietro with two goals in a row and then another own goal. A free kick from halfway by Alex went straight in and the last goal came from a corner taken by Joel to Alex, who shot to the corner of the goal.

SCARABOCCHIO (under 11): Ambrit 3-3 Casaletto
Our team played hard and as a team this Saturday. After an early wake up call early in the first period, we buckled down and did not lose our determination. We were rewarded with a great tap-in goal that showed our will to get to the ball first. We always tried to be positive with the ball and looked for our teammates ahead of us on the pitch. We rotated seamlessly and were rewarded twice with great team goals that were finished cooly. We held on for the tie and learned a lot about concentration and getting to the ball first. We are a tough bunch to beat!

GIRLS' FINAL: Portland Timbers 2-1 NY Red Bulls

Ancora una vittoria, ancora un trofeo per la grande Lucrezia, capace di disputare una gara di grande intensità e tecnica, pur velata da un certo nervosismo. La sua doppietta ha permesso alle Portland Timbers di conquistare il primo intramural stagionale e sconfiggere le ottime NY Bulls. A nulla è servito il rigore procurato e trasformato da Allison (che si è vista superare in classifica marcatori proprio da Lucrezia), né la grande prova di Annie a tutto campo. Molto bene Allegra e Gea in fase di pressing e Lucy e Donya in fase difensiva.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Lucrezia 6, Annie 5, Allegra 3, Allison 3, Lucy 2, Donya 2, Virginia 1, Gea 1.

THIRD PLACE FINAL: Lazio 3-2 Roma

A fantastic, action-packed game of football at Ambrit stadium today to close out the first Intramural tournament of the year.
Lazio sprang into an early lead when Michele cut inside from the left and swept a curling right-foot shot into the net.
Both teams fought to control the game in midfield. Lapo, Alessandro N and Tommaso C combined well today for Roma and they created lots of chances. Saverio should probably have finished off Tommy's pass from the right but he screwed it wide of the post. Ale N carved himself a good chance shortly afterwards but his well-struck shot crashed down off the crossbar and Giacomo managed to fumble the ball away.
Then Tommy C made a good run through the Lazio defence and, just as he was lining up to shoot, he was cynically stopped by a push from Andrea. Red card for Andrea, free kick for Roma; Tommy passed to Gavyn when the whole stadium expected a shot but he took Gavyn by surprise too and the ball went wide.
Meanwhile, Ale Z and Cristian were everywhere and kept Guillermo and Michele well supplied with passes from the back. One of these was laid inside from Guillermo to Michele and he pit Lazio 2-0 up, this time with a left foot shot that was slightly deflected.
But Gavyn made up for his earlier miss two minutes later. Played in by Tommy C, he slotted the ball home despite a last minute lunge from Ale Z.
Tension increased: Roma attacked, Lazio defended... and Lapo scored...2-2 with just 2 minutes on the clock!
As Roma's celebrations continued, Lazio kicked off. The ball came to Cristian on the left. He cut inside and struck the ball home with his right foot into the bottom left corner.
Roma threw everything into the last attack but time ran out and Lazio will take the bronze medals next week!
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Ale N 6, Michele 6, Tommy C 3, Ale Z 2, Cristian 2, Lapo 1, Gavyn 1

Portland Timbers 2-1 Toronto FC

Nella sfida decisiva per l'accesso alla finale femminile le ragazze di Portland, trascinate da una Allegra a tutto campo e dalla solita classe di Lucrezia, battono le rivali di Toronto, meno determinate in campo, a cui non basta il pari momentaneo di Mia. All'ultimo minuto risulta decisiva la rete di Lucrezia, che con la doppietta di oggi raggiunge Allison in vetta alla classifica dei cannonieri.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Allegra 5, Lucrezia 4, Mia 3, M.Carolina 3, Sofia DM 2, Natalie 2, Shosanna 1, Selina 1, Eleonora 1.

BOYS' FINAL: Inter 5 - 3 Juventus

Inter justified their position as pre-tournament favourites and swept aside the challenge of Juventus in today's final.

Daniel kept his head in front of goal to put the champions ahead but Pietro dP equalised shortly afterwards with a brave header past an onrushing Federico. Daniel stepped up to the plate again, this time with a beautifully-weighted assist to play in Jacopo for 2-1. Niccolo' scored his 11th goal of the season to make it 3-1 and Pietro once again retaliated for Juventus to keep them in touch.

Niccolo' and Daniel both scored again to keep Inter in front. Anthony fired a fantastic shot but Peter made a brilliant save and then got up quickly to save the follow-up shot too. Pietro completed his hat-trick but Juve ran out of time and Inter won the game and the title!

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Niccolo' 4, Peter 3, Pietro dP 3, Daniel 3, Jacopo 2, Anthony 2, Ottaviano 2, Giuseppe 2

BOYS FINAL: Wednesday, Morning Break

Juventus, bolstered by an in-form Giuseppe, approach Wednesday's final with confidence. Having eliminated Lazio in last week's semi-final with a powerful, physical performance that pressed their opponents into submission, they will look to ANSPI ace and school top-scorer Pietro dP to put the ball in the back of the net.
At the other end, Elias F has been the revelation of the tournament so far: Ambrit's ANSPI captain is second in the Best Player table with 22 points coming into the final match.

Inter have so far fully justified their position as the team that was voted tournament favourites in September's poll. Powered by Niccolo', who is top of both the Best Player and Top Scorer charts with 24 points and 10 goals, the 8F stalwart is probably the main reason that Inter have reached the final... but they are certainly not a one-man team. Federico has done well in goal; Peter has been a rock in defence; Jacopo, Alioune and Ottaviano have been improving with every game.

Derby Win Keeps Ambrit On Top!

Four matches, four victories!

In last night's double-header derby versus Vigna Pia, Ambrit's u13 team came out on top while Vigna Pia won the u11 match.
Alex D got us off to a great start with the first goal and Giacomo made it 2-0 after 7 minutes. Alex hit the third before the first interval and added two more in the second period to leave Ambrit in a comfortable 5-1 lead (Pietro scored the fourth).
Vigna Pia never gave up though and, when they made it 5-2, Ambrit had to dig deep to make sure that the game didn't slip away from them.
Alex added a sixth and Giacomo a seventh. Giacomo dedicated this last goal to the watching Mr Martin to wrap up the game in the best possible way! See our ANSPI pages here on the blog for latest Tables.

SEMI-FINAL: Lazio 1-3 Juventus

Lazio took an early lead but couldn't withstand constant Juve pressure and will have to settle for a Third Place play-off against derby rivals, Roma. Juve will take on Inter in the final.
Cristian's early free kick forced Bernardo into a save but Guillermo was on hand to dispatch the rebound.
Guillermo had a good chance to double the lead soon after but, this time, he missed and Juve scored on the break. Anthony played Pietro in and Il Mueller di Ambrit scored.
Juve's second goal was mired in controversy. Giuseppe took another long throw and referee Corcoran awarded a goal when Giacomo appeared to touch the ball before it went in. Lazio protested but the goal was given.
Shortly afterwards, Pietro made it 3-1 and then almost 4-1 but Giacomo made a fantastic save to keep him out.
Lazio threw caution to the wind for the last few minutes but they were unable to break down Juve's solid rearguard.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Elias 6, Giuseppe 5, Anthony 3, Andrea 2, Cristian 2, Pietro 1, Bernardo 1, Alessandro Z 1

LA Galaxy 3 - 0 NY Bulls

Benché il risultato non fosse importante (le Bulls già qualificate per la finale, le Galaxy già eliminate), la squadra di Los Angeles è riuscita a mostrare appieno le sue potenzialità e a salvare l'onore finendo il torneo con almeno una vittoria, dopo le due sconfitte precedenti.
La squadra di Matilde, finalmente leader e trascinatrice, ha imposto il suo gioco e - complice l'assenza di Allison - non ha dato scampo alle avversarie. Una rete di Malena e una doppietta della stessa Matilde hanno affondato la formazione di New York, che ora dovrà concentrasi al massimo in vista della finalissima contro una fra Timbers e Toronto.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Matilde 7, Malena 3, Annie 5, Virginia 3, Gabeen 1, Clio 1, Linh 1

SEMI-FINAL: Inter 6-2 Roma

Inter did not betray their pre-match positions as favourites and ran out easy winners against Roma.
They rushed into an early three-goal lead through Niccolo' (2) and Ottaviano and then never looked likely to relinquish it.
Niccolo's third and Inter's fourth was nicely finished, a single turn from Niccolo' sending the goalkeeper and last defender the wrong way.
Tommaso C pulled one back for Roma and then missed another good chance immediately afterwards.  Saverio got onto the end of a Lapo pass to make it 4-2 but Jacopo, with the entire stadium telling him to pass the ball, did find Alioune to restore the three-goal lead.
Niccolo' made it 6-2.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Niccolò 7, Peter 3, Gavyn 2, Jacopo 2, Alioune 2, Ottaviano 1, Daniel 1, Ale N 1,  Tommaso C 1, Federico 1