The Eagle Flies On Beijing

By: cathal | August 3rd, 2009

The Eagle Flies On Beijing: That is the Lazio slogan for Supercoppa Italiana 2009. Below, you will find those words emblazoned across the club bus and if you click the aforementioned slogan, you should find a video from a member of LazioFly; a forum for Chinese laziali. I had a very small role in the overall project, miniscule in fact but as a result, I now know how much effort goes into events like these. If you check our Facebook group, you will find a link with all the necessary information if you, or anyone you know intends on making the trip out there. The video depicts the squad’s arrival at the airport (including a moody Cruz) and the greeting they received from our Chinese counterparts. I can’t emphasise how great an occasion and an opportunity this is for our club and I hope Saturday will be as breathtaking as I expect it to be.

While the team pushes on with their preparations, you may have heard the news that Bengtsson has signed for AZ Alkmaar. I can’t understand how he slipped from Claudio’s grasp; perhaps media reports were inaccurate, presumptious or altogether false. I don’t know and frankly, I don’t care. Rasmus is a talented defender, for less than a million euro he was worth the gamble but coming to Serie A would have been a colossal jump upwards for him and I am not sure he would have made the required height. However, I am now convinced that the Swede was being lined up as Radu’s replacement. Lotito was asked about a potential swap involving Simplicio and although he denied it, he was said to be nervous. Keep in mind, this is the same man who said we were interested in the Brazilian only a few weeks ago. Perhaps Palermo can shed some light on the situation? According to their Sporting Director, Walter Sabatini who was our Sporting Director not that long ago, we are interested in Fabio and they will speak with the player on August 8th. They also admit they are keen on Radu. A very timely meeting in my opinion; holding talks on a player’s future just before the club that are interested in him return from a foreign visit is a signal of intent in my opinion. You can decide for yourself what may or may not be going on.

As for Pandev, Ledesma and De Silvestri there is still nothing concrete. Zenit may be interested in Goran; their boss, Dick Advocaat went nuts recently because the guy in charge of their transfers did not sign the strikers he had asked for. Reading between the lines, that may have included Goran but nobody can say for sure and whether they would bid again on the basis that smoke is billowing from their manager’s ears is another matter entirely. As I see it, Cristian has three options; a reunion with Corvino at Fiorentina, a reunion with Sabatini at Palermo or a move to Milan should Pirlo depart. Lollo has been linked heavily to both Milan and Fiorentina which is encouraging as both should be able to stump up a nice bag of coins. However, we have heard all this before and whether the increased intensity is due to the elapsing of time or actual transfer activity remains to be seen.

Last week, I asked you if the decision to leave the ‘dissidenti’ out of the Beijing squad was correct and you voted as follows:

Yes – 30%
No – 70%

We can discuss this until we are all blue in the face and I have no doubt that many of us have but as far as I am concerned, both parties have their reasons to be disgruntled. Goran and Cristian, in particular, were key in getting us to Beijing in the first place but on the otherhand, they expressed a desire to leave and thus, why should they be given the chance to represent us when they have stated that they no longer want to? It has become more of a moral debate than a soccer matter and sometimes, you just have to draw the line and accept the decision of the hierarchy; the players can try to control their fate but ultimately they are slaves to the club and that is the harsh reality of it all.

This week, the question is topical; are you in favour of playing the Supercoppa abroad or would you rather we played Italian tournaments on Italian territory? This is potentially a highly contentious debate so please be careful with your response. Playing this game away from hope enables us to, for want of a better word, exploit other markets but are you a traditionalist? Would you rather we forget about the economics and play this game on Italian soil? Or do you see this as too good an opportunity to pass up and would you like to see the establishment of a new tradition; of playing the Supercoppa in different continents year in, year out; much like the World Cup? Vote here and feel free to make your opinions known in the comments section. Forza Lazio!