Tag: Italy

  • BREAKING: Italy Beat England to win Euro 2020 Trophy

    BREAKING: Italy Beat England to win Euro 2020 Trophy

    Italy defeated England 3-2 on penalties in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw after extra time at Wembley.

    Luke Shaw scored for England inside two minutes, the fastest ever goal in a European Championship final, but Leonardo Bonucci bundled in an equaliser at a corner midway through the second half.

    Needing to score to keep England alive in the shoot-out, Saka’s spot-kick was saved by Italy goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, as the Azzurri won the tournament for the second time.

  • Euro 2020: England Qualifies to play Italy in final

    Euro 2020: England Qualifies to play Italy in final

    England booked their place in the final of Euro 2020, with a nervy 2-1 victory over Denmark on Wednesday night.

    Three Lions boss, Gareth Southgate, made only one change to the team that crushed Ukraine 4-0 in the quarter-final, with Bukayo Saka replacing Jadon Sancho.

    But it was the Danes who took the lead in the first half through Mikkel Damsgaard’s stunning free-kick.

    Saka then crossed in the ball for Simon Kjaer to divert it into his own net for 1-1.

    The game ended that way after 90 minutes and subsequently went into extra time.

    England were awarded a controversial penalty after Raheem Sterling went down in the box and Harry Kane converted his rebound after Kasper Schmeichel saved the initial effort.

    They will now face Italy at Wembley on Sunday.

  • Italy Beat Spain On Penalties To Reach Euro 2020 Final

    Italy Beat Spain On Penalties To Reach Euro 2020 Final

    Alvaro Morata scored but missed the crucial spot-kick as Italy edged out Spain on penalties to reach the Euro 2020 final after their last-four clash at Wembley finished 1-1 on Tuesday.

    Federico Chiesa’s curling strike put Italy ahead on the hour mark, but the much-maligned Morata came off the bench and his 80th-minute equaliser forced extra time.

    Italy, chasing a first European title since 1968, won 4-2 in the shoot-out though to secure a place in Sunday’s final against either England or Denmark, who play on Wednesday, in London.

    More to follow . . .

  • AstraZeneca: Vaccination suffers setback as more countries halt exercise

    AstraZeneca: Vaccination suffers setback as more countries halt exercise

    A dozen countries, including France, Italy and Germany, have suspended AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shots because of fears over blood clots and other possible side effects.

    Ahead of Tuesday’s World Health Organization experts meeting, the company has insisted there is no risk and the WHO has said countries should continue to use the vaccine.

    Here is a recap:

    – Nordic countries sound alarm –
    Denmark is the first country on March 11 to say it will suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure over fears of blood clots in vaccinated people.

    Iceland and Norway follow the same day, temporarily suspending use.

    On Monday, a health worker in Norway dies of a brain haemorrhage after receiving the vaccine, though no direct link to the jab has been established, health authorities say.

    It is the second such fatality within a few days in the country.

    – List grows –
    On Friday, Bulgaria suspends the use of the vaccine as it investigates the death of a woman with several underlying conditions who recently received the jab.

    An initial probe had suggested the woman died from heart failure and an autopsy found no link with the vaccination.

    Thailand abruptly delays the start of its rollout of the vaccine, stopping Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha from getting the first jab.

    And the Democratic Republic of Congo, also due to start administering the vaccine, postpones its campaign citing “precautionary measures”.

    Ireland and the Netherlands join the list Sunday, followed by Indonesia and then Germany, Italy, France, Slovenia, Spain and Latvia on Monday.

    Announcing its decision, the German health ministry says a closer look is necessary after the reported blood clotting incidents in Europe.

    Late Monday, Venezuela’s vice-president also said the country would not approve the vaccine for use, citing “complications” those inoculated had experienced.

    – Suspending batches –
    The first suspension of a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine is announced by Austria on March 8, following the death of a 49-year-old nurse from “severe bleeding disorders” days after receiving it.

    Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Luxembourg also suspend the use of doses from the same batch, which has been delivered to 17 countries and included one million vaccines.

    Italy’s medicines regulator on March 11 also bans the use of a batch as a precaution, triggering a similar decision from Romania.

    And on March 14, Italy’s northern Piedmont region suspends use of the vaccine after the death of a teacher who had received it the day before, with a national postponement coming a day later.

  • Italy PM, Giuseppe Conte To Resign Tuesday

    Italy PM, Giuseppe Conte To Resign Tuesday

    Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced he will resign Tuesday, in what media reports said was an attempt to build a new government after weeks of turmoil.

    He called a cabinet meeting for 9:00am (0800 GMT) when he “will inform the ministers of his desire to go to the Quirinale (President Sergio Mattarella’s office) to resign”, his office said.

    Media reports suggest he will seek a new mandate to form a new government to run Italy as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 85,000 people dead in the country and crippled the economy.

    The ruling coalition has been teetering on the edge of collapse since former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his small Italia Viva party on January 13.

    Conte survived a parliamentary vote of confidence last week but failed to secure a majority in the Senate, the upper house, leaving his government severely weakened.

    His resignation comes ahead of a key vote on judicial reforms later this week, which commentators suggest the government was on course to lose.

    Shortly before the announcement, the largest party in parliament, the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), said it would stand by Conte.

    “We remain at Conte’s side,” said a statement from the party’s leaders in both parliamentary houses, Davide Crippa and Ettore Licheri.

  • Italy’s World Cup hero Paolo Rossi dies aged 64

    Italy’s World Cup hero Paolo Rossi dies aged 64

    Italy’s 1982 World Cup hero Paolo Rossi has died two months after his 64th birthday following a battle with illness.

    Rossi’s passing was announced in the early hours of Thursday morning by Italian television channel RAI Sport, who he had been working for as a pundit in recent times.

    The former Juventus and AC Milan attacker led Italy to World Cup glory at Spain 1982, with the striker winning the tournament’s Golden Ball and Golden Ball with his six goals.

    Rossi netted a hat-trick in the famous 3-2 win against Brazil, before scoring both goals in the semi-final against Poland and getting the crucial opener in the final versus West Germany, which the Italians went on to win 3-1 and clinch their third World Cup title.

    In winning the World Cup title, Golden Ball and Golden Boot, Rossi became the first player to hold all three honours simultaneously – until the feat was equalled by Ronaldo Nazario in 2002.

    Following the 1982 tournament, Rossi’s extraordinary exploits across both international and club football were recognised when he was awarded the Ballon d’Or for that year.

    Rossi’s international career included 48 caps and 20 goals for his beloved Italy between 1977-1986

    Having began his club career with Vicenza and then maturing with Perugia, Rossi confirmed himself as a star shortly after he joined Juventus in 1981.

    Rossi, also known as Pablito, also played with Milan and Verona at the end of his career, as well as with Como at the beginning – the team he had made his debut in Serie A with.

    He scored an incredible 134 goals in 338 club matches and is widely considered one of the best forwards of his time.

    Rossi won the Serie A title on two occasions with Juventus in 1981-82 and 1983-84, and also lifted the European Cup with Old Lady in 1984-85.

    Even after finishing his playing career, Rossi stayed involved in the game as a columnist and pundit.

    “Such terribly sad news: Paolo Rossi has left us,” RAI Sport presenter Enrico Varriale said when announcing the passing.  

    “Unforgettable Pablito, who made all of us fall in love in that summer of 1982 and who was a precious and competent work colleague in RAI over recent years.

    “RIP dear Paolo.”

  • Italy begins drawing up medical guidelines for Serie A restart

    Italy begins drawing up medical guidelines for Serie A restart

    Italy’s football federation (FIGC) has begun to draw up medical guidelines for a possible restart of Serie A, which has been suspended since March 9 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

    The FIGC said its medical committee held a video conference on Wednesday to “analyse and define a guarantee protocol for football in the event that sports activities are allowed to resume.”

    Serie A was roughly two thirds of the way through the season when it was interrupted and the FIGC wants to complete the campaign to reduce financial damage.

    It has said it is prepared to continue until September or October if necessary.

    Italy has been one of the world’s worst hit countries by the coronavirus outbreak and its death toll rose to 15,362 on Wednesday with a total of 124,632 cases.

    A number of Serie A footballers are among those who have been infected.

    “If and when we should get the green light for a gradual re-start, the world of football must be ready,” said FIGC president Gabriele Gravina.

    “Given the role that football plays in Italian society, I am convinced that we can make an important contribution to the whole country.”

    It said the protocol would include which tests should be conducted on players who have had the virus with “particular attention to the respiratory and cardiovascular system.”(Reuters/NAN)

  • Italy’s Covid-19 death toll up by nearly 20% to 4,032

    Italy’s Covid-19 death toll up by nearly 20% to 4,032

    Italy’s death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Friday rose to 4,032, in a 18.4-per-cent increase from Thursday.
    In its daily bulletin, the Italian Civil Protection Agency also reports that the total number of contagions is up by almost 15 per cent to 47,021.
    Recoveries are up by 15.5 per cent to 5,129, while the number of intensive care patients, a closely watched figure given the shortage of hospital beds, has risen by around 6 per cent, to 2,655.
    Lombardy, which surrounds Milan, remained the region worst hit by the outbreak, with more than 22,000 cases and 2,549 deaths. Lazio, the region that include Rome, reports 1,008 cases and 43 deaths.(dpa/NAN)

  • BREAKING: FG places travel ban on China, Italy, US, UK, nine others

    BREAKING: FG places travel ban on China, Italy, US, UK, nine others

    The Federal Government on Wednesday placed a travel ban on 13 high-risk Coronavirus countries.

    The countries are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

    The government said the travel restriction was placed on countries with over a thousand cases of the novel Coronavirus.

    It added that the ban would take effect on Friday, March 20 and it would last for four weeks and was subject to review.

    The government also announced the temporary suspension of all visas issued to nationals from these countries.

    Details later…

  • Fearing hysteria, Italy tries to contain coronavirus panic

    Fearing hysteria, Italy tries to contain coronavirus panic

    Italy, facing Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak, introduced drastic measures to contain it. But now people are nervous and as experts predict the economic consequences will be severe, some are now saying the crisis has been exaggerated.

    The Italian government argued on Thursday that more cases have been detected in the country compared to elsewhere in Europe because the authorities have been more thorough in looking for the virus.

    “Italy has carried out about 10,000 swab tests, but we cannot […] be faulted for being one of the countries that has done the most checks,” Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in Rome.

    Nonetheless, as he addressed the foreign press, Di Maio was keen to present Italy as a country that is still safe for foreign tourists and investors, and to downplay the extent of the outbreak.

    Di Maio also lamented what he called “deeply damaging” fake news circulating about the outbreak, which he blamed for driving countries to issue travel warnings or restrict travel to Italy.

    “In Italy we have gone from a risk of epidemic to a risk of infodemic from blatant disinformation, which is damaging our tourism inflows, our businesses and our economic fabric,” he said.

    Di Maio’s complaint about the travel restrictions comes weeks after Italy was itself criticized by Beijing for being the sole country in Europe to stop direct flight connections to and from China.

    The minister stressed that the 11 towns currently under lockdown in Veneto and neighbouring Lombardy, as part of measures to contain the outbreak, represent only 0.089 per cent of the Italian population.

    Meanwhile, Italy’s representative on the board of the World Health Organization (WHO), Walter Ricciardi, told Thursday’s Corriere della Sera newspaper there may be a problem with the statistics.

    “There is a serious chance that the positives are being overestimated” given the way the authorities carried out testing for the virus, said Ricciardi, who is also a government advisor on the subject.

    He singled out for criticism the Veneto region, which had initially been more liberal in deciding who to test for the virus.

    At the start of the outbreak, the region tested anyone who was suspected of being ill, instead of focusing only on people with symptoms, or who had returned from China or who had been in contact with people known to be infected, as recommended by the WHO.

    This fuelled “confusion and alarm” and has likely led to exaggerations in the statistics, Ricciardi said.

    He stated that Italy’s National Health Institute (ISS) has verified “about 190 cases.”

    The ISS is currently reviewing all the cases that have been announced by the Civil Protection Agency.

    Later on Thursday, the Civil Protection Agency issued its latest numbers for those infected, which have reached 650, and, for the first time, the number of cases that the ISS has certified: 282 by their count.

    Agency chief Angelo Borrelli added that the ISS had not found any false positives in the numbers it had verified so far.

    The anxiety over the statistics comes as the country’s industrial powerhouse risk being brought to a virtual standstill.

    The two virus clusters associated with the current outbreak are in Veneto and Lombardy, regions where much of Italy’s economic activity is located, and home to the famous cities of Venice and Milan.

    From there, the virus is believed to have spread to 10 other Italian regions and provinces, as well as several European nations.

    As the number of infections continues to rise, officials in Italy were also keen to report good news, and highlighted the growing number of recovering patients – 42 by the latest count.

    “Our country is stronger than the new coronavirus,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, praising the national health service’s response to the emergency.

    Borrelli said only 248 out of Italy’s 650 coronavirus cases have required hospitalization, including 56 people who are in intensive care. The rest are expected to remain isolated at home, where they will recover from the virus.

    “We need to stay calm” as 95 per cent of patients will not require serious medical treatment, Giuseppe Ippolito, an infectious disease expert from Rome’s Spallanzani hospital, said.

    In Veneto and Lombardy schools, universities, theatres and monuments remained closed, including the landmark St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, but some restrictions have been eased.

    In Milan, for example, the Duomo cathedral was due to reopen to the public. And the people of Milan were able to enjoy their aperitif rituals again after a ban on bars remaining open after 6 pm was lifted, although with some limitations.

    “Milan, the whole of Italy needs to keep going, we cannot hide like this in fear, because otherwise it’s the end,” a Milanese resident told Corriere della Sera.