Joe Fischetti

On Friday, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's goal against Atalanta was named the Serie A Goal of the Season, presented by Cryto.com. The goal, which was also the Goal of the Month for March, received the most fan votes across Lega Serie A's social media platforms.

Only 11 months ago, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis wished Kim Min-jae a benvenuto on Twitter. Earlier that day, the South Korean signed a three year contract with Napoli, who activated the buyout clause to purchase Kim from Fenerbahçe. Though highly-rated, many questioned whether the central defender could fill the shoes of club legend Kalidou Koulibaly, who at the time was expected to become Napoli’s next captain after the departure of Lorenzo Insigne. Instead, Koulibaly was sold to Chelsea for €38 million, more than double the €18 million purchase price for Kim.  Koulibaly left large shoes to fill, but Kim…

Four Napoli players were in action on Monday: Leo Østigård, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Piotr Zielinski and Bartosz Bereszyński. Much Needed RecoveryLeo Østigård played the full 90 minutes in Norway’s UEFA Euro Group A qualification match against Cyprus. Østigård and Norway responded well after a difficult, come-from-behind defeat to Scotland, a match in which the Napoli defender was at fault for the equalizer.  Against Cyprus, Erling Haaland scored a brace en route to a 3-1 victory. With Østigård playing on the left side of the centre-back pairing, the home side came within seconds of recording a clean sheet. However, Cyprus scored with the…

Three Napoli players were in action on Monday:  Eljif Elmas, Amir Rrahmani and Giovanni Simeone. No Contest Eljif Elmas played the full 90 minutes in North Macedonia’s UEFA Euro Group C qualification match against England. The Napoli midfielder/winger lined up in the centre of North Macedonia’s midfield five, but got very little service in the 7-0 drubbing. With England dominating possession, North Macedonia spent the majority of the match defending. Uneventful Till It Wasn’t Wearing the captain’s armband, Amir Rrahmani played the full 90 minutes in Kosovo’s UEFA Euro Group I qualification match against Belarus. The match was rather uneventful…

Two Napoli players were in action on Sunday:  Giacomo Raspadori and Victor Osimhem.  Alex Meret and Giovanni Di Lorenzo suited up for Italy’s UEFA Nations League 3rd-place match against the Netherlands but neither featured in the match. Consolation Giacomo Raspadori was amongst the seven changes Roberto Mancini made to the squad he fielded in Italy’s Nations League Semi-final against Spain. The Napoli winger was lively and energetic in his 63 minutes of play.  He assisted Federico Dimarco’s opener with a clever backheel pass only six minutes into the match. Though the match was of little consequence, Italy were much more…

Three Napoli players were in action on Saturday: Leo Østigård, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Stanislav Lobotka. Cramped Leo Østigård played the full 90 minutes in Norway’s UEFA Euro Group A qualification match against Oslo. The Napoli defender lined up on the left side of the centre back pairing in Norway’s 4-3-3 formation. It appeared Norway would hang on for the victory after Erling Haaland converted a penalty kick shortly after the hour mark. However, Scotland equalized with only five minutes remaining. Østigård, who took a heavy touch at the edge of his own area, took responsibility for the goal after the…

Four Napoli players were in action on Friday: Eljif Elmas, Amir Rrahmani, Piotr Zielinski and Bartosz Bereszyński. Wonderful Collapse Eljif Elmas played the full 90 minutes in North Macedonia’s UEFA Euro Group C qualification match. The Napoli midfielder/winger lined up as a No. 10 in the 2-3 defeat to Ukraine. Elmas doubled North Macedonia’s lead five minutes before the break with a wonderful strike from 25 yards out. The ball curled and dipped into the top corner at the far post, giving the home side a 2-0 lead. It seemed as though North Macedonia were going to coast to victory,…

Only one Napoli player was in action on Thursday: Giovanni Di Lorenzo. Alex Meret and Giacomo Raspadori suited up for Italy’s Nation’s League Semi-final against Spain, but neither featured in the match. Likewise, Giovanni Simeone suited up for Argentina’s friendly against Australia but also didn’t feature. Eliminated Giovanni Di Lorenzo played the full 90 minutes in Italy’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in UEFA Nations League Semi-final action. Lined up as a right wing-back in Roberto Mancini’s 3-5-2, Di Lorenzo was not hugely influential in the match. In the 73rd minute, with the score level at one, the Napoli captain had…

Between the AFCON qualifying, UEFA Euro qualifying and international friendlies, 13 Napoli players have been called up to their respective national teams for the upcoming international break. Kim Min-jae is not with the South Korea national team as he serves his mandatory military training during the summer. Hirving Lozano is not with the Mexico national team as he continues to recover from a knee sprain that caused him to miss the final four matches of the 2022/23 campaign. Finally, Mathias Olivera was not in the Uruguay squad for their friendly against Nicaragua, as Marcelo Bielsa experimented in his first match…

On Thursday, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia confirmed via a post on Facebook that he will not participate in the UEFA European U21 Championship, hosted in two nations: Romania and his home country of Georgia. The Napoli winger will participate in the senior team’s UEFA Euro qualifiers against Cyprus on the 17th of June and Scotland on the 20th of June, before enjoying the U21 Championship as a fan.  “It is a great honor to be a member of the expanded team that will play at the European Championship in a few days. After the longest football season for me, it is difficult…