For the footballing folk of Italia, the World Cup may have come at the right time. The scandal engulfing Serie A and more specifically its leading club, Juventus, has besmirched the reputation of calcio, perhaps irreparably.

But maybe amid headlines of police investigations, match-fixing and transfer irregularities, there can be unity behind the Azzurri as they attempt to lay to rest a growing reputation of being the nearly men of world football. After Sylvain Wiltord's last-minute ...

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