Haha I've not been proven guilty yet!

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the FIGC, the Italian Football Federation, has decided that Giuseppe Bergomi will retain his jobs as the manager of Italy and also Inter Milan until his court date for match-fixing on December 27th at the end of the year.

"Giuseppe Bergomi has been a servant of his country for his entire life, and so we have opted to allow him to keep his post until he is either proved guilty or innocent at his trial on 27/12/17," said a statement of the official FIGC website.

This has come as somewhat of a pleasant surprise to many fans who expected Bergomi to be banned from the touchline at the least until after the court date, should he have been proven innocent. It seems that the usually very strict Italian FA has found a soft spot for their World Cup hero and given him a reprieve for at least a month.

Bergomi has, in response, finally named his 23 man squad to travel to Cyprus and look to bring home a win to stay sharp and in tune as the World Cup approaches next summer. Argentinian born winger Alejandro Gomez could be in line for his first Italy cap after impressing for AC Milan over the years.

The full team is as follows:

Goalkeepers

Salvatore Sirigu (PSG)
Francesco Bardi (Ajax)
Emiliano Viviano (Juventus)

Defenders

Ignazio Abate (Valencia)
Alessandro Crescenzi (Atletico Madrid)
Guilherme Siqueira (Granada)
Davide Astori (Juventus)
Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan)
Giuseppe Bellusci (Inter Milan)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)

Midfielders

Giacomo Bonaventura (Napoli)
Andrea Poli (Inter Milan)
Lorenzo Crisetig (Inter Milan)
Daniele De Rossi (Leverkusen)
Alessandro Florenzi (Udinese)
Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus)
Claudio Marchisio (Juventus)
Marco Verratti (Liverpool)
Alejandro Gomez (AC Milan)

Forwards

Mario Balotelli (Bayern Munich)
Lorenzo Insigne (Inter Milan)
Mattia Destro (Inter Milan)
Fabio Borini (Porto)

Hmm, Didn't realize Verrati was playing for Liverpool;) And Balotelli for Bayern?:P Lol! good luck against Cyprus btw, not that you'll need it;)

Is Gomez that good? I know what you're doing :P..

Haha yes Balo is on loan from Real Madrid to Bayern

When it was announced that Italy would be taking on Cyprus in a friendly, everybody knew what the result was going to be. Cyprus never stood even a fighting chance, and the Azzurri was calm, focused, and professional in dispatching their opponents in a comfortable 3-0 win.

Just four minutes in, Giuseppe Bergomi's men took an incisive lead. Sebastian Giovinco had floated out on the left and drifted past his man with his pace. The Juventus midfielder quickly whipped the ball low and hard across the six yard box for diminutive Lorenzo Insigne to tap home at the far post.

Cyprus managed to keep it 1-0 until half time, but three minutes into the second half, Italy struck again. It was the Inter Milan connection this time as Andrea Poli's delightfully hanging corner kick found Andrea Ranochia at the back post who hammered his header across goal and into the corner.

With fifteen minutes left in the match, Argentinian-born Alejandro Gomez was given his first cap for Italy after impressing his last few years in Serie A with Napoli and AC Milan. Four minutes later, the tricky winger was slipped in by Insigne and had no trouble rounding the goalkeeper and dribbling into the net to celebrate a debut goal.

The match finished 3-0, of course, and Cyprus had been absolutely manhandled. They had only 37% of the possession and did not manage to fire a single shot at Sirigu's goal, compared to Italy's 29 shots.

"With due respect to Cyprus, I think we are a better team, but we still had to come out and play professionally and score goals today to win the game," said Bergomi after the match. The stolid Italian boss, who also manages Inter Milan, refused to comment on any and all questions about the match-fixing controversy he has recently become embroiled in.

Nice update as usual easy victory

jasonvilla4ever: Cheers man, they didn't give much of a fight tbh

Only 3-0? *sighs*

Y U FIX MATCHES! Tbf you probably don't but still! Nice win anyway

Pauker: I tried, okay!

Louis O.: Hehe we shall see if I did!

It's that time of year again, when the great footballing city of Milan comes alive as one of the greatest rivalries in the world looms large in the days ahead; the Derby della Madonnina, the titanic clash between the mammoths of Inter Milan and AC Milan. All of Italian football is holding its breath as they await this monumental match.

Since Giuseppe Bergomi took over in the summer of 2012, his Nerazzurri side have gone 9-2-1 in all competitions in the derby, establishing themselves as by far the more dominant side of the city. The Rossoneri have, however, proved to be a thorn in the side of Inter, and have inflicted on them one of very, very few Serie A losses in Bergomi's career.

It's only eleven games into the season, but Inter Milan are cruising. Match-fixing allegations that are currently under investigation have hardly slowed the five time defending Scudetto champions as they've sprung to a 10-1-0 start, 9 points clear at the top. AC Milan are reeling from a 4-3-4 start and just 2 days ago sacked Ernesto Valverde and hired Diego Simeone to try and straighten the ship and lead them from 9th place.

The Rossoneri have won only 1 of their last 5 matches in all competitions and have lost their last 2 in Serie A, and even with the buoyancy of a new manager, they may find things tough against their eternal rivals. They have their full squad fit and available and will look to the likes of top scorer Ciro Immobile to lead the way to victory.

Inter have almost a full squad to pick from, with only one exception. During the international break, Argentinian right back Gino Peruzzi pulled a hamstring and is out for about 3 weeks, and so teenage Chilean Omar Carrasco is expected to start. There is a question of whether Bergomi will stick with his return to a 4-3-1-2 or revert to his wider 4-3-3, but either way his side's attack looks menacing led by superstar €62M man Rogerio.

The entire city, the entire nation, the entire world is sitting on the edge of their seats, breathlessly anticipating this great clash of two historic footballing mammoths. Only one will rise as the victor and take a crucial three points in the early title race.

you know how to sell a preview I wanna be there to watch it now!

great preview, i'm backing inter

What Jason said^ that was deep Neal lad!;) Smash 'em for us would ya?;)