THE BEAUTIFUL TEAM

The flawless, super-fine, Italian National soccer team: From left, bottom row, Fabio Quagliarella, Antonio Di Natale, Andrea Pirlo, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Amelia, Gianluigi Buffon, Morgan De Sanctis, Alessandro Del Piero, Gennaro Gattuso, Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Cassano. From left, center row, Mauro Camoranesi, Simone Perrotta, team’s staffers Giovanni Andreini, Renato Buso, Gigi Riva and coach Roberto Donadoni, assistants Mario Bortolazzi, and Ivano Bordon, Gianluca Zambrotta and Riccardo Montolivo. From left, top row, Alberto Aquilani, Marco Borriello, Massimo Ambrosini, Marco Materazzi, Luca Toni, Fabio Grosso, Christian Panucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini.

As the sexy beasts prepare for the upcoming Euro 2008 tournament set to kick off in Austria and Switzerland June 7, I’m again left wondering why my ass isn’t frolicking around the Coverciano center near Florence…Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Del Piero, Massimo Ambrosini and Alberto Aquilani all modeled the team’s new jerseys prior to a training session…and I must admit, the sight of the team buses which will be used to shuttle the precious cargo around during the championships gives me the warm fuzzies.

Authorities are running security exercises at the Stade de Suisse stadium in Bern ahead of the Championships, and I cant understand why- It seems to me that they get pa-lenty of practice during the games, plus, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of or seen a severed leg at a match or some injured bozo who looks like someone puked on him.

GOAL’S FOR AFRICA

While one half of my hormones are in Italy, the other half are making their way to Germany for a charity match to raise money for kids in Africa and celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Led by AC Milan’s Kaka and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, a virtual who’s-who from the beautiful world of soccer have lined up to play the first in a series of events to create awareness for Goal4Africa. The concept is simple; users donate to the fund when their favorite team or player scores a goal. The first match in the series will be July 12 at Munich’s Allianz Arena in Germany, and the campaign continues through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Their goal is to raise $90 million, in honor of Mandela’s 90th birthday on July 18… which is attainable, since they’ve also got Italy’s Gennaro Gattuso and Goal4Africa’s first global ambassador, Clarence Seedorf named to the roster.

“Players, artists, the whole world can contribute,” Seedorf said at the press conference. “There are other projects, but this is the biggest and has enormous potential. People sometimes say that football is just about money, but I have found incredible availability from players, coaches and clubs, real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool have all been very helpful and will endorse this project.” Seedorf (AC Milan) kicked off the official launch, which is endorsed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco’s Peace and Sport Foundation and many of our babes from the world of soccer. Seedorf is Goal4Africa´s first global ambassador and reminds us that in Africa, 40 million children do not go to primary school-particularly girls, disabled children, orphans and children living in the slums. Nelson Mandela has devoted his life to develop education on the African continent. “Nelson Mandela has been an incredible inspiration to me throughout my lifetime and his efforts continue to bring positive change,” says Seedorf. “Goal4Africa is a program that I believe in wholeheartedly and am sure will reach the world in the same way Live Aid has done.” Other hotties anticipated to participate in Goal4Africa’s spornfest in Germany include: Kaká, Frank Lampard, Paulo Maldini, Robin Van Persie, Gianluigi Buffon, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gennaro Gatusso, Steven Gerrard, Fabio Cannavaro, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, and Michael Essien.

As always, thanks for reading.
delinda@athlebrities.com