Cesena
At the time of this writing, Nicolas Burdisso has again refuted Juventus with no resolution in sight; Valon Behrami is reportedly thisclose to Roma, to uncertainty, and to tarnishing all that I hold holy; Adriano is out for a month having pulled something jiggly, rumored to be his thigh and partially inspiring this headline; the squad is in major flux with three days of business done having been done in three months and three months of business to be done in three days; and there is a game of calcio in 36 hours with a squad yet to be announced.
This is not a grand opening. It may count in the standings and it may be the very first must-win game of an unripe season, but this is surely not the gala. It's a soft opening against soft opposition, perhaps even the easiest game of the season, a gift from the football gods and a chance to simply get the season going with a slow roll - a race walk to the starting line.
As for the game itself, there's not an awful lot to go on. Cesena's Serie A's miracle baby but shipped in an entirely new team for their return, not unlike Bologna a few years ago (sacrilegious, I know), so they're the unknown quantity to a certain degree. But this is Ranieri's Roma, back to its proper place among the calcio elite and from November on last year, the best team in Serie A. There's no reason to think that because a summer has come and gone Ranieri's Roma will have lost its identity.
The simplest of days: they have to win, and we have to watch. That's really enough in itself so life's grand once again, but it will be grander in two weeks when anyone has any idea just what in the hell is going on.
Squad
1 LOBONT Bogdan Iounut
3 CASTELLINI Paolo
4 JUAN SILVEIRA DOS SANTOS Juan
5 MEXES Philippe
7 PIZARRO CORTEZ David Marcelo
9 VUCINIC Mirko
10 TOTTI Francesco
11 TADDEI FERRANTE Rodrigo
16 DE ROSSI Daniele
17 RIISE John Arne
20 PERROTTA Simone
25 BURDISSO Guillermo
27 J. SERGIO BERTAGNOLI Julio Sergio
30 SIMPLICIO Fabio Henrique
32 DONI MARANGON Donieber Alexandre
33 BRIGHI Matteo
77 CASSETTI Marco
87 ROSI Aleandro
89 OKAKA Chuka Stefano
94 MENEZ Jéremy
On week 2's list: one Nicolas Andres Burdisso.
Welcome home.
XI
Doni
Cassetti, Mexes, Juan, Riise
DDR, Pizarro, Perrotta
Menez
Totti, Vucinic.