Thursday February 1, 2007

It began with Milan picking up a three-time World Player of the Year for less than half of what they offered for him five months ago, but otherwise this has been a pretty rough week for the Rossoneri. Wednesday night saw them beaten 3-1 by Roma in the Coppa Italia, thanks partly to Giallorossi midfielder David Pizarro’s best game of the season, and partly to another abysmal Diavoli showing at the back.

By now, everyone except the folks in the Milan boardroom (and possibly them too) knows that, great as this Rossoneri side has been in recent years, it needs re-founding with more than just a few stop-gap signings like last week’s arrival of Ronaldo and Massimo Oddo. Given Silvio Berlusconi’s track record as lord and master of the transfer market we’ve all been patiently waiting for the former premier to bust out the readies and pull off a really big coup – but after other events this week don’t count on that happening any time soon.

Last week, at a TV awards dinner, Silvio stuck his foot in it with her indoors after another of his late night incidents. You’ll recall a few weeks back that, emerging in the wee small hours from a party, Berlusconi felt able to describe former favourite Andriy Shevchenko as a lapdog to his wife and ‘not a real man’. This time was even worse. In front of assorted Press and media, Berlusconi spent large parts of the evening flirting with various hostesses, telling Aida Yespica “With you, I’d go anywhere” – try doing a Google search for an idea why. Meanwhile, “If I wasn’t already married, I’d wed you in a shot” he informed Mara Carfagna, a member of his Forza Italia party.

Let’s face it, we’ve all been there – the late night, the ill-advised attempt at being charming, the remorse with the missus the next morning. However Berlusconi’s problem is that his wife, actress Veronica Lario, has decided to punish him very, very publicly, publishing an open letter to her husband in one of Italy’s most anti-Berlusconi newspapers, La Repubblica.

“He has dishonoured me, and I ask him to publicly apologise, as he has not done so privately” stormed Signora Lario. Berlusconi’s reaction was to issue a grovelling note addressed to his spouse through the news agencies (the old romantic). “I held back in private because I was too proud to say sorry,” offers the Milan owner. “But now, how can I resist?”

I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine a woman in the world buying a line like that. Berlusconi – who also reminds his wife in his note of the “three beautiful children we have together” – knows that all too well. He’s in the doghouse and he’s got a lot of work to do if he’s to get out of it with his marriage intact.

So, what’s the first thing that any penitent male will sacrifice to his girl? The football. Milan’s owner will need to spend a good deal more time at home if he wants to claw back some brownie points, and given his political commitments that means addio to the helicopter trips to Milanello and the San Siro. As for blowing large wads of the family fortune on re-building his team, he can forget that completely.

So there it is. A shame for the Rossoneri, but right now Berlusconi’s got a match of his own to recover, and the team will have to do without him.