Cassano haters abound

In the wake of Antonio Cassano's little tantrum over the weekend, the Italian FA has banned him for five matches. The consensus is that his actions over the weekend have removed him from consideration for the Azzuri this summer. Donadoni is terrified to mess up the chemistry of the defending World Cup champions, even if it means listening to shifty Argentine carpetbaggers.

A (barely deserving) FIFA player of the year winner talking shit about Cassano, after the jump.

Real Madrid centerback Fabio Cannavaro told the Gazzeta Dello Sport that:

"The real champions are people like Maradona and Maldini, who played fifty games a season at the highest level,” Cannavaro told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I have always defended Antonio, but this time he is indefensible. He was wrong. He has impressive quality, out of the ordinary, but just as he is so talented he is so mad as well.

Yeah, Maradona getting sent home from USA 94 because of a little beak seed was very professional. Cannavaro later backtracked and said that no one at the Bernebeu thinks badly of poor Antonio, and he is a stand of up locker room guy. Of course, someone employed by Real Madrid would say that, as they still own his rights and were hoping to flog him off to some Latinophile English team this summer. That $25 million plus transfer fee is shrinking by the day.

We are not budging on our house position. Would Italy really be happier with some chronic underperformer like Gilardino, or some fossil like Del Piero, instead of the electric Cassano? Yes, Luca Toni is great, but what happens if he gets hurt? Let's not forget that Antonio and Francesco Totti enjoyed a fairly good partnership at Roma (until the former left for Spain and firebombed every bridge he could).

Maybe Cassano could be placed under sedation at a mental hospital in Zug until he is needed this summer.

In other Serie A news, Fiorentina dickstomped Everton in Florence yesterday. David Moyes' crew will now need quite the performance at Goodison to advance into the next round of the UEFA Cup.