Scott heading to 2011 World Cup

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Midfielder Desiree Scott has a Gold Cup title under her belt. (BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

Canada is World Cup bound, and so too is Winnipeg's Desiree Scott. The 23-year-old former University of Manitoba midfielder was part of the Canadian national team that won the Gold Cup in Mexico on Monday.

The title -- Canada's second, and first since 1998 -- earns them an automatic berth in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, to be played in Germany next summer.

Scott, who figured in each of Canada's five matches, fully expects to be included in head coach Carolina Morace's World Cup squad.

Being picked for the Gold Cup, she says, is a good indicator that she'll participate in Germany as well. And when she gets there, she'll be going head to head against the best players from the host country, Brazil and the United States, should they qualify.

Scott's place on the national team was reinforced by a good summer campaign with the Vancouver Whitecaps of USL W-League. After suffering an injury early in the season, she played in every game down the stretch as Vancouver went undefeated in their conference matches and finished runners-up to league champions Buffalo Flash.

"(Playing for the Whitecaps) was really good -- even better than I expected," she says.

With a Gold Cup title under her belt, Scott will now train in Winnipeg before hooking up with the national team again in January. She says she's looking forward to working more with Morace.

"I actually love (Morace)," says Scott. "She can be scary at times, but she really cares about her players."

Morace's possession-first philosophy also fits in well with Scott's playing style, which she describes as "aggressive."

She likes to win the ball, keep it at her feet and make passes into space -- attributes that will make her an invaluable cog in the Canadian machine come June.

Italian Serie A

Compelling, entertaining, unpredictable. They aren't descriptors used to describe Italian soccer very often. In a league where defence is worshipped and the title hasn't changed hands in five years, monotony is more the norm.

But this has been anything but a normal season in Serie A. Inter Milan, holders of the Scudetto since 2006 and reigning European champions, have won just two of their past seven matches.

They're currently fourth in the standings, one point above rejuvenated Juventus and two points clear of streaking AS Roma.

At the top of table, Inter's local rival AC Milan appears to have their best chance of winning the league since 2004 -- an eternity for the Rossoneri -- while second-place Lazio and third-place Napoli have been pleasant, and very watchable, surprises.

It all makes for a top six with only five points of separation. And in a scheduling twist that seems too good to be true, all six will be kicking off against each other this weekend.

The Derby della Madonnina, as the Inter Milan-AC Milan match is styled, is the most high profile of the three contests. After all, the two were actually a single club until 1908 and have since won 35 titles between them. Inter have won 18 of those, Nerazzuri fans will be quick to point out, as opposed to AC Milan's 17, and they've also claimed six of the past eight derbies.

But this is a different Milan team. Sort of. While 31-year-old playmaker Andrea Pirlo continues to pull the strings in the midfield alongside fellow veterans Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf, the acquisitions of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have breathed new life into the team's attack, as evidenced by their 20 goals in 11 matches so far this season.

Only Juventus have scored more often, and they'll host red-hot AS Roma in Turin today.

After winning just once in seven outings to start the season, Roma have now won three on the bounce, including impressive results against Lazio and Fiorentina. Mirko Vucinic and Marco Borriello have notched two goals apiece in that span, and Borriello has found the net twice in the Champions League as well. Fabio Quagliarella leads Juventus with six Serie A goals this term, and Milos Krasic has registered five assists.

With a victory, fifth-place Juventus could climb as high as third, provided Milan beat or draw Inter and Napoli defeat Lazio.

The latter seems almost a given, considering the Biancocelesti's poor run of form at the moment.

After opening the campaign on a tear, Lazio have failed to score in each of their past two matches -- a 2-0 loss to Roma in Sunday's Rome derby and a 1-0 surprise at Cesena on Wednesday. The goals, it seems, have dried up for them, and not even the playmaking exploits of Hernanes and Stefano Mauri have lifted them out of their mini-slump.

Napoli, on the other hand, might be the most entertaining side in Italy. Manager Walter Mazzarri has them playing an upbeat, attacking brand of soccer, and Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi have had dreamlike starts to the season. Cavani's eight goals have him tied for the Serie A scoring lead with Inter marksman Samuel Eto'o, and Lavezzi has added five goals and four assists to the cause.

Of Italy's three heavyweight tilts this weekend, this will be the best one to watch.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 13, 2010 D6