Today Palermo Calcio traveled to Germany and won the friendly against Vfl Wolsfsburg.

This friendly was organised as part of the transfer when Barzagli and Zaccardo moved to Germany this summer.

Zaccardo had the first shot on goal, smothered by Marco Amelia, while Edinson Cavani skimmed the upright.

Frabrizio Miccoli decided the match with a stunning lob on the hour mark, sent clear by Maurizio Ciaramitaro.

After the match Cristian hugged his old friends and exchanged shirts with Tedesco. He seemed very happy.

 

Source: Channel4, IlPalermoCalcio

Stephie, our german image finder, bought the magazine Sportbild and sent to us scans of Cristian and Andrea Barzagli eating at their favourite restaurant in Wolfsburg, 'Casa Antigua'.



Thanks, Stephie!

Wolfsburg sponsors and club owners Volkswagen have agreed to remove their logo from the shirts of the Bundesliga side to make way for a good cause.

Instead of the familiar VW logo, a red heart with the words "Ein Herz fur Kinder/BILD hilft e.V." (A Heart for Children) will be emblazoned on the Wolfsburg shirts for the first half of the upcoming Bundesliga season.

It is the first time in the history of the Bundelisga that a charitable foundation will take the place of a paying sponsor in the shirts of a club.

Source: Bild and SBS

Zaccardo was presented to the press and spectators on Thursday June 26th, to prepare for the impeding 2008/2009 season. He posed for photos with the other players inside the Volkswagen Arena.

According to Wolfsburg site, he was very impressed by what he saw:

"It is my first time in Volkswagen Arena and I must say it is very nice."

He will reside in an hotel until he finds suitable accomodation. He hopes to welcome his family to Wolfsburg before the start of the Bundesliga season.

Now Cristian is with the other players trainning in Baltic Sea island of Usedom. The exact destination is the so-called Seebad Zinnovitz on the north side of the island. They will reside at the sport and holiday hotel complex "Baltic".

On Thursday (12th June) Wolfsburg announced Barzagli deal via their website: "VfL today agreed on Thursday (12th June) with U.S. Palermo to transfer the 27-year-old defender over the coming days on a three year contract."

Palermo have also confirmed the moves of Barzagli and Zaccardo, with the Sicilian club announcing that as part of the deal they will undertake a friendly match on August 12th at the Volkswagen-Arena.

All the best luck guys on this new adventure in Germany!

On Sunday Palermo players - including Zaccardo - entered the pitch with their children.

I think Nicolò was a little bit afraid of the crowd and noise..

Palermo chief executive Rino Foschi said they had not completed a deal to sell Italy defender Cristian Zaccardo to VfL Wolfsburg despite the Bundesliga club having announced the signing on their Web site (www.vflwolfsburg.de).

"I don't understand how the German club can have said it is official," he told reporters. "Obviously, they have reached an agreement with the player but still not with us. Even on the figures there is nothing certain."

Wolfsburg had said Zaccardo would sign a contract running until 2011. German media had put the transfer fee at about €8 million.

According to reports in Italy, Zaccardo - Wolfsburg will be done soon, with Palermo lack only details. Cristian will wear Wolfsburg’s jersey next season.

They said Wolfsburg offers him a four-year contract with €2 million-a-year.

The transfer negotiations had not yet been finalised, though.

As I mentioned some days ago, Zaccardo could be on his way to the Bundesliga in the summer. However, not to Bayern München.

According to a report in this morning’s Bild, Palermo received a big offer from German Wolfsburg for him, around €9 million.

VfL Wolfsburg's major sponsor is VW - Volkswagen. Currently Wolfsburg is on 7th place in Budeslinga.

Maurizio Zamparini has declared he intends to cash in on Barzagli and Cristian Zaccardo in the summer. Apparentely, Barzagli will go to Fiorentina.

Last week, Luca Toni suggested that he would be very please if he had some Italian companionship at the club. Now, there are lots of rumours suggesting that Zaccardo would go to Bayern München.

Palermo had woeful season and their defence is currently the worst in the league. Reports say Barzagli and Zaccardo's forms have been affected by transfer speculation.

Both of them are great players. I wish they played the team I support...