Sampdoria have signed last seasons Serie B top goal scorer on a permanent basis.

Federico Piovaccari scored 23 goals in 39 games last season for Cittadella.

Sampdoria will be hoping the powerful forward will bring the goals that will send them straight back up to Serie A.

Today Sampdoria revealed their new kit for the upcoming 2011/12 Serie B season.

The club also announced it's new sponsor. Gamenet will sponsor the team for the next two seasons.

Credit to Andrea Leoni for the picture.

The 23 year old defender joins on a season long loan from Parma with an option to sign at the end of the season.

Rispoli made no appearances for Parma since signing for them in 2009. He has spent the last two seasons on loan  at Brescia then lecce.

Reports in Italy claim that club captain Angelo Palombo has decided to take a pay cut to remain with Sampdoria for next season.

The influential midfielder has been linked with several top clubs including Fiorentina, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli and Inter.

The midfielder has been one shining light in Sampdoria's poor 2010/11 season and this news will help ease the pain for the fans after the clubs relegation to Serie B.

The Blucerchiati’s hopes of avoiding relegation disappeared after losing 2-1 at home to Palermo and Lecce won 2-0 at Bari to make sure Samp went down.

“I never wanted to be here making this statement.” Garrone said.

“It is such a sad moment and the fans do not deserve it. I am not here to comment on the game, as we must instead look at the overall – terrible – campaign.

“A series of errors were made and they have to be recognised. We take responsibility, but also reaffirm our commitment to Sampdoria, which remains unchanged.

“It is time to clean out the house and rebuild a team that can get back into Serie A as soon as possible.

“After so many years of great satisfaction at Sampdoria, this season ends with terrible disappointment.”

“I saw a banner in the stands that urged us to make Sampdoria great again. That is our promise. I most of all appreciated the behavior of the fans today and they really did not deserve such disappointment.

It’s been a tough season for Sampdoria and particularly hard to take for the Blucerchiati, considering last season’s success, finishing 4^th in Serie A. This meant they had a chance of making it into the Champions League this season but failed at the final qualifying round. Now they are faced with football in Serie B.

Sampdoria drop to 13th in Serie A, for now, with a 0-2 defeat to Udinese at the Stadio Friuli.

The Zebrette broke the deadlock early on when Alexis Sanchez headed home inside the box following Antonio Di Natale’s well placed free kick. The pair combined again shortly before the break as Sanchez returned the favour with a well placed through ball and Di Natale slotted home for his 100th Serie A goal in Udinese colours.

After the break the visitors put in an improved performance but were unable to turn things around as the Zebrette controlled their two goal advantage. The victory lifted Udinese up to fifth taking their unbeaten run to seven games in Serie A. Sampdoria went home with a lot to think about as they continue to edge towards the relegation zone.

The game started brightly and it was the home side who imposed themselves as they attacked from the off looking to break the deadlock.

Udinese found the opener on 17 minutes when Antonio Di Natale whipped a free kick in from the left for fellow partner in crime Sanchez to head home inside the box. The goal had been coming and the Zebrette were worth the lead for their positive approach to the game.

Shortly before the break Udinese doubled their lead as Sanchez repaid his strike partner with a splendid assist down the middle. Di Natale duly obliged and slotted home delicately to net his 100th Serie A goal with the Friuli outfit.

Sampdoria’s best scoring chance came on 52 minutes when Reto Ziegler whipped a wonderful ball over the wall to force Emanuele Belardi into an acrobatic save. The effort deserved a goal but the Udinese stopper proved in no mood to concede his clean sheet.

The chance spurred the visitors on and Mimmo Di Carlo’s side continued to get men forward in a bid to turn things around following their sub-standard first half performance.

As the clock ticked down the visitors continued to press but the result inevitably started to look beyond them.

The win lifted Francesco Guidolin’s side to within a point of fourth and underlined their fine vein of form.

Sampdoria suffered their third consecutive league defeat and are alarmingly heading closer to the drop zone at the business end of the season.

SampCelt89

Sampdoria reached the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after defeating Udinese 5-4 on penalties at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Wednesday evening in a pulsating encounter.

Giampaolo Pazzini turned out to Samp's saviour in this Round of 16 tie as he scored from the spot in extra-time to make it 2-2 and then rolled home what turned out to be the winning penalty in the shoot-out as Mauricio Isla failed to convert his.

Federico Macheda scored his first goal for the hosts in the first-half but it was cancelled out by Mauricio Isla in the 90th minute.

German Denis then gave Udinese an early lead in extra-time and despite the hosts going down to ten men after Daniele Dessena was sent off, Pazzini successfully converted his spot-kick to take a topsy-turvy match into penalties.

Sampdoria were by far the better side in the opening quarter of an hour as they created two good chances. The first one was crafted as early as the fifth minute when Daniele Mannini whipped in a cross for Pazzini but the Italy international striker couldn't direct his header into the net.

Ten minutes later the hosts once again conjured up a chance when Mannini put in a low cross from the right but neither Pazzini nor Macheda could reach it.

Udinese were put firmly on the backfoot and struggled to launch an attack of their own. The Bianconeri were put under danger again midway through the first-half when once more Mannini delivered a wonderful cross from the right, but Pazzini's volley went over the crossbar.

Moments later Macheda tried his luck with a shot from outside the Udinese penalty area and before long the 19-year-old Italian on loan from Manchester United swooped in on a Stefano Guberti cross and forced goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi into making a save.

Macheda eventually found the target on 32 minutes when his shot deceived Belardi, slipping under the crossbar, giving Samp a 1-0 lead at the break.

Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin brought on Alexis Sanchez for Antonio Di Natale in order to shake things up a bit in the attacking department and ten minutes later the 22-year-old created a chance for Almen Abdi.

Samp continued to look for a second goal as Angelo Palombo went close and so did Pazzini in the closing stages, but in the 90th minute Isla equalised for Udinese to take the game into extra-time.

Two minutes into the extra frame the Zebrette went ahead for the first time through Denis as the Argentine turned in a corner. Mannini and Guberti then forced Belardi into making saves before Sampdoria went down to ten men as midfielder Dessena was sent off.

However, Pazzini successfully converted a 109th minute penalty that was won by Andrea Poli to make it 2-2 and take the match into penalties, where Pazzini struck his side's fifth before Isla failed to covert his spot kick, meaning that Sampdoria go through to the last-eight.

SampCelt89

The club captain is joined in the squad by Sampdoria team-mates Antonio Cassano and Stefano Lucchini, but he believes that Sampdoria have more to offer to the national team.

“I hope that Giampaolo Pazzini and Daniele Gastaldello find space in the future at some stage. Gastaldello is one of the most consistent defenders in the Italian championship.”

JC

Palombo is a regular in the squad and Cassano had been widely expected to be recalled once Marcello Lippi's reign as Azzurri manager ended.  Lucchini's selection comes as something of a surprise, even to the man himself. "It is a dream come true, but I really did not expect this at all. There was no hint. I had read so many names in the newspapers over the last few days, but mine never appeared. It really is quite a shock."

Italy squad to play Ivory Coast in a friendly at Upton Park on August 10th:

Goalkeepers: Marchetti (Cagliari), Sirigu (Palermo), Viviano (Bologna)

Defenders: Antonini (Milan), Astori (Cagliari), Bonucci (Juventus), Cassani (Palermo), Chiellini (Juventus), Lucchini (Sampdoria), Molinaro (Stuttgart), Motta (Juventus)

Midfielders: De Rossi (Roma), Lazzari (Cagliari), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Juventus)

Attackers: Amauri (Juventus), Balotelli (Inter), Borriello (Milan), Cassano (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Napoli), Rossi (Villarreal)

JC

When asked if Angelo Palombo or Giampaolo Pazzini would be following Gigi Del Neri and Beppe Marotta to Turin, he replied:

"The President has already declared that they are not for sale."

The tactician also spoke with excitement about his new adventure.

"It’s an honour to be here. I felt incredible joy last night when I was given the okay to complete the move. It’s an honour to be here and the Champions League will be a fantastic stage to play on. We’ll always give our best."

Finally, he commented on Antonio Cassano.

"He is an important player and I want our relationship to be clear from day one. Our bond will grow and I’m sure he’ll have a great season as he will want to break into the Italy side for the European Championship."

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