Rome - The United States and Russia on Friday characterized their first preliminary talks on strategic arms reduction as "constructive" and "very productive."

The talks between US and Russian diplomats are to prepare the ground for a meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 7.

Rome - A few years ago, la Repubblica columnist Vittorio Zucconi wrote that only madmen would continue calling the Italian Serie A the best league in the world. Time proved the veteran journalist to be right and today, despite a fourth World Cup won in 2006, it is hard to find someone who feels like comparing Italy's top flight with that of England or Spain where the best players in the world tend to go these days.

Rome - A 1-0 win Thursday over Sampdoria was not enough for Inter Milan to secure the final of the Italian Cup as the Genoa guests prevailed through a 3-1 aggregate score.

Samp pulled no punches despite the wide lead from the first leg and relied on playmaker Antonio Cassano to finalize their solid midfield play with assists for Giampaolo Pazzini, who scored a brace in the first leg in Genoa.

Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic tried a long-range free kick on nine minutes, one minute before Paolo Sammarco had his shot saved off a feed from Cassano.

Rome  - Long-range drives from Mauro Zarate and Aleksandar Kolarov secured the Italian Cup final for Lazio in a 2-1 win Wednesday over 10-man Juventus for an aggregate 4-2 score.

Zarate's firing skills froze the home crowd at Turin's Stadio Olimpico and stunned Gianluigi Buffon on 38 minutes, when the international goalkeeper tried a desperate dive on his left only to watch the drooping shot find the net behind him.

Rome  - The wealthy German Flick family leads a group of entrepreneurs interested in buying Serie A side Roma, la Repubblica reported Wednesday.

The shares of the club gained 20 per cent Tuesday amid rumours of a possible sale by the controlling Italpetroli oil company, which denied in a statement to have sold its shares.

The Flick family led a German industrial empire until the 1980s. Friedrich Flick was the wealthiest German after World War II but also a convicted war criminal.

Rome - Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has said he'll ask his team to leave the pitch in case of racist chants from the stands, the la Repubblica daily reported on Wednesday.

Juve were on Monday sentenced to play a home game behind closed doors because of racist slurs and chants that their fans aimed at Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli during the teams' Serie A game on the weekend.

"I'll call (Alessandro) Del Piero, our captain, then the other side's captain, then the fourth official and of course the referee," Ranieri said.