Party like a rockstar. Or a soccer player. How 'bout both?

I am going through slight World Cup withdrawal, and I thought that this piece of news/celebrity gossip so perfectly melded music and the Italian soccer team that it was a necessary bit to share (from The Sun Online):

"Noel Gallagher was the toast of the Italy team after their World Cup triumph on Sunday.

The footie-mad Manc has been the Azzurri’s lucky mascot through the key stages of Germany ’06 after striking up a friendship with goal ace Alessandro Del Piero. And the Juventus star invited Noel back to the team’s hotel to enjoy a champagne super knees-up after the big match.

Mop-top Noel, who was at more games in Germany than David Beckham, even borrowed new chum Alessandro’s acoustic guitar and belted out a rendition of "Don’t Look Back In Anger."

The players thought it was bellissimo. A source tells me: “Noel has been in touch with Alessandro all through the tournament. He has been a lucky charm for the Italian team and seemed to do the trick again in the final. Del Piero invited him back to the team hotel to enjoy the party and Noel jumped at the chance. Not all the players know Noel from OASIS but they all seemed to pick up the band’s lyrics pretty quickly, and they were all singing along when he performed 'Don’t Look Back In Anger' in the hotel bar. The champagne was flowing and Noel was a big part of the party.”

And if defeat wasn’t bad enough for our boys, the England squad now have another reason to hang their heads in shame — having given one of our finest musical talents little choice but to defect to the opposition.

Noel befriended Del Piero and ex-Italian captain Paulo Maldini after an Oasis gig in Turin — the home of Juventus — three years ago. They kept in touch and Noel swaps gig tickets with them for seats at Champions League games. Noel said: “Alessandro is an Oasis fan and after one concert he gave me a pair of his boots. But I had to give one to Liam. I’d never seen Italy live until the semi-final against Germany in Dortmund last week. We went to the team hotel before the game and Del Piero was a bit upset because he wasn’t in their starting line-up.

“Then he told me, ‘I’m going to come off the bench and score’ — and that’s exactly what he did. Afterwards he said I’d become his lucky mascot and he’s so superstitious he told me I had to go to the final and wear exactly the same clothes to bring him good luck — right down to my socks and underwear.”

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Okay, that last sentence is maybe a bit weird. Here's one final soccer-related tune, sent in to me by a reader. This main theme was used in the Adidas +10 commericals ("If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you . . .") that ran throughout the World Cup, from a musician named Jim Noir, also from Manchester. Playful & lovely.

Eanie Meany - Jim Noir