From Italy's FIFA World Cup victory to Australia's ICC Cricket World Cup triumph. From spaghetti to meat pies. From Australian models to Italian innovation. AusItalia.com has covered it all in its first year.

AusItalia.com has turned one. What a first year it’s been. When I first dreamed of the idea of an Australian-Italian website dedicated to sport, music and lifestyle I never thought that it would be so hectic.

People will probably say that I’m biased when I make this next statement but I don’t really care – Australia and Italy are in the top 5 sporting nations worldwide, and more often than not are the best. And you could probably say the same for Lifestyle and Music.

It’s been no easy ride and so far AusItalia.com has only grown to 20% of its potential. For a site that is not promoted nor linked to other sites we are doing rather well one can say.

40,000 hits per month (46,000 in May 2007) and counting. That’s over a thousand a day! And it’s been that way for quite a while, all through word of mouth and google most probably.

AusItalia.com was and still is devoted to all Australian, Italian and AusItalian news in sport, lifestyle and music.

The highlights of our first year included coverage of the A-League – watching Melbourne blitz the field, and the Asian Champions League – watching Australian club football come of age on the world stage finally.

Italy’s womens Fed Cup tennis team was successful, winning the tournament convincingly. Australia’s Netball team has consistently defeated the world’s best.

Australia’s cricket team was able to defend the World Cup in the West Indies after winning back the Ashes 5-nil. Italy’s Rugby Union team did all minor sports proud in Italy with its best Six Nations tournament to date and look strong for the 2007 IRB World Cup in France.

Serie A and B drama has been a privilege to comment on. Who would have ever thought Juventus would be in Serie B and that Inter Milan would actually win the Serie A?

Formula One, Superbike and Moto GP action has been very successful for Italians and Australians over the past 12 months with Ferrari, Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Chris Vermuelen, Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi all doing extremely well.

AusItalia.com is the only website to bring you Super 10 Italian club rugby and Serie A Italian cricket in English. Who would have ever thought that the Italian cricket team would be competing for World League status in Darwin? It’s great for the sport back home and it’s good for all Italian Australians to know that they are competitive.

We’ve also brought you a taste of Australian and Italian fashion, cooking, music and articles of interest. The most sentimental section on the site is the Italian Australian Sporting Legends – the people that have made a name for themselves through sport. Dipierdomenico, De Castella, Campese and Barassi are just a few names that I can mention.

But the main highlight for me and I’m sure for many AusItalia faithful was the 2006 Fifa World Cup in June/July. The Socceroos were a success! Australia now knows the joys and pain of football. Italy did Italians all around the world proud. I still murmer “po po po” in my sleep and it was great to hear the A-League crowd singing it during the Melbourne Victory – Adelaide United final.

Pier Laurenti, AusItalia's Italian based correspondent, has done extremely well with his coments, and A-League player Chad Gibson has contributed also with his expert opinions on Australian football matters.

So where to for AusItalia.com?

We will continue to bring you Australian and Italian sports news, Lifestyle and Music articles.

We would like to announce that AusItalia will be adding Italian chart music to our AusItalia Shop – from Tiziano Ferro to Laura Pausini, so check it out in the coming weeks.

AusItalia is now linked to GINQ (Giovani Italiani Network of Queensland) and would like to explore Italian Australian links with all other states. If you know of any such organizations please forward on the details. See our links page also.

AusItalia.com is now on MySpace, so add us as your friend, no matter where you are from – AusItalia MySpace page

More competitions – stay tune to win some great prizes including Socceroos and Azzurri merchandise, cds and more.

Remember, AusItalia.com is for everybody. You don’t have to be an Italian Australian to feel like you belong on this site. AusItalia.com is here to promote all things that fall into Australian and Italian categories. You just have to love and respect our cultures.

Our first year has been great. The second year is going to be even better.

David Ferrini