Archive for January, 2008

Inter Milan Knock Out Juventus, Mario Balotelli: A Star is Born (Coppa Italia Quarter-Finals, Leg 2)

Thursday, January 31st, 2008

Inter Milan Knock Out Juventus, Mario Balotelli: A Star is Born (Coppa Italia Quarter-Finals, Leg 2)

Coppa Italia Tim Cup 2007-08His name is Mario. Born in Palermo in August 1990 from Ghanaian parents, he is officially adopted by the Balotelli family at age 2. His height is 1m89, his weight 88kg, his touch & technique already reminiscent of the greats of football history. On Wednesday this week, he officially became the Inter Milan hero when the Nerazzurri knocked Juventus out of the Coppa Italia, thanks to two goals by the young striker and a penalty shot by Cruz. Some might say he is Inter’s response to a certain young Brazilian recently acquired by AC Milan, but Mario Balotelli is unique in his own way and this week, has proven that your name doesn’t have to be Alexandre Pato for everyone to say “A Star is Born in Milan”.

Inter Milan Knock Out Juventus, Mario Balotelli: A Star is Born (Coppa Italia Quarter-Finals)

Coppa Italia Quarter-finals, Leg 2 - Juventus 2-3 Inter

Tactically, aside from the usual “give your backup players a chance to shine” drill, this match had two very important novelties, one on each side. For Juve, it was the very first match for Guglielmo Stendardo (recent loan acquisition from Lazio) who occupied the Bianconeri central defense (now devoid of Jean-Alain Boumsong, on his way to Lyon). For Inter, it was the starting lineup spot of the aforementioned Mario Balotelli, a choice which had matured in Roberto Mancini’s mind due to David Suazo’s non-ideal athletic conditions. Oh also, it was Mauro Camoranesi’s return to action after (yet another!) month-long injury…

Mario Balotelli scores his first goal of the nightBased on the result of the first leg (2-2 at the San Siro, with goals by Cruz (double), Del Piero and Boumsong), you might have expected the home team to play it safe, keep their defense locked tight and operate on counter-attacks. Not this Juve. Instead, it very much seemed as if Claudio Ranieri instructed his troops to go full steam ahead, gnarl at their opponents, and take one big bite in their carotid artery to wrap up the ticket to the next round. As a result, the spectacle enoyed by the 20,616 spectators of the Stadio Olimpico was majestic, and didn’t take very long at all to get started.

Minute 10: exploiting a very long ball forward by Maniche, Mario Balotelli waited for the ball to bounce, got rid of Birindelli (who, challenged by the striker’s superior physique, slipped), and slammed his shot past Belardi (before Stendardo could close him down). Not the prettiest of goals and certainly not the prettiest of defenses, but 1-0 Inter.

Alessandro Del Piero celebrates after the tying 1-1 goal for JuveHowever, just 4 minutes later came the reaction of Juventus: following a foul of Jiménez on Cristiano Zanetti, the Bianconeri obtained a free-kick a few meters away from Inter’s box, and who else to take it but Alessandro Del Piero (in absolutely storming form tonight). On this one, the Juve captain was actually also fortunate, because the wall (Stankovic) deflected his effort and fooled Toldo by sending him the wrong way. 1-1.

With momentum going their way after the equalizer, Juventus continued to push forward and break through their opponents’ defense. Maicon wasn’t being particularly attentive in his covering work, and his right-side was often the playground of choice for Pavel Nedved and his trademark rushes forward. Del Piero in particular, was being absolutely devastating tonight: dribbles, recovered balls, key passes, he was doing everything. His “coast-to-coast” run in minute 56, a sprint of over 50m from one side of the field to the next (before a foul of Pelé finally brought him down) was a delight to witness, and anyone watching the game tonight would really have to be wondering who was the 33 year-old, and who was the youngster in this particular case.

The ball is in the net, Juve have just went ahead 2-1 with Vincenzo IaquintaUnsurprisingly, based on what was seen in the first 30 minutes of play, Juve eventually took the lead on the development of yet another set piece. In minute 31 Del Piero delivered the free-kick from the left wing, and found Stendardo’s header inside the box: the effort of the new Bianconeri recruit beat Toldo but not the woodwork, however the ball rebounded straight to Vincenzo Iaquinta, who deposited into the empty net with his head. 2-1 Juve.

Inter in all of this? Struggling. Considerably. Especially when it came to the defensive work, the Nerazzurri were leaving way to much space to their rivals, who were being allowed all kinds of real estate on both sides of the field. The only glimpse of Inter’s presence during this time, was a slamming shot of Maniche stamped on the post in minute 20, but not much else.

Fortunately for Mancini however, the Juve defense wasn’t devoid of criticism either. Especially in occasion of Inter’s tying goal: a corner-kick by Dejan Stankovic was followed by an effort of Luis Jimenez, Hasan Salihamidzic got a touch with his hand, penalty. Julio “El Jardinero” Cruz transformed the spot-kick, and it was 2-2 at the break despite the clearer domination of the home team.

At the restart, neither manager decided to make any changes. In the case of Mancini, while the rest of the team wasn’t shining particulary brightly, no one could have blamed the Inter coach for keeping his star youngster onto the field: up until then, Balotelli had been one of the best Nerazzurri players of the night, and his show continued all the way throughout the 2nd half. Two back-to-back technical displays (minute 46, perfect cross for Stankovic, shot wide; minute 48, assist for Cruz, shot parried by the keeper, chance wasted) were just the appetizer to show everyone that the lad meant business.

But first things first. In the previous paragraph, I was saying no one except Super Mario was playing particularly well for Inter. That’s being a bit harsh. No one except Super Mario and Super Toldo. At moments tonight, it was almost as if we were watching the Inter keeper version Euro 2000: absolutely stunning reflexes worthy of the very best Gigi Buffon, in particular in minute 49 when a perfect chance for Nedved from 12 yards out was unbelievably parried away by Toldo. The Inter nº1 would be producing a similar miracle later in the game, on yet another fantastic play combining Trezeguet and Del Piero, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Juve 2-3 Inter, 2 goals Balotelli, game overFirstly, it was time for Inter to re-take the lead, this time for good. Remember I said Balotelli was just getting warmed up? In minute 53, came the goal of the night: receiving a low pass inside the box, the young striker controlled the ball with his back to the goal, and (with Legrottaglie watching) tapped the ball to the left with his knee before firing a ground-to-air missile straight into the top corner. 3-2 Inter, and wow. Magical stuff from the kid.

Sadly for Juve, that was the last goal of the night. The Bianconeri now had to score twice to reduce their aggregate deficit, and really gave their hearts out in the final 30 minutes. Unsuccessfully, because as I mentioned earlier there was a certain Francesco Toldo guarding the Inter net which, you’ll excuse the comparison, isn’t exactly the same level of Emanuele Belardi. There was a little bit of space for Mauro Camoranesi in the end, but with the Bianconeri pushing forward the game got progressively nastier: yellows were handed out here and there, and Camo even managed to earn a straight red for a bad tackle on Pelé. Shameful.

Regardless, this was clearly Inter’s night, and in particular the night of a new-found hero amongst the Nerazzurri ranks. It must be a real relief for Roberto Mancini, to know that if (for some obscure impossible science-fiction-like reason) Zlatan Ibrahimovic were to stop scoring all these goals for Inter, there’s someone on the bench ready to step in. And shine very very brightly, if only you give him a chance…

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Juventus F.C.
JUVENTUS-INTER
2-3
[Match Highlights]
F.C. Internazionale Milano
GOALSCORERS: 10’, 54′ Balotelli (I), 14’ Del Piero (J), 31’ Iaquinta (J), 39’ pen. Cruz (I)
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Belardi – Birindelli (68’ Camoranesi), Stendardo, Legrottaglie, Molinaro – Salihamidzic, Nocerino, C.Zanetti, Nedved (74’ Palladino) – Iaquinta (67’ Trezeguet), Del Piero. (bench: Vanstrattan, Castiglia, Ariaudo, Tiago). Coach: Ranieri
INTER (4-3-1-2): Toldo – Maicon (87’ Solari), Rivas, Córdoba, Maxwell – Stankovic, Pelé, Maniche (54’ Vieira) – Jiménez (70’ J.Zanetti) – Cruz, Balotelli. (bench: Orlandoni, Chivu, Cambiasso, Solari, Suazo). Coach: Mancini.

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Sissoko-Juventus Is a Done Deal: the Malian Midfielder Signed Over from Liverpool for €11.0m

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Sissoko-Juventus Is a Done Deal: the Malian Midfielder Signed Over from Liverpool for €11.0m

It’s now official: Juventus and Liverpool have finalized the negotiations for the arrival of Mohamed Lamine Sissoko to the Serie A. The Malian midfielder has been acquired for a cost of €11.0m (£8.2m), and signed a contract of 5 years with the Bianconeri (i.e. until 2013). The transfer fee had been made payable in 3 yearly installments, and may increase by a maximum of €2.0m depending on the achievements of the player during his 5-year contract.

I am happy to have joined such an important club” said Sissoko in an interview to Juventus Channel. “This experience will, I’m sure, mark an important step forward in my football career. I am very excited at the prospect of measuring up to champions such as Buffon and Del Piero, as well as being coached by Ranieri again, a great manager with whom I’ve already had the chance to work with at Valencia“.

Momo Is BossA tough tackling defensive midfielder, Sissoko is seen by some as a future midfield star of European football, in particular Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez, who showered praise upon him when he arrived at Merseyside, saying Sissoko possessed “incredible ability for his age” and similar qualities to Frenchman Patrick Vieira. Sissoko’s early career (much like Vieira’s) had been marked with disciplinary problems (as the Malian player tended to pick up yellow cards for late or reckless tackles), but his fierce competitiveness was immediately effective for Liverpool, and he soon became something of a fan’s favourite (as shown in the tribute by Reds fans in the form of a large Mali flag with the Scouse phrase “Momo Is Boss” adorning it).

A question for Liverpool fans: what’s your opinion of Momo Sissoko? Do you think the Reds have made a mistake by letting him go, or was it becoming increasingly difficult for him to find space in Rafael Benítez’s line-up (despite the rotation policy)? According to you, what can Juventus fans realistically expect of Sissoko for the upcoming years?
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A small Momo Sissoko Biography

Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985 in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France, and often referred to simply as “Momo Sissoko”) is a French-born footballer who represents Mali at the international level. Sissoko is the nephew of Mali and Valencia CF former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta, and he is often compared to French midfielder Patrick Vieira due to their similar playing styles.
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Auxerre

AJ AuxerreSissoko started his professional career playing as a striker in AJ Auxerre, beggining from the French Club’s youth team and eventually climbing all the way up to the senior roster in 2002. Before he could demonstrate his skills at the Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps however, he was snatched at age 17 by the Spanish club Valencia in the summer of 2003.

The transfer of Sissoko to the Spanish Liga is marred by controversy, because it was later found out that Los Che had not consulted with AJ Auxerre before signing the Malian player, and that he was in fact still under contract with the French club. AJ Auxerre brought the case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), and after the TAS ruled in their favor, the French club and Valencia found an agreement for an indemnity fee of €1.0m (covering transfer and youth team costs).
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Valencia

At the time, the manager of Los Che was current Liverpool coach Rafael Benítez, who eyed the Malian player as a talented youngster with obvious potential to turn into a top-notch defensive midfielder. Up until then, Sissoko had always played as a striker for Auxerre, but began adapting to his new role under his new manager.

2003-04 was a very succesful year for Valencia and moderately so for the Malian player. Los Che were crowned La Liga and UEFA Cup champions, while Sissoko totaled 9 matches and 1 goal in a friendly fixture for his new club. The following year, Benítez left to coach Liverpool and was replaced by Claudio Ranieri (current Juventus manager): this was the chance for Sissoko to firmly establish himself in the starting line-up, as the Italian manager quickly became quite fond of the newly-formed defensive midfielder. In his second season at the Mestalla, Sissoko played 21 matches in the Spanish League, and made himself known to the world by his performances in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
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Liverpool

Momo Sissoko with Liverpool manager Rafael BenitezSissoko moved from Valencia to Liverpool in the summer of 2005 for a fee reported at €7.1m (£5.3m). He had been expected to sign for Liverpool’s rivals Everton but ultimately plumped for the opportunity to work again with former Valencia boss, Rafael Benítez. Sissoko rapidly established himself as a key figure in the Reds’ central midfield, alternating with Xabi Alonso and the irreplaceable captain Steven Gerrard.

There were fears for Sissoko’s eyesight in his right eye after his retina was severely damaged, when he was accidentally kicked in the head by Benfica’s Beto in the first leg of their Champions League knockout round tie in February 2006. Sissoko made a speedy recovery however, and returned in the 6th round of the FA Cup against Birmingham City wearing a pair of goggles, where Liverpool won the game 7-0.

The 2006–07 season got off to a flying start for Sissoko with victory for Liverpool in the FA Community Shield and Sissoko taking the Man-Of-the-Match award. Sissoko’s season had been put on hold due to an arm injury he suffered at Birmingham City in the Carling Cup in early November. On 29 January 2007 it was announced that Sissoko would be fully fit for Liverpool’s local derby match against Everton on 3 February . However,he made his comeback from injury by playing against Newcastle in a game which Liverpool lost 2-1.

Sissoko’s first real test after coming back from injury was in the Champions League against Barcelona, the holders. Sissoko was awarded the Man-Of-the-Match award by UEFA. However for the remainder of the season he would have to compete for the holding position in the centre of Liverpool’s midfield, due to arrival of Argentine Javier Mascherano from West Ham. Sissoko would be largely unsuccessful in this battle, losing his place to Mascherano in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final. This led to people questioning whether the Malian would leave Liverpool, with notable clubs such as Juventus and Barcelona reportedly interested. However on June 28th, Sissoko signed a contract to extend his Liverpool career a further 4 years, keeping him at Merseyside until 2011. It was later revealed that Sissoko had indeed received an offer from Juventus, but he turned them down as Liverpool are a ‘bigger club’

On August 25th 2007, in a match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sissoko started in place of the injured Steven Gerrard in Liverpool’s central midfield. In the match, Sissoko finally scored his first ever competitive goal in his club career, a long-range first-time effort from 25 yards out, assisted by Andriy Voronin. The goal, scored on Sissoko’s 75th appearance for the club, also marked Liverpool’s 7000th goal in league football.
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Juventus

Juventus F.C.On January 29th 2008, Liverpool F.C. confirmed the sale of Sissoko to Juventus F.C., for a fee of €11.0m (£8.2m).
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Special thanks to the English, French and Italian Wikipedia articles on Momo Sissoko for the biography info.

Italian Players Around the World (28/01)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Continuing my weekly article inspired by Gazzetta dello Sport, here are the performances of all Italian soccer players operating in foreign European leagues.

Giuseppe Rossi gets rid of Robinho and Fabio Cannavaro... but for how long?

Based on Gazzetta’s info, there are currently 22 Italians playing in first divisions abroad, and 13 of them stepped on the field this week-end.

The table below includes the team the player belongs to, their opponents for the week, the number of minutes they played, their contribution (goal, assist), and the final score of the game.
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ENGLAND
Player Team Opp.
mins.
Contrib.
Score
Carlo Cudicini Chelsea @Wigan (Cup)
(bench)
/
1-0
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SCOTLAND
Massimo Donati Celtic @Falkirk
90
/
1-0
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GERMANY
Luca Toni Bayern M. NEXT ROUND
IN
FEBR.
/
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SPAIN
Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid Villareal
90
/
3-2
Giuseppe Rossi Villareal @Real Madrid
73
1 goal
2-3
Christian Abbiati Atl. Madrid @Mallorca
90
/
0-1
Gianluca Zambrotta Barcelona @Ath. Bilbao
90
/
1-1
Enzo Maresca Sevilla Osasuna
15
/
2-1
Morgan De Sanctis Sevilla Osasuna
90
/
2-1
Emiliano Moretti Valencia Almería
90
/
0-1
Stefano Sorrentino Recreativo Getafe
90
/
1-3
Damiano Tommasi Levante @Murcia
(injd.)
/
3-2
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FRANCE
Fabio Grosso Lyon @St. Etienne
90
/
1-1
Flavio Roma Monaco @Le Mans
90
/
0-1
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HOLLAND
Graziano Pellè AZ Alkmaar @Willem II
90
/
0-3
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BELGIUM
Roberto Mirri Mons @Mechelen
90
/
0-2
Alessandro Pistone Mons @Mechelen
N/A
/
0-2
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SWITZERLAND
Stefano Razzetti St. Gallen SEASON OVER
/
/
/
Andrea Guatelli FC Zürich SEASON OVER
/
/
/
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POLAND
Stefano Napoleoni Widzew Łódź NEXT ROUND
IN
FEBR.
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Joseph Oshadogan Widzew Łódź NEXT ROUND
IN
FEBR.
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RUSSIA
Ivan Pelizzoli Lok. Moscow SEASON OVER
/
/
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Heroes of the week

This week only one goalscorer, do I even need to introduce him? Week in week out he keeps doing something positive…

After the goal vs. Deportivo two weeks ago, the assist for Nihat against Valencia last week, Giuseppe Rossi went on the scoreboard yet again in the super-match vs. Real Madrid, and what a goal that was! A powerful left-footed shot from the edge of the box that left no chance to recent “uefa.com Best keeper of 2007″ winner Iker Casillas. Such a nice goal in fact that I can’t resist showing it to you here. Nevertheless, Rossi’s Italian duel with Fabio Cannavaro turned to the advantage of the latter, because despite the goal by the New Jersey native the Merengues went on to win the match 3-2.

Note that after a lot hopes & dreams in the EPL (followed by a lot of bench time), Rolando Bianchi has left Manchester City and returned to Serie A (Lazio). Perhaps the Biancocelesti will have more faith in the 24-year old striker than Sven-Goran Eriksson did these past few months (then again, Bianchi’s adventure in the Roman capital didn’t start off too well, because the now ex-Citizen got sent off for a double yellow, just 5 minutes into his first Lazio match vs. Torino this week-end).

Serie A Matchday 20 – Week-end Review + GOALS of the Week

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Week-End Reviews

Here are the results and summaries for matchday 20. Full Video Highlights here.

Italian Calcio Blog week 20 review

Italian Calcio Blog

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GOALS of the WEEK

This time, the soccer gods were less favorable: not very many nice goals, but what the Serie A lacked in quantity it made up in quality. Take a look at these two peaches: one’s a runner-up, one’s a winner.

This week, the goal-of-the-week award goes to the current Serie A topscorer (with 15 goals), David Trezeguet. In the match Livorno-Juventus (full report available here in mCalcio), the Bianconeri combined for an exceptional moment of teamwork, intuition, technique and top-notch finishing. Enough babble, actions speak louder than words:

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Results Summary

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Serie A – day 20
Sampdoria – Siena
1 - 0
Roma – Palermo
1 - 0
Atalanta – Reggina
2 - 2
Cagliari – Napoli
2 - 1
Catania – Parma
0 - 0
Empoli – Fiorentina
0 - 2
Milan – Genoa
2 – 0
Torino – Lazio
0 - 0
Udinese – Inter
0 – 0
Livorno – Juventus
1 - 3

Juventus Get Back to Winning: 3 Goals to Livorno to Prepare for Inter on Wednesday (Serie A Matchday 20)

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Juventus Get Back to Winning: 3 Goals to Livorno to Prepare for Inter on Wednesday

Serie ANo Gigi Buffon, no Mauro Camoranesi, no Marco Marchionni, no Giorgio Chiellini, and no Jonathan Zebina. With at least 5 important pieces missing from its arsenal, Juventus travelled to the Armando Picchi stadium to get back on the winning track, after 2 not-very-brilliant ties vs. Catania and Sampdoria (not to mention the 2-2 draw at the San Siro in Coppa Italia). However despite the defensive emergency, the Bianconeri pulled out a top-notch performance from their striking duo: at the end of the day the goals by David Trezeguet (double) and Alessandro Del Piero (served by the great passes of Cristiano Zanetti) are a strong indication that even when their defense is in trouble, the Bianconeri are a lethal weapon if their attack is running at full steam.

Serie A Matchday 20 - Livorno 1-3 Juventus

Tactically, both Claudio Ranieri and Giancarlo Camolese decided to orient their teams strongly toward wing attacks, and it should come as no surprise to see the first two big opportunities of the match come precisely from there. On the first one, a tight Giovanni Pasquale-Diego Tristán passing exchange set up the former all alone in front of the Belardi in the 16th, but the Juve keeper pulled out his best Buffon impersonation and made a brilliant save on the shot. Molinaro was there to prevent the tap-in by Francesco Tavano.

Three minutes later, another wing attack but on the other end: Nedved through for Del Piero, but the striker’s finish from inside the box was only a hairbreadth away from the Livorno post. 1-1 on scoring chances. After the first half-hour of play however, Juve would strike and would strike hard. Exploiting a perfect pass forward by Zanetti, David Trezeguet let the aerial ball bounce once before firing a shot past Marco Amelia’s outstretched arms into the net. The culprit on this occasion was Alessandro Grandoni who mistimed the offside trap and kept the Frenchman onside. 1-0 Juve.

The half thus ended on that very same scoreline, just after José Luís Vidigal had two opportunities (left-foot and header) neutralized by Emanuele Belardi. All in all (and in perfect honesty) a better performance from Livorno than Juventus, but the one leading the game at the break was the Old Lady.

After the restart, it took the Bianconeri only 4 minutes to virtually put the game on ice: with the Livorno backline pushing very far up the field, a stolen ball by Zanetti (once again) turned into an instantaneous assist for Alessandro Del Piero who, starting from his own half, made a 50m run all the way inside the Livorno box to beat Amelia through the legs. Not bad for a 33-year old, and 2-0 Juve.

Things really went from bad to worse for the Amaranto, because within less than 5 minutes following the goal, Daniele De Vezze managed to collect two consecutive yellow cards (for a foul on Nocerino, then stupidly for an intentional handball) and leave his team with 10 men. Not cool if you’re losing 2-0, even less cool if you’re losing 2-0 against Juventus.

With more real estate to exploit, the Bianconeri really went to work on their opponents. Their third goal however, they owe it to no one but theselves: the preparation in training, the perfect teamwork, the delightful technique. With Raffaele Palladino pushing up on the right wing, the youngster spotted Del Piero and Trezeguet opening up inside the area. In minute 63 started the play of what probably was the best goal of the week-end, and it went something like this: on Palladino’s low cross, Trezeguet executed a dummy to let the ball through for Del Piero, who immediately chipped it over the defender for the Frenchman. Trezeguet, who had made the run, waited for the ball to drop before slamming a hard right-footed volley into the top right corner of the net. Magical stuff, and 3-0 Juve.

At this point, Camolese decided that it was probably better to one’s chances in attack (and risk conceding another goal) than to just stand watching with Livorno 3 goals down on the scoreboard. As a result, the Amaranto really began pushing forward and through repeated attempts, found the consolation goal in the 79th minute through Erjon Bogdani (shortly after Francesco Tavano hit the inside of the post on a 28m free-kick). It was however too little too late for the home team, who had their run of 9 games without a loss interrupted by the Bianconeri’s return to victory. For Ranieri, this is not only great for the team standings but also great for morale, in the anticipation of the Coppa Italia return leg vs. Inter this week.

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 A.S. Livorno Calcio
LIVORNO-JUVENTUS
1-3
[Match Highlights]
Juventus F.C.
GOALSCORERS: 30’, 63’ Trezeguet (J), 49’ Del Piero (J), 79’ Bogdani (L)
LIVORNO (3-5-2): Amelia – Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante – Balleri, A.Filippini (59’ Pulzetti), De Vezze, Vidigal, Pasquale – Tavano, Tristán (59’ Bogdani). (bench: De Lucia, Pavan, Rezaei, E.Filippini, Diamanti). Coach: Camolese.
JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2): Belardi – Salihamidzic (59’ Birindelli), Legrottaglie, Grygera, Molinaro – Palladino, Nocerino, C.Zanetti, Nedved (90’ Castiglia) – Del Piero (73’ Iaquinta), Trezeguet. (bench: Vanstrattan, Ariaudo, D’Elia, Tiago). Coach: Ranieri.

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