Posts Tagged ‘Coppa Italia’

Sampdoria 3-0 Inter: Cassano & Pazzini Put Three Holes in the Nerazzurri Battleship (Coppa Italia Semi-Finals, First Leg)

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Coppa Italia 2008-09 - SF L1 - Sampdoria vs. Inter Milan

“A big Blucerchiati slap in the face”: there’s little more to be added for José Mourinho after Coppa Italia’s Sampdoria vs. Inter Semi-Finals match. Thanks to the goal by Cassano, the brace by Pazzini, and the saves of Castellazzi, Sampdoria walked all over their Nerazzurri opponents Wednesday, virtually putting one foot and a half into the big final match in Rome.

After conceding three vs. Roma on Sunday and three vs. Sampdoria yesterday, one has to wonder what on Earth is going through the minds of Inter’s defensive line-up at the moment (and particularly, the man picking them out). It wouldn’t take a big stretch of the imagination to postulate José’s anti-Juve and anti-Roma rant earlier this week, psychologically (and adversely) affected his team’s concentration & tranquillity. Or perhaps was it the team had already their minds set on the UCL return leg vs. Man Utd?

Either way, after taking much time to point out Milan and Roma would finish the season with “zero titles”, Mourinho seems to have thrown one out the window himself. For it is hard to foresee any way in which Sampdoria can blow their 3-0 lead at San Siro in two weeks’ time, so good was the entente between Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini. One was the assist-provider and playmaker, the other the ruthless finisher in front of the net. Comparisons are already being drawn with Vialli/Mancini. Call it coincidence, but the last two times Sampdoria eliminated Inter (1988, 1994) they went on to win the Coppa Italia trophy…

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Lazio 2-1 Juventus: Biancocelesti Turn It Around at the Olimpico (Coppa Italia Semi-Finals, First Leg)

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Coppa Italia 2008-09 - SF L1 - Lazio vs. Juventus

At the end of a day dominated by controversy (post-Inter vs. Roma ripples), legal affairs (president Claudio Lotito being indicted) and managerial complaints (Mourinho’s rant), it was nice to see a bit of footy action at Stadio Olimpico Tuesday. And for our greatest delight Lazio vs. Juventus ended up being a vibrant and entertaining match

For the first leg of Coppa Italia‘s Semi-finals, the result was 2-1 to the Biancocelesti: they came back from Marchionni‘s goal with tallies by Pandev and Rocchi, who in Zarate’s absence (suspended) made a key difference among Lazio ranks. Things are still very much open for the second leg (April 22) and Juve will have the opportunity to turn the result around at that time, hoping to field their first half team (not the one overrun by Lazio in the second half).

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Juventus 0-0 Napoli: Bianconeri Through on Penalties, Qualify for Coppa Italia Semis

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

If one thing was certain on Wednesday night’s Coppa Italia match, it was the “do or die” nature of Juventus vs. Napoli. Coming from rather poor moments of form in Serie A (two consecutive losses against Udinese and vs. Cagliari for the Bianconeri, a single point scored in their last four fixtures for the Azzurri) both teams had every intention of turning this Cup encounter into a rejuvenating cure.

What transpired in the end was a rather entertaining match, and this despite the misleading 0-0 score at the end of the 120 minutes of play. A rather bleak first-half performance was followed by an exciting second half, in which Juventus and Napoli played open attacking football and quckly shifted the ball from one end of the field to another. It was only through some great moments of defensive brilliance (Mellberg/Cannavaro) or sheer bad luck (Bogliacino/Trezeguet) that the 0-0 score remained unchanged, and in the end (after another battled & tense 30 minutes of extra time) only penalty kicks were able to break the tie at the Olimpico tonight. Ultimately Juventus prevailed, capitalizing on the Neapolitan errors of Lavezzi, Contini and Gargano, and will advance to the Coppa Italia Semi-Finals where they will play Lazio.

At the end of the day though, it must be said that both teams can be satisfied with their performances tonight. After their rough last couple of weeks, Napoli and Juventus have demonstrated they are very far from being dead & buried.

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Lazio 3-1 Torino: Biancocelesti Showing their Yin and their Yang

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

No surprises on Thursday evening: as per pre-match expectations, favorites Lazio earned their ticket for the Coppa Italia semi-finals, beating Torino at the end of a multi-faceted 90 minutes. Indeed, the Biancocelesti were once again the stars of “a tale of two halves”, a cliché-phrase in the world of sports news, but one which describes very accurately what transpired at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome yesterday.

Simply put, Delio Rossi’s team used the two sets of 45 minutes to make a perfect recital of their current season: weaknesses on one side (difficulties in playmaking and lack of concentration at the back), strengths on the other (lethal short-passing & counterattacking abilities). And unfortunately for relegation-battlers Torino (who until half-time had virtually played the perfect game), one of those sets proved to be fatal.

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Inter 2-1 Roma: Adriano & Zlatan Lead the Way to Coppa Italia Semis…

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Inter vs. Roma has sort of become like a Coppa Italia tradition in recent years. Since June 2005, these two teams have been contending the final of a competition which, at the cost of being snubbed by the big teams, has always served as the launching platform of many interesting youngsters and given rise to a variety of spectacular matches.

While it delivered on the former (keep an eye on Davide Santon —age 18, left full-back— in the coming years), despite a few “ooh” and “aah” moments Wednesday’s encounter probably won’t be remembered in the annals of the beautiful game. As was to be expected however, it was a tightly-contested affair between two bitter rivals, fighting to their dying breath until the very last minute of play. And as often been the case with the Nerazzurri this season, not without its moments of controversy.

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