Newsgroup: it.sport.calcio.roma
Titolo: Dal Sito ufficiale del Liverpool: per loro siamo I Giganti!! (lungo)

Roma preview - 14.12.00
by Mike Hammond
It could not have been tougher. Liverpool's fourth round UEFA Cup opponents are Roma, currently leading Italy's Serie A by a massive six points and featuring some of the 
world's most talented players in Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti and Cafu.
The first leg of this mouth-watering clash will take place in Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Thursday February 15, with the return being staged at Anfield a week later.
Anything can of course happen over the next two months, but if the tie were to be played tomorrow, there is no doubt that the Italian side would start as favourites. That should 
not be seen as a slight on Liverpool, rather a reflection on Roma's tremendous start to the season, both at home and in Europe.
The team led by ex-Milan and Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello have won eight and drawn one of their ten Serie A fixtures so far, and they will be desperate to add another 
victory to their collection on Sunday night when they take on city rivals and defending champions Lazio in the Rome derby. A win for Roma would not only strengthen their 
position at the top of the table, it would also be their 50th victory in the history of the fixture (as opposed to 41 wins for Lazio).
There is no doubt that the 'Scudetto' is Roma's priority for this season - the club has only won the Italian title twice, the last time in 1983 - but success in Europe is also extremely 
important to the club. The only European trophy ever won by Roma was the old Intercities Fairs Cup back in 1961. The closest they have come since then was of course 16 
years ago, when Liverpool beat them on penalties on their own ground in the European Champions Cup Final.
The two clubs have not met since then, so Roma will clearly be out for revenge, which should guarantee that Capello fields his strongest team for both matches. So far in the 
UEFA Cup Roma have been able to make comfortable progress at the expense of HIT Gorica, Boavista and Hamburg while resting several of their key players. Batistuta, for 
example, played no part at all in the 4-0 aggregate annihilation of Hamburg in the last round, while Totti made only a brief appearance as a sub in the first leg.
Should Batistuta be unleashed at Anfield, the Liverpool defence will have to be at their most vigilant. The brilliant Argentinian striker scored breathtaking goals for his former club 
Fiorentina against both Arsenal and Manchester United on English soil last season, and he has been in devastating form since his record-breaking £23m transfer to Roma 
during the summer. Already he has ten goals in as many Serie A games and is seen as the final piece in the jigsaw that has turned Roma into genuine title challengers this 
season.
Not that Roma would be short in the striking department without him. Marco Delvecchio, Vincenzo Montella and Totti all travelled to Euro 2000 as part of the Italy squad (just as 
Emile Heskey, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler did for England) and have been in fine form this season. Montella's opportunities have been limited in Serie A by Batistuta's 
presence, but he has scored in every round of the UEFA Cup so far. Delvecchio, who was seconds away from being the goal scoring hero of the Euro 2000 Final, is an 
excellent support striker, full of running and invention. Like Montella, he also possesses a tremendous left-foot shot.
Totti, the club captain, is currently the Golden Boy of Italian football. His emergence for the 'Azzurri' at Euro 2000 lifted him to a new level, and he has been delivering the goods 
week in, week out this season for Roma, his latest exploit being a fantastic volley which sealed a 2-1 win at home to Udinese last Sunday. The 24-year-old's favourite position is 
in the 'hole' behind the two main strikers, and Capello has effectively constructed his team in order to accommodate Totti in this role.
Roma's preferred system is 3-4-1-2, with three central defenders, two central ball-winning midfielders and two wing-backs behind Totti, Batistuta and Delvecchio.
The first-choice goalkeeper is Francesco Antonioli but injury has enabled youngster Cristiano Lupatelli to make his mark in recent weeks. The main figure in defence is 
Argentinian centre-back Walter Samuel, a £12.5m summer signing from Boca Juniors, who has taken to Italian football like a duck to water, producing one excellent display 
after another to force veteran Brazilian Aldair onto the substitutes' bench. The other regular members of the back three are Frenchman Jonathan Zebina and another Brazilian 
international, Antonio Carlos - more commonly known in Italy as Zago.
Roma have two of the world's most accomplished wing-backs in Cafu and Vincent Candela. Cafu is the captain of Brazil and has great speed as well as technique. Once in full 
flow, he can be difficult to stop. Candela has rarely been able to make his mark for the French national team because of the presence of Bixente Lizarazu, but for Roma he has 
been tremendously reliable and influential, especially this season.
There would have been another Brazilian in the heart of the Roma midfield had it not been for the long-term injury sustained in pre-season by £12m summer signing Emerson. 
Italian Under-21 midfielder Cristiano Zanetti has filled in exceptionally well for him, however, and he forms an excellent pairing with the woolly-haired, industrious Damiano 
Tommasi.
Hidetoshi Nakata, the Japanese superstar, would get into most Serie A sides but as he favours the same position as Totti, his opportunities for first-team football at Roma have 
become very limited - hence the rumour which circulated earlier this week that he was seeking a move to Manchester United.
All in all, Roma's line-up is pretty formidable. The team is extremely well balanced with no discernible weakness, and masterminding it all is a coach of the highest pedigree in 
Capello. The 54-year-old is rightly regarded as one of the finest coaches of his generation, having guided Milan to unprecedented success in Italy and Europe in the early-to-mid 
1990s and then taken Real Madrid to the Spanish championship in 1997.
The task may seem daunting, but Liverpool can take heart from the fact that another English team, Leeds United, knocked Roma out of the UEFA Cup at the same stage of 
the competition last season.
Should Liverpool get through to the quarter-finals, they will face the winner of the tie between Nantes and FC Porto.
Here is the full fourth-round draw:
Liverpool v Roma; FC Porto v Nantes
Slavia Prague v Kaiserslautern; PSV Eindhoven v Parma
Barcelona v AEK Athens; VfB Stuttgart v Celta Vigo
Alaves v Inter Milan; Rayo Vallecano v Bordeaux
Mike Hammond is the Editor of the highly respected European Football Yearbook.
 
© Liverpool Football Club & Athletics Grounds plc 2000

 by Mike Hammond
[cut]
Beh... ora per compito ... traduci.
^______^
Deoro

 wrote in message
news:1103_976813793@y0t6l3...
Non mi piace come ha liquidato Totti... ma la descrizione di Samuel vale la
lettura... comunque, ne capisce di pallone questo.
--
Saluti Romanisti
Zuper
"Non discutere mai con un laziale, qualcuno potrebbe non notare la
differenza..." :-)
Il sito di questo NG è 
www.ciaoweb.net/iscr

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:91b03e$3g298$1...@ID-49781.news.dfncis.de...


 wrote in message 1103_976813793@y0t6l3...
[CUT]
Realistico....
Nicofintoindifferenteespocchioso