Peruzzi's Juve Warning
Friday 10th November 2000
Lazio's Angelo Peruzzi has laughed off claims that Juventus will not recover
from their shock Champions' League exit as he prepares to meet his former
team on Saturday.
"I really do not think that they are a team in crisis," he said. "They are
wounded and will be more dangerous."
The Italy stopper spent eight successful years with at the Stadio delle
Alpi, but since joining Sven-Goran Eriksson's double-winners, the Turin club
have shown mixed form in the league and crashed out of Europe, failing to
qualify even for the Uefa Cup.
Saturday night's prestige fixture in Turin sees the two sides meet each
other for the first time since last season's dramatic conclusion which saw
Lazio snatch the title from Juve on the final day.
Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti is under mounting pressure to turn fortunes
around, while the Italian media saved their biggest scorn for Alessandro Del
Piero after the disastrous midweek defeat by Panathinaikos.
Tuttosport said: "He was embarrassing. Maybe at the moment he is the symbol
of this unrecognisable Juve."
Captain Antonio Conte said: "We can't lose again in such a disgraceful
manner. We are Juventus and we can't afford such embarrassments. Now we are
out of Europe and this defeat gives us a lot to reflect on. We are risking
an anonymous season and that we can't allow that."
But Peruzzi refuses to discount Juventus as serious Serie A challengers.
"They only have the Championship to concentrate on and they will want to win
it. You can never say their last result will help us, we will only know once
the game has begun.
"As for playing for the draw, I do not think that Lazio would think of
getting only one point before the start of the game."
Peruzzi also compared the teams' great midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Juan
Sebastian Veron: "They are great champions, but very different in the way
they play the game. They both deserve to be Player of the Year."
The 34-year-old goalkeeper also came out in support of his opposite number
Edwin van der Sar, who was sent off during the 3-1 midweek defeat at
Panathinaikos. The Dutch stopper has been vilified all season for some
uncharacteristic errors, but Peruzzi insisted he would turn things round:
"Edwin van der Sar is Netherlands' first choice goalkeeper, and I don't
think that he has suddenly lost the ability to play."
Another Juventus defeat could put Ancelotti's job in jeopardy. Owner Gianni
Agnelli is known to be unhappy at the club's stuttering start to the
season - and he is keen to cut down on the number of players (and their
wages) in the squad.
Agnelli has sworn never to sack a coach in the middle of the season - and he
proved as good as his word even in the disastrous era of Gigi Maifredi in
the early 1990s. Gianluca Vialli and Venezia coach Cesare Prandelli have
already been linked with the post.
Juventus : Van der Sar, Ferrara, Tudor, Iuliano, Conte,Tacchinardi, Davids,
Pessotto, Zidane; Inzaghi, Trezeguet.
Lazio: Peruzzi, Pancaro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Favalli, D.Baggio, Veron,
Simeone, Nedved, Crespo, Salas. Manager: Eriksson.
