Keepers Renew Penalty Rivalry
Wednesday 3rd January 2001
Juventus' match against Fiorentina on Saturday will see Netherlands
goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar come up against his Italy counterpart Francesco
Toldo for the first time since the epic Euro 2000 semi-final.
Toldo was the hero for Italy on that day, as the Dutch team's long-standing
penalty hoodoo continued.
"I hope we won't need to rely on a penalty to beat Fiorentina," laughed the
Juventus stopper on Tuesday. "Toldo is brilliant, but not only at saving
penalties. At Euro 2000 I blamed my team-mates more than I blamed him but I
still felt I needed to compliment him after the match," he added.
"If a player guesses the corner in which the ball will be kicked he has
already done half the job and Toldo is excellent at doing just that.
"I absolutely want to win the Scudetto with Juventus because that is all
that's left for us this season. We have a very good chance because we are
the strongest team."
Van der Sar went on to thank thanked coach Carlo Ancelotti and honorary club
president Umberto Agnelli for their support when he lost his form earlier
this season. The new signing of Fabien Carini, he continued, would "keep me
on my toes".
Toldo himself cannot wait for the game: "Juventus against Fiorentina is the
match between the two most in-form teams in Serie A at the moment. Right now
we are the more adventurous team and this allows us to play just as well at
home and away.
"After a difficult start, all of us have banded together to give manager
Terim a hand, and things have clicked into place. I'm confident we can
continue to delight our fans."
