Roma, Juve And Lazio All Hit Eight
Sunday 22nd July 2001
Gabriel Batistuta and Darko Kovacevic both scored hat-tricks as Roma beat Judenburg of Austria 8-0 in their pre-season friendly of the summer, and Juventus overcame Val d'Aosta by the same scoreline. Lazio also hit eight against Alto Adige.
Aside from Batistuta's treble, Francesco Totti and Abel Balbo got two apiece and new signing Antonio Cassano got the other on his debut.
"It was a good match," said coach Fabio Capello. "My players were very focused despite the low level of our opponents. Cassano confirmed that he is a talented young player, and I'm sure he'll be a great help to the team in the coming season."
Batistuta was pleased with his performance. "It wasn't a great game, but hopefully the three goals will bring luck for the season."
Over 7,00 turned out to watch Juventus thrash Val d'Aosta. Alessandro del Piero, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet all hit first half goals, before Nedved again, a Kovacevic hat-trick and one for Nicola Amoruso wrapped up the scoring.
Coach Marcello Lippi was delighted by the outcome. "I saw what I hope to see," he said. "My players were enthusiastic and focussed, scored some good goals and created some good moves. This Juve side put in a lot of good crosses from the wings, and that's important."
Lazio boss Dino Zoff was similarly pleased with his side's demonstration. "It was good training and our opponents looked a good team. We have to go on with the same application and character."
