Turin Pride On The Line
Friday 22nd February 2002
If Sunday's Turin derby lives up to the excitement of the earlier meeting between the two sides this season then Italian football followers are in for a real treat.
Last October, Torino clawed back a 3-0 first-half deficit to draw 3-3 in a thrilling Serie A encounter which in a further twist saw Juve striker Marcelo Salas sky a 88th minute penalty over the bar.
That game more than anything summed up the unique nature of what is known throughout Italy as il Derby della Mole, in deference to the city's cathedral.
Juventus may be the aristocrats of football � all poise and swagger � but the 'Old Lady' does not like to get her hands dirty while 'il Toro' live and die by the grinta granata, a willingness to expend every last ounce of energy for the famous old claret shirt.
It is this clash of artist and artisan that has made the city of Turin the true 'capital of calcio', with a combined 32 titles � and the only clubs to win five consecutive Scudetti. The Milanese giants AC Milan and Internazionale have 29 championships and the Romans, AS Roma and Lazio, trail back in third with just five to their name.
Of course, the fame and prestige of Juventus is well known worldwide and having claimed 25 of those titles, and the honour of having two stars emblazoned about their badge, the Bianconeri have put their city neighbours somewhat in the shade.
However, Torino can rightly claim to embody the true spirit of the city. Formed by dissident Juventus supporters in 1906, Toro were to become the preferred club of those born and bred in the city.
While the immigrant workers from Italy's south arrived to work at the FIAT car plant it was only natural that they would support Juventus � backed by the Agnelli family � founders of FIAT.
Events either side of World War II helped shape the clubs' destinies. Juve were all conquering through most of the 1930s, achieving their five-in-a-row title success between 1931 and 1935.
However, a decade later and Torino produced a side rightly named 'Il Grande Torino' who under their legendary coach Vittorio Pozzo and inspiration captain Valentino Mazzola � father of former Internazionale and Italy great Sandro � equalled the feat of their city rivals, winning the league between 1943 and 1949.
In that period, they did not lose a home game, but tragedy struck down what was perhaps Italy's greatest club side when in May 1949 the plane carrying the squad back from a tour of Portugal crashed near the basilica of Superga above Turin, killing all 17 players including eight Italy internationals.
The club were not to win another title until 1976, but it was without doubt the most emotional as they had been five points behind Juve with six games of the season left.
The turning point came in a derby match; awarded to Torino after a flare thrown from the Juve section of the ground hit Toro goalkeeper Luciano Castellini.
Coach Gigi Radice's side had been winning 2-0 at this stage, but the result took them to within a point of their rivals and they held their nerve in the remaining games to honour their heroes of 1949.
However, the real legacy of the Superga disaster has been the development of probably the best youth programme in the game.
A list of stars who have taken their first steps at Torino's old Campo Filadelfia, to which the club long to return, include Gianluigi Lentini, Dino Baggio, Diego Fuser, Benito Carbone and Christian Vieri who signed from C1 side Prato as a 17-year-old and went on to play for Juventus.
Current Juve full-back Gianluca Pessotto is another Toro youth product to wear the both colours, while Pasquale Bruno, briefly at Hearts, and Bologna midfielder Fabio Pecchia make up the sparse few to have had a foot in each camp.
With Torino spending four of the last five campaigns in Serie B, it was no wonder that the derby had slipped out of the public consciousness but the autumn goal-fest brought back memories of classic encounters.
Toro's last win was in 1994-95, but the following season the club reached what was without doubt its nadir in recent history, not only were they relegated but Juve inflicted a humiliating 5-0 defeat in which Gianluca Vialli scored a hat-trick.
On the eve of the 219th derby, Torino are in more bullish mood, with their sights set firmly on a Uefa Cup spot. However, Juventus, of course, are more concerned with the finer things in life such as winning another domestic title and reaching the Champions League' final.
The success of that famous Toro side of post-war Italy may be just a distant memory but their spirit lives on, embodied now in the likes of winger and captain Antonio Asta who never played in the top flight until 1999.
While a player such as Alessandro Del Piero was groomed for stardom from an early age, Asta moved from his native Sicily as a youth to join Torino, spending most of his career in a struggling side.
Now belatedly, at 31, he is on the brink of selection for Giovanni Trapattoni's World Cup squad, having made his debut in the recent friendly against the USA.
The hard road to the top will not have been lost on Asta and his team-mates, and on the day when the city of Turin inherits the Olympic flag from Salt Lake City, the hard-working artisans have the chance to make the biggest headlines.
