'Old Lady' Hands Capello a Beating
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Presse
MILAN, Italy (October 18, 1999 1:07 p.m. EDT (http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus showed it is still a force to be reckoned with in Italian soccer after cutting Fabio Capello's AS Roma down to size at the Olympic stadium.
Juventus, revered in Italy as "The Old Lady", put weeks of discontent behind them with a 1-0 victory on Sunday night which hoisted the club into joint second place with Inter Milan.
It was a personal triumph too for Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, who had been booed on his previous outing but was this time hailed for his match winning free-kick in the 50th minute, a copy of the one he steered past Manchester United's Peter Schmeichel at Old Trafford in 1997.
The triumph was marred though by a surprise sending-off in stoppage time after Zidane was judged to have taken a dive, his second yellow offence of the night.
"Juventus showed that they've got their game back together again," said the Frenchman. "That goal has put us back on course -- and me too.
"We've showed that when it comes to fighting for the league title, we're up there too. I'm not in top condition yet, but I'm improving. I just hope that it won't be long before I am at my peak."
Zidane's last league goal dates right back to last season.
Delighted coach Carlo Ancelotti quipped: "Let's hope we don't have to wait another 265 days before he scores another one."
Capello was in no mood for jokes though after the tough disciplinarian watched his team suffer the domination of the former world champions.
Insisting that the free-kick which Zidane scored from should never have been given, he went on to criticise how own side saying: "We missed a chance to go top. And that's the biggest disappointment."
But he added: "This wasn't a typical Roma performance. We were too timid, and when it came to dealing with their pressing, we didn't have the usual character which we've shown up till now.
"We were also making too many bad passes, even simple ones were going astray, especially the through-balls for the strikers."
However, Capello also accepted that Juventus, the most successful team in the history of Italian football, are still an opponent to be wary of.
"You have to give credit to Juventus," he said. "They played well. We weren't playing against any old team."
