Tuttosport 15/03/99
Filippo Inzaghi says that he couldn't believe that it was so easy to come
back and score immediately. Although he says that it will be hell in
Athens, he wants to remind everyone that Juve lived a similar, if not
worse, situation last year in Kiev. He says that he wants to stay at Juve
and that he has never had any problems with Carlo Ancelotti. Finally, his
thoughts go to then National team and his hope of playing alongside his
friend Christian Vieri.
Since Juve has understood that Inzaghi is essential, there is a possibility
that he will have a salary increase from his current Lit 3 billion (� 1.5
million, $ 1.8 million), especially considering that it is said that
Alessandro Del Piero will earn Lit 6 billion with his new contract and that
SuperPippo has received offers from Real Madrid, Roma, and Parma. Pippo's
current contract was signed during the 1998 World Cup.
With Saturday's goal, "Rapinator" reached 28 goals in his first two seasons
with Juve, placing 6th in Juve's history after WWII. The following table
only considers Serie A and international competition goals after WWII,
since, the Italian Cup isn't a valid example, the Italian Supercup only
started in 1988, and Italian soccer before WWII was completely different.
PLAYER / SERIE A / EUROPE / TOTAL
John Charles / (1957-59) / 28 + 19 / ------ / 47
John Hansen / (1948-50) / 15 + 28 / ------ / 43
Michel Platini / (1982-84) / 16 + 20 / 5 + 2 / 43
Roberto Baggio / (1990-92) / 14 + 18 / 9 + 0 / 41
Omar Sivori / (1957-59) / 22 + 15 / 0 + 3 / 40
Filippo Inzaghi / (1997-99) / 18 + 10 / 6 + 4 / 38
Karl Aage Hansen / (1950-52) / 24 + 12 / 0 + 1 / 37
Roberto Bettega / (1970-72) / 13 + 10 / 6 + 5 /34
Giampiero Boniperti / (1946-48) / 5 + 27 / ----- / 32
Pietro Anastasi / (1968-70) / 14 + 15 / 0 + 2 / 31
Obviously, Inzaghi can improve his total, since there are 9 games left in
Serie A and there is at least one more Champions League match.
In Saturday's match, Olympiakos goalkeeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos was
injured when he saved his goal from the incoming Proodeftiki striker
Protasov. Moreover, striker Ilija Ivic is still doubtful for Wednesday's
match.
All 80,000 tickets have been sold for Olympiakos-Juventus.
Olympiakos' history against Italian teams isn't a lucky one, since it was
always eliminated, except against Cagliari.
1959-60 Champions Cup vs. Milan ELIMINATED
1967-68 Champions Cup vs. Juventus ELIMINATED (0-0; 0-2)
1972-73 UEFA Cup vs. Cagliari QUALIFIED
1979-80 UEFA Cup vs. Napoli ELIMINATED
1990-91 Cup Winners' Cup vs. Sampdoria ELIMINATED
This Olympiakos' best European result so far, since its previous best was a
quarterfinals appearance in the 1992-93 Cup Winners' Cup.
Olympiakos' record in European competitions:
GP / W / T / L / GF / GA
114 / 45 / 23 / 46 / 147 / 169
Juventus has played 7 times in Athens, with 2 wins, 2 ties, and 3 losses.
Juventus has played 3 games in Spiridion Luis Stadium:
1982-83 Champions Cup vs. Hamburg 0-1
1987-88 UEFA Cup vs. Panathinaikos 0-1
1992-93 UEFA Cup vs. Panathinaikos 1-0 (Platt)
Both Paolo Montero and Angelo Peruzzi are doubtful for Wednesday's match,
while Juan Eduardo Esnaider, Nicola Amoruso, and Zoran Mirkovic have all
recoved from the flu.
Juventus will leave tomorrow at 9:00 AM on flight Air Europe PE 5852 and
will land in Athens at 12:10 PM due to an 1-hour time difference. Juve will
train Spiridion Luis Stadium tomorrow night to get accustomed the lights.
Nine hundred fans will follow Juventus, most of them from Turin and Milan.
All players, except Del Piero, will travel to Athens, even though Ciro
Ferrara and Gianluca Pessotto are still out. Ferrara, eager to come back,
started yesterday's training at 7:30 AM and worked out in the gym until
1:30 PM.
Thierry Henry said that he likes his position as left wing, since he can
find the open space he lacks when playing as a forward.
Daniel Fonseca, on the other hand, said that his situation in the past two months hasn't
changed, and will leave Juve at the end of the season if he can't find space.
