Tuttosport 19/03/99
Carlo Ancelotti, after 45 days of work, has finally received the first
cheers from the fans in yesterday's training.
Ancelotti says that he's happy, since he can work with tranquility and that
only at the end of the season there will be grades. He admits that, if Juve
got eliminated Wednesday, the situation would have become dramatic.
Ancelotti would like to meet Manchester United in the next round, but he
also says that the Juve that played in Athens will not reach the final.
Finally, he says that he would love to have Arrigo Sacchi's "so-called
luck" (il culo di Sacchi), since it would be a quality and not a fault.
Meanwhile, Olympiakos coach Dusan Bajevic said that he and the team will
root for Juventus to win it all, but says that it's hard to swallow the
elimination "after being so close to Paradise". If it can be any help,
Greek newspapers defend Olympiakos.
Juve's plane arrived yesterday in Turin at 5:00 AM, while another plane
full of Juve fans headed to Milan was first made landed in Rhodes since
there was a bomb scare. The plane eventually made it to Milan.
Both Gianni and Umberto Agnelli called Ancelotti to congratulate him for
achieving the Champions League semifinals. Juve president Vittorio
Chiusano, who didn't attend the game in Athens due to the flu, will be in
his seat at Delle Alpi for the match against Roma.
Juve will train today and tomorrow afternoon before heading to the team's
hotel to prepare for Sunday's game. A lot of fans are expected from Rome,
so police is making plans to avoid scuffles between opposing factions.
In this month's issue of "Forza Juve" (Juve's kids magazine), a new
character in the on-going comic strip will be presented: Otto Spaccaossa
(Otto Bonebreaker), who will be the comic representation of Ancelotti.
Other character are Alex (Alessandro Del Piero), Pippo (Filippo Inzaghi),
and Paolone (who represents the typical Juve kid fan).
This will be Juve's ninth appearance in the Champions Cup semifinals. Here
are the results of the eight previous appearances:
1967-68 Benfica-Juventus 2-0 ; 1-0
1972-73 Juventus-Derby County 3-1 ; 0-0
1977-78 Juventus-Bruges 1-0 ; 0-2 a.e.t.
1982-83 Juventus-Widzew L�dz 2-0 ; 2-2
1984-85 Juventus-Bordeaux 3-0 ; 0-2
1995-95 Juventus-Nantes 2-0 ; 2-3
1996-97 Ajax-Juventus 1-2 ; 1-4
1997-98 Juventus-Monaco 4-1 ; 2-3
Antonio Conte says that this is his revenge to all the people that didn't
believe in him: "They wanted to sell me, they told me that I wasn't part of
the team's plans, they stripped me of the captaincy, they made people
believe that I was a sort of bust, but Marcello Lippi is part of the past,
now only the future counts and I hope that Bayern Munich isn't part of this
future. If I resurrected it's only thanks to me."
With Michelangelo Rampulla having to serve a 1-match ban and Angelo Peruzzi
not fully fit, Morgan De Sanctis will play Sunday against Roma. It is not
known if Peruzzi will make it as a substitute or if Stefano Pergolizzi will
replace him. Peruzzi will miss the call-up for Italy's two matches next
week (against Denmark in Copenhagen and Belorussia in Ancona).
Both Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids are doubtful for Sunday's match:
Zidane suffered a slight sprain to the right knee and Davids has a bruise
on the same knee. Thierry Henry and Alessio Tacchinardi are ready to
replace them, with Henry playing on the left side. Zizou might also miss
France's matches against Ukraine and Armenia.
Juan Eduardo Esnaider also suffered an ankle sprain and either Daniel
Fonseca or Nicola Amoruso will replace him.
Michele Serena will probably move to Parma next season, although he's being
followed by Inter and Juve. Juve will probably look elsewhere, specifically
for Roberto Carlos. Real Madrid wants 27 billion lire (� 14 million, $ 16
million), but Juve wants to offer a player in exchange to diminish the
money amount. The other possibility is Felipe of Vasco da Gama, but the
Brazilian team doesn't want to part itself from its best players, although
Juve has an option on him with his agent Pedrinho. Luciano Moggi will meet
today Pedrinho to discuss it. Meanwhile, Juve is still after Michel Salgado
of Celta Vigo, but Real Madrid is also pursuing the player.
