Post by Salem6 on Nov 9, 2006 6:49:21 GMT
If you follow Italian football even a little - and are over 25 years of age - the words 'Napoli versus Juventus' may well bring some hefty names to mind. In the light blue you can picture Maradona, Careca, Zola and Fonseca. On the black-and-white side big hitters like Platini, Boniek, Zidane and maybe Ian Rush spring to mind. In the late Eighties and early Nineties, these two well-loved teams had some terrific tussles, sometimes for the title.
They met again on Monday at the Stadio San Paolo in front of another full house (70,000-ish) like the good old days, but this game had a very interesting distinction - it was their first confrontation as two Serie B sides. These fallen giants have seen some tough times recently (some self-inflicted) but the passion and majesty of the fixture still remains - a full stadium being testament to that.
Truth be told, the first half was utterly dire, with the first shot on target not arriving until the 37th minute - and even then it was straight into Napoli keeper Iezzo's arms. Perhaps the enforced absences of stars such as Nedved, Trezeguet, Paolo Cannavaro and a spot on the bench for new Naples idol Roberto De Zerbi were to blame for the turgid nature of the first 45 minutes.
Whatever the reason, the pre-match entertainment proved to be much more fun than the football. We aren't talking about a lovely DJ set and cheerleader display here, but the continued booing and whistling of the ridiculously low-flying police helicopter every five minutes, inviting the locals to give the middle-finger salute to the airborne cops, and the cheering of the Curva A nutcases who dared to break through the security cordon and lob flares and bangers into the visiting fans' enclosure.
Oh how everyone laughed and clapped when an ear-splitting boom went off ten inches from those travelling supporters. The stuff on the pitch may not have been particularly effulgent and sparking, but the gunpowder-sodden rockets landing on the Turin folks' heads were certainly eye-catching and hair-raising. In Maradona's former stamping ground, the barometer for hatred and fear is the intensity of the attack you come under before kick-off. Judging by the 'Guy Fawkes Goes Psycho' show, the Old Lady still isn't a welcome tourist in Nap.
Thankfully things got much better after the break, when both sides started to make an effort to carve the opener. It came in the 68th minute from a harshly-given free-kick outside the penalty area to the left, which little Alex Del Piero stroked in imperiously. He has his critics, that tiny fella, but at set-pieces he is still a genius and was the best player all night.
Stung onto action, the home coach Edy Reja took off his industrious but much-maligned skipper Francesco Montervino (who had been put on the right wing - a bizarre position for a tough tackling Gattuso-esque player) and put on the enigmatic ex-Catania star De Zerbi. The change worked and six minutes later the equaliser came via Uruguayan midfielder Bogliacino, who smacked a crisp low shot under the helpless Gigi Buffon.
By now the Zebras were starting to look shaky on their hooves and most likely to yield as Napoli piled on the pressure. But despite a couple of flashy misses from both teams, neither got really close to the knockout blow and 1-1 is how it ended.
At the final whistle the home faithful were more than happy with having pierced the Juve rearguard which had been so tight in recent weeks (they clearly missed the unfit Boumsong. And it is not often you can say that) and the Turin giants will be pleased to have garnered a point from a potential southern Italian banana skin.
There is a long way to go before we will know whether this fixture will take place again next season in Serie A, but it was certainly worth the wait and brought out the best in a Napoli side which has struggled this term.
The Bianconeri goal confirmed once again that when you are talking about true dead-ball specialists, there aren't many better than 'Alex of the Peter'. Let's just hope his fans had brought their ear plugs with them.
Sheridan Bird
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