COPPA ITALIA

After years of disappointment in the Coppa Italia, Roma have finally managed to take the trophy back to the capital. James Sugrue reports on how the Giallorossi ended their season on a high Third time lucky

The Roma fans must have feared the worst when they saw who they would be facing in this year’s Coppa Italia Final. The Giallorossi had been comfortably beaten by Inter at the last hurdle two years running, but they finally ousted the Scudetto winners at the third attempt. By the time Luciano Spalletti and his team headed north to Milan for the second leg, the trophy was almost in the bag. After being humiliated by the Nerazzurri in the Serie A title race, Roma hit back in the final weeks of the season with a League win at the San Siro and then took an astounding 6-2 lead in the first leg of the Coppa finale. Their desire for success was clear right from the start at the Stadio Olimpico, when captain Francesco Totti opened the scoring after just 90 seconds. There was no let up either, as the Giallorossi stormed into a 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes, leaving Inter shell shocked. The League champions never recovered from that early shock, despite Hernan Crespo’s brace giving them slender hopes. Of course, Roma still had plenty of work to do despite their impressive lead and no-one in the capital was taking anything for granted. “Before the first leg I said that our chances of winning were 50 per cent. Now I believe we are up to 51 per cent,” cautioned Spalletti ahead of the San Siro decider. “Inter have nothing to lose, therefore they will be favoured from a psychological point of view.” In the end his fears were apt as the Beneamata made a brave attempt at a comeback on their own turf, but the Giallorossi’s lead was just too great. Inter dominated proceedings during the first half and worked the Milan crowd into a frenzy with two quick goals after the break, meaning they were just two short of a miraculous comeback. The tension started to show as Ivan Cordoba was shown red for his second bookable offence, the first of which came after just 75 seconds, and then Coach Roberto Mancini

was dismissed from the bench for his protests at what he felt was an Inter penalty and a Julio Cruz goal that was ruled out for offside. The Giallorossi were also reduced to 10 men when Christian Panucci was sent off in injury time, but by then Simone Perrotta had already popped up to extend their aggregate lead to 7-4 and spark the travelling fans into wild celebrations. “This triumph is primarily for my Dad seeing as he is this club’s No 1 fan,” beamed Roma’s chief operating officer Rosella Sensi amidst the joyous scenes following the final whistle, referring to her father and President Franco Sensi who was forced to step back from his involvement with the club due to his poor health. “Winning is great, but I also want to compliment the players for everything they have done this season. Let us now just celebrate this victory and continue to work well, as we have been doing up to this point.” Few can begrudge Roma this victory. After trying so hard to keep pace with Inter throughout the Serie A season, whilst also playing some of Europe’s most exciting football, the Giallorossi would have been hard done by to end their campaign without a trophy, especially after their heartbreak in the Coppa over the past few seasons. Indeed, despite the competition’s relatively low prestige on the peninsula, this triumph could be the first step towards a big future for the club as they try and hold on to their foothold above the likes of Milan and Juventus in the calcio hierarchy. The Olimpico outfit now have a taste for success and that experience can help their promising squad step up another gear in the coming seasons, a view shared by Eternal City emblem Totti. “It is only right that we have been able to thrust an important trophy into the air,” declared the skipper. “This trophy won’t be the last, but only the first of a long line that must follow. Now we want to continue on this path with this squad and possibly a few new faces – it is up to the club and the Coach to decide on who.”

Roma captain Francesco Totti has called for the Giallorossi to use their Coppa triumph as a springboard for more success

18 Calcio Italia June 2007
RISULTATI Final, 1st Leg – May 9 Roma 6-2 Inter Totti 1 Crespo 20, 57 De Rossi 5 (39,095) Perrotta 15 Ref: Saccani Mancini 30 Panucci 55, 90 Roma: Doni; Panucci, Ferrari, Mexes (Cassetti 47), Chivu; De Rossi, Pizarro (Tonetto 87); Taddei (Aquilani 77), Perrotta, Mancini; Totti Inter: Toldo; Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Maxwell (Grosso 68); Zanetti, Dacourt, Stankovic, Figo (Vieira 52); Adriano (Recoba 58), Crespo

Final, 2nd Leg – May 17 Inter 2-1 Roma Crespo 51 Perrotta 88 Cruz 57 Panucci s/o 96 Cordoba s/o 75 (26,606) Inter: Toldo; Maicon, Burdisso, Cordoba, Zanetti; Vieira (Cruz 27), Cambiasso, Stankovic; Figo (Maxwell 86), Gonzalez (Recoba 58); Crespo Roma: Doni; Panucci, Ferrari, Mexes, Chivu; De Rossi, Aquilani (Pizarro 62); Taddei, Perrotta, Mancini (Tonetto 83); Totti Ref: Morganti (Roma win 7-4 on agg)

Roma finally banished their Coppa Italia curse to defeat Inter over two legs at the third attempt

Luciano Spalletti led Roma to their first Coppa Italia since 1991

COPPA ITALIA ROLL OF HONOUR 1922-2007 1922 Vado 1-0 Udinese 1936 Torino 5-1 Alessandria 1937 Genoa 1-0 Roma 1938 Juventus 3-1 Torino 1939 Amb. Inter 2-1 Novara 1940 Fiorentina 1-0 Genoa 1941 Venezia 3-3 / 1-0 Roma 1942 Juventus 1-1 / 4-1 Milan 1943 Torino 4-0 Venezia 1958 Lazio 1-0 Fiorentina 1959 Juventus 4-1 Inter 1960 Juventus 3-2 Fiorentina 1961 Fiorentina 2-0 Lazio 1962 Napoli 2-1 Spal Ferrara 1963 Atalanta 3-1 Torino 1964 Roma 0-0 / 1-0 Torino 1965 Juventus 1-0 Inter 1966 Fiorentina 2-1 Catanzaro 1967 Milan 1-0 Padova 1968 Torino (Winners in final group of 4) 1969 Roma (Winners in final group of 4) 1970 Bologna (Winners in final group of 4) 1971 Torino 0-0 Milan (5-4 pens) 1972 Milan 2-0 Napoli 1973 Milan 1-1 Juventus (6-3 pens) 1974 Bologna 1-1 Palermo (5-4 pens) 1975 Fiorentina 3-1 Milan 1976 Napoli 4-0 Verona 1977 Milan 2-0 Inter 1978 Inter 2-1 Napoli 1979 Juventus 2-1 Palermo 1980 Roma 3-2 Torino (aet) 1981 Roma 1-1 / 1-1 Torino (5-4 pens) 1982 Inter 1-0 / 1-1 Torino 1983 Juventus 0-2 / 3-0 Verona 1984 Roma 1-0 / 1-1 Verona 1985 Sampdoria 2-1 / 2-1 Milan 1986 Roma 2-0 / 1-2 Sampdoria 1987 Napoli 3-0 / 1-0 Atalanta 1988 Sampdoria 1-0 / 1-2 Torino (aet) 1989 Sampdoria 0-1 / 4-0 Napoli 1990 Juventus 0-0 / 1-0 Milan 1991 Roma 3-1 / 1-1 Sampdoria 1992 Parma 0-1 / 2-0 Juventus 1993 Torino 3-0 / 2-5 Roma 1994 Sampdoria 0-0 / 6-1 Ancona 1995 Juventus 1-0 / 2-0 Parma 1996 Fiorentina 1-0 / 2-0 Atalanta 1997 Vicenza 0-1 / 3-0 Napoli 1998 Lazio 0-1 / 3-1 Milan 1999 Parma 1-1 / 2-2 Fiorentina 2000 Lazio 2-1 / 0-0 Inter 2001 Fiorentina 1-0 / 1-1 Parma 2002 Parma 1-2 / 1-0 Juventus 2003 Milan 4-1 / 2-2 Roma 2004 Lazio 2-0 / 2-2 Juventus 2005 Inter 2-0 / 1-0 Roma 2006 Inter 1-1 / 3-1 Roma 2007 Roma 6-2 / 1-2 Inter

COPPA ITALIA WINNERS 1922-2007 9 Juventus 8 Roma 6 Fiorentina 5 Inter 5 Milan 5 Torino 4 Sampdoria 4 Lazio 3 Napoli 3 Parma 2 Bologna 1 Atalanta 1 Genoa 1 Vado 1 Venezia 1 Vicenza

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