[soccer addict]

Sunday 28th April 2002

Juventus coach Marcello Lippi believes Lazio can do his side a favour by beating Internazionale next week as the Serie A season heads into the final round with the Scudetto still up for grabs.

Two points separate first from third after Inter, Roma and Juve all won on Sunday.

Inter, who lead second-placed Juve by a point, face a difficult trip to the Stadio Olimpico next Sunday needing to win to be sure of clinching their first title since 1989.

Lazio face the prospect of handing the Scudetto to their bitter rivals Roma should they win the game, but go into it desperate for points themselves after defeat at Bologna on Sunday left them needing victory to qualify for the Uefa Cup.

Roma, meanwhile, travel to Torino, who would help city rivals Juventus with victory. Juve seem to face the easiest task against an Udinese side assured of safety.

"It was foreseeable that Inter and Roma would win today," Lippi said. "I have my thoughts on what will happen next, but I want to keep them to myself. I'm sure it will not be easy for any of us.

"Lazio still have a target to obtain and I'm sure they will play their match in the right way, as will Udinese against us and Torino at home to Roma.

"Of course, being on top is a great advantage for Inter. I don't think they can feel frightened by the idea of being there, but we must concentrate on winning our game as up against Lazio, nobody can be sure of winning."

Juve did their bit in ensuring another thrilling season finale by thumping Roberto Baggio's relegation-haunted Brescia 5-0 at the Stadio delle Alpi.

David Trezeguet scored a hat-trick and Alex del Piero two more as Lippi's attacking ploy, with Trezeguet, Del Piero, Marcelo Zalayeta and Pavel Nedved all on from the start, paid handsome dividends.

"I opted for this line-up as I wanted to end the game early in the first half, so I thought it best to play all our offensive cards," Lippi said.

"Zalayeta is in great condition and he showed that again. I replaced him only because I had to change things around after we had taken the lead.

"Thankfully we scored immediately after referee Racalbuto had mistakenly disallowed Zalayeta's perfectly good goal [on three minutes] for offside.

"David [Trezeguet] made amends four minutes later, showing the great strength of our attack. Everybody could see how good our forwards are, but I would like to emphasise the part Paulo Montero played despite being out of position," he added.

 

[Youness]

frankly.. even if we wanted.. do you think that we can beat Inter with such players !!
and I promise mate ! Lazio gonna lose against Inter , even if those fu-king mercenaries hold Inter for sometime the fans will invade the pitch.. that's already arranged...

sorry , but you already lost the scudetto

 

[chinq]

Now, do go ahead and throw the match, invade the pitch, kill the referee, flay Cragnotti and whatever moronic acts you guys can conceive. That's presuming anyone (cecco et al) to be actually stupid enough to do it and think they'll get away with it. It shouldn't come as any surprise though.

Fan(atic)s like these profess their love for Lazio all day long till their tongues turn (sky?) blue. This crap proves it to be just a pile of absolute gobsh!t. For these losers, the integrity and name of the club obviously means jack compared to personal spite, hatred and no mean dose of stupidity. These are the pricks which give their forums, clubs, sane Laziali and football a bad name.

Hilarious antics but I guess that's all that they're capable of.

I've nothing against SS Lazio and some really nice Laziali in xtratime. The a/m is solely intended for those *******s who always pollute the forums at this time of the year while cowering in their sh!tholes for the rest of the time. Seasonal disease and by the looks of the seizure, probably terminal.

Pathetic really ...

 

[ralford]

Intertoto...

I don't think the *mercenaries* will want to spend 3 weeks of their already short summer vacation (while exhausted from the WC) playing the Intertoto Cup, which is about as [email protected] a tournament as you can imagine.

That gives Lazio something to play for. I think they'll play well next week.

 

[IL TORO]

Lippi :finger:
He can plead all he wants but after the season ends one thing will be certain.... INTERNAZIONALE CAMPIONI D'ITALIA 2001/2002!!

 

[Speedy]

Cragnotti demands UEFA Cup spot

Cragnotti demands UEFA Cup spot Monday 29 April, 2002

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Lazio President Sergio Cragnotti has warned that failure to qualify for Europe next season would severally affect the club’s future plans.

The capital outfit will need to beat Scudetto chasing Inter in the final game of the season in a bid to avoid the indignity of having to play in the Intertoto Cup.

"The players will need to defend this club’s professionalism next week. To miss out on a UEFA Cup place would set us back many years," Cragnotti told Radio Anch’io on Monday.

"Lazio need to work to a new planned cycle and for this reason nothing is certain for next season. Obviously I want to keep hold of the best players even if I have to admit that this season’s failure is down to everyone.

"The Italian championship has become very difficult because the smaller clubs are well balanced. Something has definitely not worked and even the change in coaching staff failed to be of any use."

Lazio’s loss to Bologna on Sunday all but ended their hopes of qualifying for the Champions’ League. A defeat which led to director Massimo Cragnotti - Sergio’s son - warning the squad that they will be playing for their futures against Inter.

"We will need to assess many things and decide who deserves to stay and who doesn’t. Obviously Nesta and Crespo are excluded from this equation even if everyone is to blame for this term. Including the Coach," he said.

Meanwhile, defender Giuseppe Pancaro has maintained that he and his teammates will be looking to end the season on a high.

"The Champions’ League is almost definitely out of the question now," he admitted. "But we want to win at least a place in the UEFA Cup therefore we have to beat Inter. We want to have a good end to this poor season."










Moggi faith in Lazio intentions Monday 29 April, 2002

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Juventus director Luciano Moggi is confident that Lazio will do everything in their power to beat Inter next Sunday.

With just 90 minutes of the season left, Juventus need to beat Udinese next week and hope that Inter fail to win in the capital in order to pip the Nerazzurri to the title.

"We’re counting on Lazio but only because it is in their interests to win the game as they need to qualify for the UEFA Cup. They need a victory for themselves and not just for Juventus," Moggi told Radio Anch’Io on Monday.

"We’re not asking for anything from anybody apart from seriousness. Football is a lot cleaner than what people think. When players go onto the field they only have the intention of getting a win.

"I believe in Lazio’s good faith. They will want to finish the season well in front of their own fans in a bid to avoid the Intertoto Cup. I don’t think they will be lacking in motivation."

Juventus, just one point behind the leaders, have surprisingly re-entered the race despite being six points behind Inter just over a month ago. And Moggi has hailed his side’s efforts.

"Despite everything that has happened this season Juventus are still in with the possibility of lifting two trophies. We have the most prolific attack, the best defence and the League’s top scorer. Despite all our injury problems it has been a positive campaign," he added.

"Juventus have played a great championship. We’ve finished second for the last two years and it could happen again this year. If Inter win then we will simply turn our attention to next season."

There were also words of praise for strikers David Trezeguet – Serie A top scorer with 23 goals following his hat-trick against Brescia – and rising star Marcelo Zalayeta.

"Trezeguet is still young and is delivering what we were hoping for. He’s a born scorer who gets involved with team play. We bought him as a youngster and he is maturing.

"As is Zalayeta who we should keep an eye on because he’s a potential champion."

 

[Mikey]

This f*cking BS. We shouldn't ask for thier help and we shouldn't thank them IF they hold/beat Inter.

 

[air]

The rubentini can forget about getting any help from Lazio because Lazio will lose on purpose to Inter and Inter will win the scudetto. rubentus can trash Udinese 0-4 or 0-5 and it won't matter because Lazio will lose on purpose to Inter

 

[IVO]

What does it say about football when one coach has to "plead" to another team for help? Lazio should play the game to win, no matter what.

While they play to win, it's for themselves, not as a favour to Juve. Lippi probably said this because he might have fears that Lazio will not play to win.

 

[Beta]

Lazio cant cheat and fail this game intentionally because if they do that then they will have their stadium banned for several games and a very heavy fine and perhaps even have points deducted from them too.