From the papers
April 19, 2001
Juventus Official Site
LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT reports
on the opening up of the Scudetto race, with Lazio’s win over Parma last
night raising the Biancoceleste to within 7 points of Roma, and 3 of Juve.
Batistuta is nevertheless remaining confident of his team's league domination:
“Nobody can take us”, while Del Piero takes up the challenge: “I’m betting
on a comeback”. Looking towards the next clash, there’s reports that Dutch
team coach, Van Gaal, may deprive Juve's Anti-Parma line-up of Van der
Sar on Sunday, as the nation prepare to take on Cyprus in their crucial
World Cup qualifier on April 25th. Perhaps the Bianconeri should be thankful
they are not Barca, as the Spanish side are threatened with losing 5 of
their first team through the fixture. In the meantime, away from the field,
Zidane has been busy raising money for charity, by auctioning the boots
he wore in the France-Germany friendly.
The IL CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
is also fuelling the fire between the top two with words from Del Piero
and Batistuta. Meanwhile, there is recognition from their clubs that the
Scudetto is no longer a two-horse race. On Sunday’s game, Ancelotti is
hopeful that the Gialloblù's midweek fixture will show: “Parma have
given a lot and could be tired”. The coach is reportedly unlikely to make
changes to a winning side, though, and despite rumours of players absent
for national fixtures, the Roman daily expects both Van der Sar and Davids
to play on Sunday.
As well as confident words
from Del Piero, TUTTOSPORT returns to team worries for Ancelotti. If deprived
of his Dutch stars, the coach will be forced to call up veteran keeper,
Rampulla, and youth team number 1, Mirante, to the bench. Next, there’s
the usual gossip from the transfer market, this time with Monaco’s Nonda
overshadowing interest for Toni, and crucial times in the tentatives to
bring Cagliari’s Honduran centreforward, Suazo, to Turin. Apparently, the
battle to bring Vieira to Italy has also been widened to include Inter.
Finally, there’s room too for celebrity stories, as the Italian astronaut
Guidoni is due to soon take his Bianconeri fanaticism into space, Pessotto
joins his team mates on the Web, shortly to be followed by Montero, and
Pippo Indaghi and girlfriend Samantha allow themselves to be snapped by
the Paparazzi in the South of France.
.
