From the papers

December 1st, 1999
Juventus Official Site

With their convincing result against Lazio at the weekend now firmly behind them, the Bianconeri must turn their attention to the match against Napoli in the Coppa Italia. Coach Carlo Ancelotti made clear in this morning’s Tuttosport that he considers the Coppa Italia to be an important tournament. Napoli are renowned in Italy for the ferocity of their supporters and, as Ancelotti pointed out, "the 70,000 crowd at the San Paolo stadium will really motivate us." In the Gazzetta dello Sport, Ancelotti repeated his respect for the tournament, saying "It has retained its appeal, and it has a long history. Of course, it wouldn’t be for me to question its relevance: I’ve won it four times."

The trip to Napoli will be special for Ciro Ferrara too, who will be revisiting his home town. "I’ve been thinking about this match for weeks now," Ferrara revealed, "And I’ve been telling those who’ve never been to Napoli’s stadium what it’s like."

Ancelotti will not have an easy time of it selecting his team, however. According to Tuttosport, Van Der Sar, Conte, Davids, Montero and Del Piero are all in doubt, although Esnaider is set to return after a spell on the sidelines through injury. Inzaghi and Kovacevic are like to partner each other up front. The latter has particular reason to perform well; Tuttosport suggests that he will be "keen to score again in an attempt to win a first-team place in League matches too."

Two further pieces of news today: A Hong Kong company is trying to buy rights to Del Piero’s image for the purposes of e-commerce. Finally, the sports dailies claim that Juventus are close to signing Nonda, Rennes’ 22-year-old forward. He is said to be lined up for a June arrival, for a reputed 30 billion lire (around £10m).
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