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Spotlight: Hail Cesar Monday 4 December, 2006
Football Italia rounds up the winners and the losers from Week 14 of the Serie A season
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The winners…
Julio Cesar (Inter)
He was supposed to be Inter’s weak link this season, but the Brazilian underlined his potential between the sticks against Siena. With reports that Inter are planning a summer raid for Gigi Buffon, Julio Cesar denied Tomas Locatelli and then Mario Frick with a spectacular penalty stop.
Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina)
It was always going to take time for the Frenchman to get to grips with his talent again after last season’s serious knee injury. Yet Frey was sublime against Lazio and a major factor in the 1-0 win over the capital giants. His saves from Stephen Makinwa and Massimo Mutarelli were immense.
Francesco Totti (Roma)
The captain underlined his fine run of form by inspiring the comeback against Atalanta. With his team 1-0 down, Totti rallied his troops to create chances and keep his cool from the spot. After missing three penalties already this season, he put two away to keep the Giallorossi in the title hunt.
The losers…
Empoli
The Tuscans were undoubtedly the biggest losers of the weekend when they were robbed of a goal. While goal-line technology was being tested out in Udine, it was needed in Turin. Francesco Marianini saw his header cleared ‘off the line’ by Simone Barone even though replays have underlined that the ball was well in. To make matters worse, Empoli lost 1-0.
Ricardo Oliveira (Milan)
It was another day to forget for a Milan striker. This time it was the Brazilian’s turn to go missing during the 2-2 with Cagliari. He may be dealing with some significant off the field problems, but the summer signing was a disaster in Sardinia. He was, unsurprisingly, replaced at the break by Marco Borriello.
Simone Loria (Atalanta)
His goals have been making the headlines in recent weeks, but Simone Loria had a nightmare at the back against Roma. He had some difficulty in keeping track of Roma’s attacking midfielders and was guilty of bringing down Simone Perrotta for a penalty. Not his greatest game in the Nerazzurri shirt by some way…
The goals…
Hernan Crespo (Inter)
The Argentine made the game against Siena safe with a strike of the highest quality. He sprung the offside trap, toe-poked the ball past Daniele Gastaldello to then mini-chip the onrushing Alex Manninger. Cool, classy and clinical.
Victor Obinna (Chievo)
The Nigerian has now grabbed four goals in two games and his first against Livorno on Sunday was splendid. Having picked up the ball in midfield, the youngster converged on goal with a mazy run to coolly slide the ball across Marco Amelia into the back of the net.
Gianluca Comotto (Torino)
Torino’s 100th birthday party celebrations went off with a bang thanks to a rare Gianluca Comotto goal. The defender sealed the win with an 88th minute cracker as he cut in from the right wing to unleash an unstoppable left-footed drive into the top corner.
The numbers…
Viola vengeance
Fiorentina’s win over Lazio was their first at home after eight attempts against the Romans. The Viola hadn’t collected the three points at the Franchi since Gabriel Batistuta scored twice in November 1995. Since then, there had been three draws and five Lazio wins – with the Biancocelesti winning on the last four occasions.
Inter open Trap door
Inter’s start to the season has mirrored their record breaking 1988-89 campaign when Giovanni Trapattoni’s men lifted the Scudetto after 11 wins and three draws from their first 14 ties. The 2-0 over Siena was also their seventh in a row and is now just one shy of what they achieved in 1939-40, 1964-65 and 1988-89.
Picchi punctured
Livorno lost their first home game of the season after they were finally punctured in front of their home fans. The Amaranto and Marco Amelia hadn’t conceded a goal at home for 702 minutes with the last coming in a 2-0 loss to Udinese back on April 8, 2006.
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Words: Antonio Labbate
ტურის საუკეთესო ჟულიო სეზარი,იმსახურებდა
მიმაგრებული სურათი
· 
იტალია 2006-07 წლების სეზონი, სერი A და სერია B(:D)
