Month: April 2008

In the first 20 minutes of the match against A.S. Roma the players of Genoa had to search where to play the ball. Roma took advantage of this problem and scored twice in this period. Against Torino we won’t have that problem because our experienced playmaker Omar Milanetto is recovered. Mr. Gasperini misses Paro, Santos and Masiero against the Granata, while it is doubtful if Juric and Danilo can play. Tomorrow at the last training the staff makes the decision about these last 2 midfieldplayers.  

The openingmatch of the 32nd playround of Serie A between A.S. Roma and Genoa had many different faces. In the first 20 minutes Roma was the boss in the field and Genoa played very nervous which lead to a 2-0 score by goals of Taddei (error of Rubinho) and Vucinic (fantastic goal, but Bovo touched the ball ?!). After the 2-0 Roma thought the match was over and they wanted to freeze it thinking about Manchester United next Wednesday. Genoa got stronger minute by minute, but the score at halftime rested 2-0.

In the second half Genoa was the best team in the field. In the 58th minute Borriello’s softly shot was blocked by goalkeeper Doni, but towards Marco Rossi who scored his second goal this week: 2-1. Only 1 minute later substitute Leon (he came in the field to substitute heavy injured Danilo) scored with a fantastic shot from a few meters outside the penaltyarea the 2-2 equalizer.

Of course A.S. Roma was not happy with this goal and they tried to come back in the match again, but Genoa remained the best team in the field till referee Banti started to help the Romanisti. Even the Dutch tv-commentator in the stadium couldn’t understand the decisions of these referee from Livorno. In the 80th minute Marco Borriello made a stupide foul on Taddei in the penaltyarea and gave referee Banti the chance to give his Roma a penalty, which De Rossi scored: 3-2. This was too much; very sportive gentleman Genoa-trainer Gian Piero Gasperini could not control himself anymore and was send away with a red card which says more about referee Banti than Mr. Gasperini ……

Over 1500 Genoa-supporters travel to the capital of Italy to support the team 505 kilometers away from home. The first match this season between the two teams ended in an undeserved 0-1 victory of A.S. Roma. The goal was scored in the last minute by ex-Genoa player Christian Panucci who headed a corner (his speciality) behind Rubinho. Tomorrow Genoa can revanche themselves and show the quarterfinalist in Champions League that we are on the way to the top !

In the field tomorrownight in Stadio Olimpico there are no playmakers. Both playmakers of Genoa: Omar Milanetto (got injured yesterday at the training) and Matteo Paro (fantastic shot on the post in the first match this season) are injured like Francesco Totti of Roma. Also the other playmaker of A.S. Roma: Pizarro can not play tomorrow because he is banned after his yellow card last week in Cagliari. With Genoa both Ivan Juric and Abdoulay Konko have to substitute Omar Milanetto.

Today the airplane from Cristoforo Colombo took these 20 Genoa-players to Rome: 

Goalkeepers: 1 Lanza, 83 Rubinho, 73 Scarpi. 

Defenders: 3 Bovo, 18 Criscito, 25 De Rosa, 23 Ghinassi, 16 Lucarelli.

Midfielders: 8 Danilo, 29 Fabiano, 28 Juric, 24 Konko, 7 Rossi, 68 Vanden Borre.

Forwards: 22 Borriello, 21 Di Vaio, 9 Figueroa, 11 Leon, 14 Sculli, 38 Wilson.

Genoa’s very talented defender Domenico Criscito trained yestersday for the first time after his injury against Inter with the group and 22 years old Brazilian striker Wilson played with the Primavera-team of Genoa against Mantova (4-1) and scored 3 times. Both players are ready to play Saturday against A.S. Roma and can substitute the injured Santos and Masiero. Yesterday Lega Calcio decided that Genoa-Torino will be played on Sunday 13th April at 15.00 hours and not on Saturday 12th April at 18.00 hours. Because of safety-rules the Sicilian derby Palermo-Catania now is fixed on Saturday-evening in stead of the “friendly-match” Genoa-Torino.