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Truly, A “Super”Coppa Match

August 25th, 2008 | By: Julian | 19 Comments »

So yeah, I didn’t see the entire match yesterday. I saw most of the first half but due to circumstances outside my control (it not being on TV and me not being home) I didn’t get to see the whole thing. And my first half impressions were: “Heh, looks like a decent game but I don’t know if there’ll be another goal, especially from Roma.” Imagine my surprise when I get home last night to find that there were 3 more goals and then PKs.

For those of you who didn’t see it, here’s a sparknotes version of the game which I compiled after reading tons of match reports and watching more of the game:

Muntari scored a scrappy goal after Roma’s backline had a horrible time clearing the ball, about halfway through the first half. But DDR equalized after the break with a rocket of a shot from outside the box, which Julio Cesar got a hand on but couldn’t stop from going in. Then Balotelli scored after beating the Roma defense on the offside trap in the 82nd minute. It looked like it was all over, but Vucinic headed in a ball in the 90th (which bounced off Stankovic and was nearly saved on the goal line by Ibra) to tie the game. No one scored in extra time, so onto PKs it went. Stank missed, and then Totti missed, sending it into sudden death. Juan missed for Roma, and Zanetti scored, giving Inter the trophy.
Video of the goals, but not the PKs, here.
Vid of the Pks here

Couple quick observations:
I was wrong about the superstar “cameos.” Zlatan played the whole game and even Totti had quite a bit of playing time.
Both captains played integral parts in the penalty shootout, albeit for different reasons. Totti missed the PK that would’ve won his side the game (a picture of John Terry in the CL final just flashed in my head), while Zanetti scored his that won Inter the trophy for their 4th time.
Jose Mourinho showed his tactical muscle. While at Chelsea he was pretty infamous for winning games with low scorelines, playing tight defense and hoofing long balls up the the lone striker. Here he played with a much more fluid, dynamic, passing Inter, which was a joy to watch. The game was a pure footy fan’s dream.

Some pics from the game, in no particular order:

DDR celebrating after his goal. Pure passion.

Two ace coaches took part in the match:

Inter’s new coach Jose Mourinho

And Roma’s Luciano Spalletti.

Riise, Roma’s new defensive signing, and Zanetti fighting for the ball.

Ibra and Juan dueling for the ball.

Finally, Inter celebrating their victory.
—-
In other news, Milan got Senderos from Arsenal today on a one year loan deal. I gotta admit- Milan look like they can go far this year. I doubted their mercato up till now but now that they finally have a defender, they look terrifyingly strong. There’s still a lot of factors to consider (Will Ronaldinho and Sheva go back to how they were 3 years ago or keep sucking?) but Milan fans should be pretty excited for this season.

As an aside, can any of you other bloggers (alessio, gianfranco) tell me how to post videos from the above links right on the site, instead of linking them? I can’t seem to find the appropriate html on 101greatgoals to do it. Thanks in advance.

Tags: Balotelli, DDR, Group E, Inter, Italy, Milan, Mourinho, Muntari, Roma, Senderos, Spalletti, Supercoppa, Totti, Vucinic, Zanetti

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Comments

By asem | August 25th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Julian, it was actually Juan that missed the PK.
Not Pizarro. He converted his.

By gianfranco | August 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

Julian, you need a video that has an embedablle link. You just paste the link into your word press window. Try a youtube video first, the embed link is on the right, then just find videos with links.

Posted from United States

By Julian | August 25th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

asem, thanks for pointing that out. I’ll edit the entry and fix the typo.

and gianfranco, I’ve seen some posts here that had vids from 101goals but I can’t find the embeddable link anywhere on the site. Thanks for the tip but do you know where to find the link on that site?

By alessio | August 25th, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Julian, 101great goals usually links videos instead of hosting the vids themselves. So it depends if the site hosting the vid allows embedding or not. I didn’t see it on there either so I guess not for those videos but maybe if you go to the source. I dunno, most sites are happy to spread their videos.

Posted from United States

By Julian | August 25th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Ah ok, thanks alessio. I wasn’t sure if I was even looking in the right place, but I guess I’ll find a different site to put vids up on the blog. Thanks again guys

By asem | August 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Either way…

D.D.R. IS A BEAST!
BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD!

By Julian | August 25th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Best in the world? I don’t know about that. He’s a great player for both club and country and he could be one of the best in the world. He’s definitely one of the most underrated players in the world, though. Most players who get props are strikers and goalscorers (ie, CRon).But DDR acts almost like a defender turned playmaker at times. He runs back and will play as a 5th defender when needed, but when the team attacks he’ll run up there and attack too.

By gianfranco | August 26th, 2008 at 5:41 am

Julian are you sure you are a Roma fan? You are way to rational, normal, and actually understanding positioning and player types!

Posted from United States

By Julian | August 26th, 2008 at 9:21 am

Ha gianfranco. Not all Roma fans are blind sighted and idiotic

By Stasio | August 26th, 2008 at 9:56 am

LOL now that they got a defender?? have you honestly ever see Senderos play, I am assuming no.

By MAD | August 26th, 2008 at 11:43 am

I don’t know about all that Gian, but it looks like we have here a post on a supposedly neutral board that mentions Inter– and Inter players– without apparent insult or derision to them or us fans.

In other news, the snowball fight in hell is for 3:00pm.

By Porchetta | August 26th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Milan will not settle for anything less than a Scudetto..the REAL FLAG BEARER of Italia , AC MILAN will fire on all cylinders this season…The non Italian team INTER, the Arabian team of Italia Napoli, the hooligan team of Italia Roma and the cheating team Juventus will succumb and bite the dust!!
Forza Milan!!Tu Sei Tutta La Mi Vita!!

By asem | August 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

JULIAN, ARE YOU CALLING ME BLIND-SIDED AND IDIOTIC??!?!?!
just kidding it’s cool.
i’m blinded by my love for ROMAAAAAAA.

By alessio | August 26th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Porchetta, but isn’t Milan the team of mixed dark blood? (Brazilians)

Posted from United States

By asem | August 26th, 2008 at 8:30 pm

Porchetta, let me know when your team has a defender that isn’t twice my age. (I’m 18 by the way) That was an exaggeration. But seriously, y’all only have what 2 players under 30 on your D-Line? and Bonera baaarely counts since he blows.

By Jeff | August 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

I love DDR too

Posted from United States

By Porchetta | August 27th, 2008 at 5:02 am

aseem, let us just wait for the action to begin, let the teams do the talking on the feild..Milan is better than all the teams in
1)offense..i dont think we need to clarify that, it is obvious..
2)midfield: can anyone please name a better midfield than the ones we have in the great Pirlo, new gattusso Flamini, ofcourse Rino Gattusso, Ambrosini, Brochhi, Seedorf????
Defense is a bit of a concern as aseem pointed out but i have all the faith in jankulowski, Senderos, Bonera, Zambrotta…..
Goalkeeping is OUR WEAK AREA…

By the way, Alessio, i was not talking about players,now a days each and every club in Europe has coloured players, i was talking about origins , history and prestigee..AC MILAN IS THE MOST SUCCESFUL EUROPEAN CLUB FOR THE LAST 16 YEARS OR SO..WE HAVE HAD SOME LEGENDS PLAYING FOR US…JUST TO QUOTE A FEW, FRANCO BARESI WHO WAS VOTED AS ITALIAN PLAYER OF THE CENTURY WAS OUR ICON AND AS A MATTER OF RESPECT, MILAN WITHDREW HIS NO.6 SHIRT FOREVER..PAOLO MALDINI , ARGUABLY THE BEST LEFT BACK OF ALL TIMES IS ANOTHER CLUB LEGEND..THEN WHAT ABOUT TASSOTTI, TRAPATTONI AND WHAT ABOUT THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BOY OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL GIANNI RIVERA????
Dont even compare cheating Juventus with Milan..Juventus brought referees and fixed matches and were demoted to serie B which is a shame!!Napoli by origins is an Arab club..The president Aurelio De Lorentis looks and rightfully resembles an Arab…the Napoli faithful cheer Argentina when they play Italia at San Paolo which is ridiculous..

Posted from Spain

By Paolo | August 27th, 2008 at 8:38 am

What are FRANCO BARESI, TASSOTTI, TRAPATTONI AND THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BOY OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL GIANNI RIVERA gonna do to help ypu win the scudetto this season? Why bother mentioning them? How is history going to help your cause for now?

Defence wins Championships. Milan does not have a good one. They don’t have a good keeper either. Your attack is not the best in Serie A but your midfield, arguably, just might be. Milan doesn’t have enough to be consistent enough to win this thing.

By Porchetta | August 27th, 2008 at 10:37 am

Paolo, again, it is better to see and judge on what we see on the feild..Lot of talking doesnt make sense..Milan has accomplished left and right backs in jankulowski and Zambrotta..Bonera needs a bit of fine tuning..nesta is still there, kalzade, senderos..
attackwise, if u find a better attacking club in italia than the likes of Kaka-pato-Dinho-Sheva—u must be joking………

Posted from Spain

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