Author: Hans

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. 

Again a victory that brings our number of points on 42, which means that Genoa also next year plays in Serie A. A fantastic result 7 matches before the end of the season. With the returned Rubinho, Bovo, Di Vaio and Borriello in the line-up Genoa played a good match that was decided in the second half by goals of Borriello and Rossi.

In the 59th minute a shot of Marco Rossi 5 meters outside the penalty-area was blocked by goalkeeper Campagnolo, but towards Marco Borriello which meant his 18th goal of the season. With 18 goals he shares, 7 matches before the end of the season, the clubrecord with Roberto Pruzzo in the year 1976-1977 as most scoring Genoa-player in a Serie A season. The next weeks Super Marco has the possibility to be Genoa’s clubrecord holder and to resist being the first topscorer of Genoa in Serie A ever.

It lasted till the 92nd minute to score the second and deciding goal. A cross of Fabiano gave Marco Rossi the opportunity to score his first Genoa Serie-A goal in his 100th match in Serie A (18 with Salernitana, 36 with Fiorentina, 19 with Como and today his 27th with Genoa). A great end of a good match which brought our 11th victory this season.

In the first half of the season Genoa lost in Reggina by 2-0. Now the red and blue boys want revanche. The best Genoano in the match against Reggina was Marco di Vaio and there is a big chance that he will be in the line-up tomorrow because Leon played in the United States this week with Honduras against Colombia. Mr. Gasperini selected the following 20 players for tomorrow: 

Goalkeepers: Rubinho, Scarpi.

Defenders: Bovo, De Rosa, Lucarelli, Santos.

Midfielders: Danilo, Fabiano, Juric, Konko, Masiero, Milanetto, Rossi, Vanden Borre.

Forwards: Borriello, Di Vaio, Figueroa, Leon, Sculli, Wilson.

Luxuriously problems for Mr. Gasperini. Almost all the players are ready to play against Reggina next Sunday, so he has to choose a few players that have to watch the match from the platform. For the first time this season all 6 forwards: Borriello, Figueroa, Leon, Di Vaio, Sculli and Wilson (scored twice this week against Vado) are fit and Mr. Gasperini wants to keep his 3-4-3 system, so he has to choose between Borriello and Figueroa in the line-up. Also Rubinho is ready to defend the goal next Sunday, while Scarpi played a fantastic match against Palermo last week. Lots of succes Mr. Gasperini !

Genoa coach Gian Piero Gasperini today told the press that he wants at least 51 points at the end of the season. Halfway the season Genoa had 25 points and our coach wants to see progression in the second half of the season, so at least 26 points.

In the first 11 matches of the season Genoa collected 14 points (3 victories against Udinese, Napoli + Cagliari and 5 draws against Catania, Livorno, Sampdoria, Fiorentina and Palermo) just like in the first 11 returnmatches (4 victories against Catania, Udinese, Napoli + Palermo and 2 draws against Livorno and Inter). In the last 8 matches of the first half of the season Genoa earned 11 points (3 victories against Parma, Lazio + Atalanta and 2 draws against Torino and Empoli), so now in the last 8 matches Mr. Gasperini wants at least 12 points on top of the 39 points we have now. Looking at the standings it is the best if we beat in any case Reggina, Empoli and Parma that are all in the relegation-zone and we draw or also win against Torino, Siena and Lazio.