Two huge wins in a row, on the road no less. Man, Gilardino's goal was, um, a thing of beauty (hahaha.) Honestly it's kind of excrutiating to watch, I mean, how is Antonioli ever going to face his teammates after that? I remember he made a similar bumble when keeping at Roma the year they won the Scudetto. And then we get a huge, huge break at the end when Bazzani goes down and ... no call! Like gialloblu said, that was a clear penalty. Meanwhile Bresciano scored another pretty goal. Looks like he's getting on one of his hot streaks. What's he got now--five or six goals?
Call it luck, but this team is showing amazing guts and character. Hats off to the ragazzi, to Prandelli, and to us die-hard Parma fans. Faced with a total nightmare, AC Parma are fighting for a CL spot. Who wudda thunk it? If you can just suspend all you know of what's gone on for the last two months, it's almost like we're back in '99 again...
UEFA Cup, first leg. Pretty miserable performance out there in the snow. Hard to get anything going under such conditions, playing with that hilarious orange ball. The defense played well, Gencle's goal was just a real cracker.
From what I have seen of Juve lately Roma losing to Parma on Sunday won't help Juve's chances this year of retaining the scudetto. Trez's is out for a month and your defense is crap. That is why Juve won't win. Enjoy the Coppa Italia because that is the only trophy you have a realistic chance of winning this year
pre-game conditions Parma-Roma We had another huge blizzard blow through the region yesterday, dumping a good three or four inches of snow. The field was protected by a tarp. Nevertheless, the field should be pretty sloppy, 'pesante' as they say here. I imagine that will work to our advantage, slowing down Totti and Cassano. Forza Parma!!
Re: pre-game conditions Parma-Roma Good to know it will be played. 3 o 4 pollici sono 10 cm, almeno a Bologna e Reggio Emilia, ne ha fatto 30/40 cm (ie 1 feet) non credo che a Parma ne abbia fatta molto meno.
Parma 1-1 Roma [HT] The pitch actually looks great. And so did we for the first 28 minutes. After we scored, we didn't get the ball back until their equalizer. Were we just going to let Totti and Cassano come at us until they scored? Did we think maybe we should put some people near them to prevent them from playing freely? I don't know what our plan was, but it was crap. Cassano ran right between our centre-backs for about the fourth time and scored. They really have been ignoring him, which is BLOODY STUPID. Our goal, and the first half our were nice. I was just hoping we'd make it harder for them to equalize. We just couldn't get control of the ball again, and our defense just isn't good enough to try to hold out Roma for an hour... This is the first time I've seen Zicu, and he's not bad. He isn't quite there yet--some of his passes are off, and his one-on-one skills aren't so dangerous either. He's one of the reasons we couldn't keep hold of the ball so well. Hopefully we'll come out strong in the second half, again. FORZA GIALLOBLU!
Parma 14 Roma [FT] Wow, I really love Roma coming to the Tardini and slaughtering us every year. Especially when they let us have the lead first. The scoreline is just about right, I'm afraid. We looked good for half an hour, took the lead, and promptly decided we'd really rather let Roma win. The defending on all four of their goals was pretty bad, even though a few of their goals were pretty good. The Totti free-kick especially, because I knew exactly where it was going, so I could have blocked it! How many times have you seen a player or two from the kicking team line up at the end of the wall, then peel away as the ball flies straight through where they were and into the goal. And on the other two, we just didn't seem interested in marking people. Hint to Parma: the guys in red shirts are trying to score on you--and that's a BAD thing. Why don't we have a clue? Roma are a good team, no doubt. They are solid at the back (even though Dellas looked suspect for the first half-hour), have a solid midfield, and have Totti and Cassano up front to do whatever they want. We had no response to any of that, really, except Gilardino. Thank God for Brescia, eh? I don't know what to wish from tonights match, because I honestly wouldn't mind Roma catching up to Milan after watching them destroy us, but if AC do win, we stay in touch with Lazio...maybe a draw? Next match is at Modena next Saturday. Maybe we can learn how to defend before then...
You're exactly right--the field was fine and so was Roma. We were defeated by a superior team today, period. There's a sort of chicken-or-the-egg debate in wondering if their offense is really that good or our defense is really so pathetic. A little of both. Two road wins followed by two home losses, let's blame it on the snow. (Sardinia, there were 20-25 centimeters, as reported in the not so reliable Gazzetta di Parma.) Now let's go get a win in Turkey!
Turkey's going to be very very tough. Reminds me almost of that famous comeback we had against that Swedish side a few years ago, when we'd lost 3-0 away and then came back to win 4-0 at home. It was Stoichkov's finest hour as a gialloblu, just an incredible performance, and never to be repeated. But to go to Turkey and win by two goals now....um, I don't like our chances.
Out of UEFA Oh well, we were beaten pretty soundly in Ankara. I was hoping for a more inspired performance after the Roma debacle. You had it right, Parmigiano. Let's face it, after the January sell-off, this is not a club 'built' for more than one competition.
When Frey got sent off in the first half after committing a penalty, which led to 1-0, it was pretty much over for Parma.
OK, big derby in Modena. Can we bound back from the Roma and Turkey debacles? I'm guess a draw, a 2-2 drenched in balsamic vinegar.
Interesting that ex-Parma coach Alberto Malesani's job is on the line at Modena. If they lose this one, he might just be outta there.
Modena-Parma 2-2 Parmigiano, should we start calling you Nostradamus?? I heard there was even a drizzle of balsamic vinegar in Modena last night.
Talking about vinegar ... next time, dear cousins, bring salads instead of flares you sent towards us. Good game anyway, the draw tells the truth. Damn how cold it was, I'm still drenched! Allycks, were you @ the stadium?
No, I wasn't there. But I apologize for any flares nonetheless. Next time the 'Boys' ought to be more polite and throw small bite-sized chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano at you guys.
The day the ultras start hurling chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano at each other is the day I pick up and move the family to Parma. I didn't pick this name for nothin'. (As for Nostradamus, he may have guessed some floods and eclipses and what not, but I seriously doubt he could have ever divined 'tredici' on the schedina...)
Parma-Brescia 2-2 A well-played game on both ends, though we blew the lead twice. What can you say about Brescia's second goal? Pure Baggio magic.
I would love to see Baggio's goal. Too bad we didn't win, but Baggio is my all-tiime favorite Italian player, more so than even Zola. He deserved way more than he got from the national side and of course Ancelotti was dickhead for not bringing him to Parma when he had a chance.