Roma in the Coppa [R]

Antonio Cassano and Francesco Totti are among the group pf players called up for Friday's first leg of Roma's round of 16 matchup with Siena. Montella was left off the roster after appearing for Italy yesterday although De Rossi is included (but I'll be surprised if he starts). Mancini was also allowed to rest. Here is the full list:

Aquilani, Briotti, Candela, Cassano, Corvia, Curci, D'Agostino, De Martino, De Rossi, Ferrari, Grillo, Mexes, Mido, Pelizzoli, Perrotta, Sartor, Scurto, Totti, Virga

 

Not that the Coppa matters THAT much, but that Roma couldn't even beat Siena at home is yet another sign of the times. Totti almost saved the day when he came on in the second half and tied it the game, but Flo's late goal won it for the Tuscans. I'm amazed De Rossi started - AND played the full match - after featuring heavily for Italy on Wednesday. I guess he's only 20 and full of energy, but still...

Curci; Sartor (1' st Scurto), Mexes, Ferrari, Candela; Aquilani (1' st Totti), Perrotta, De Rossi, D'Agostino; Mido (35' st Corvia), Cassano

5600 fans showed up at the Olimpico. Must've seemed like the Bayer game all over again.

 

Sorry, the Italian tabellino notation is terribly confusing. They list the time for each half and indicate the half by pt or st. pt = primo tempo, st = secondo tempo, so 1' st means the sub took place at halftime.

I think the reason they do it this way is because, if you use continuous time from 0 to 90, it can be confusing when you say 47'. Is it 2 minutes into injury time of the first half or 2 minutes into the second half? In other countries, they solve this problem simply by writing the former as 45+2, but in Italy they do it as I explained above.

 

Second leg is Thursday - game kicks off at 11:30 am EST. Even though the game is away, I see Roma overturning the 2-1. Siena is in a real bad patch right now, just changed coaches, and in the relegation zone. They'll probably be more concerned about the upcoming league match (a death struggle with Atalanta). But we'll see .... winner gets Fiorentina in the quarters.

 

This time, however, they did manage to resume play after a delay of an hour. Roma leads the game 5-1 now (and 6-3 on agg). BTW, this game is in Siena. It's not clear which fans were at fault, but of course everybody jumps on it right away because Roma's involved.

Goals from Dellas, Totti, Cassano, Montella, and Corvia. Certainly no second string team for Roma!!

 

Roma has been ordered by the FIGC to play their next home match in the Coppa (scheduled for Jan 26 vs Fiorentina) at a neutral site, behind home doors, after the game at Siena was disrupted by travelling fans throwing smoke bombs onto the field of play.

 

Roma's appeal was successful - in part. The Fiorentina game will be played at the Olympic Stadium, but it will still be behind closed doors.

 

Now Roma's punishment has been reduced again under further appeal. No closed-door ban - just a fine.

 

Roma hosts Fiorentina at the Olimpico on Wednesday in the first leg of their quarterfinal match. Pretty wierd since they just played on Sunday, but I'm sure the lineups will be quite different.

Here is the list of players on the squad for the game:

Aquilani, Cassano, Corvia, Cufrè, D'Agostino, Dacourt, Dellas, De Rossi, Ferrari, Mexes, Montella, Pelizzoli, Sartor, Scurto, Totti, Zotti, Cerci, De martino, Freddi, Simonetta.

although Sartor is reported to be headed to Genoa on loan and may already be with the Serie B team. The last three on the list are Primavera (U-20 team) players. Young Daniele Corvia is expected to start in place of Totti.

Game kicks off at 12 noon EST.

 

Roma's lineup vs Fiorentina:

Zotti, Ferrari, Mexes, Dellas, Cufre, Aquilani, Dacourt, De Rossi, Montella, Corvia, Cassano.

Pretty much the regular team except for Zotti and no Totti (had to write that .

 

Roma won the first leg 1-0 on a first-half goal by DeRossi. Not a safe lead by any means, but no away goal was conceded. Scurto, D'Agostino, De Martino were second-half subs coming on for Mexes, Dacourt and Corvia. Rumors have D'Agostino being transferred to Messina in the near future, so I wonder if this was his last appearance before moving to another giallorossi. If so, he could play for Messina against Roma in the Olimpico on Sunday.