Molto gioia e un po di tristrezza

By: Joe | July 27th, 2008

Napoli’s first European night at the San Paolo in 14 years was reason to celebrate. Even before the 1-0 victory against Greek side Panionios (2-0 aggregate), the 3rd round Intertoto Cup match represented just how far this the partenopei have come. It was only four years ago Italian movie mogul Aurelio De Laurentis literally built this squad from the ground up. On Saturday night, 65,000 tifosi came to celebrate and see a bit of magic. It’s hard to imagine any stadium in the world drawing 65,000 fans for an Intertoto match. Our fans may not be the most pleasant or well-behaved. They sure do know how to represent though.

As for the match itself, Napoli controlled the majority of the play. Unfortunately, controlling the play and getting your opponents on their heels isn’t the same as sticking the ball in the back of the net. Panionios had a few gilt-edged opportunities including hitting the post late in the first half and keeper Genarro Iezzo made a miraculous save to preserve the clean sheet in the game’s dying moments. The night however belongs to Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik. The day before Hamsik’s 21st birthday he scored the decisive goal that put Napoli through. The goal was a thing of beauty as Brazilian striker Inacio Pia dribbled through two defenders in the box, crossed the ball just outside the six-yard box where it was nodded down by German Denis who found the wide open Slovak.

The ‘tristezza’ or sadness comes amidst reports that Uruguayan midfielder (who started just behind Denis in coach Edy Reja’s 3-5-1-1) Mariano Bogliacino fractured a bone in his foot. Apparently Napoli don’t trust any Italian doctors as Bogliacino will undergo surgery in Barcelona. He’s expected to miss up to three months. With Ezeqiel Lavezzi and Andrea Russotto both occupied with national team duty for the Beijing Olympics, Napoli are now severely short-handed up top. Bogliacino has played extremely well despite getting an uneven amount of playing time. He’s very adept at getting himself into dangerous situations, but because he isn’t an out-an-out striker, his finishing isn’t quite representative of the contributions he makes to the club. In any case, he’ll be sorely missed if only for his ability to help control the midfield and provide dangerous crosses from the left flank.

The time for Pia and Roberto De Zerbi is now at hand. With the start of the season rapidly approaching and a two-legged tie to enter the EUFA Cup group stage set for August 14 and 28, Napoli have a long road ahead of them…and it’s still July for God’s sake!

For now though, let’s revel in the victory. My second favorite punching bag, Gianluca Grava, started on the right side in Reja’s 3-man backline. The 17-year vet is normally a paragon of suckage. However, he played an almost flawless game. On a few occasions he nodded the ball to safety and was able to anticipate the run of play and get himself in proper position. You have to figure that we dodged a bullet having Grava in there and we’ll all feel much better when we get Fabiano Santacroce back from his injury (should be ok the August 14 match) or even Leandro Rinaudo who missed the match due to a red card he foolishly (and unfairly) picked up in the first match against Panionios.

Napoli youth product Luigi Vitale may just convince the club they don’t need to go and get a left-winger. Vitale routinely got himself involved in the offense yesterday and didn’t leave the Azzurri too exposed in defense. He clearly has a nose for the ball and is far more dangerous than Mirko Savini who looks to be dealt somewhere shortly. Napoli’s captain for much of the campaign last year looks to have played his last match at the San Paolo.

We’ll know our opponent on August 1 when UEFA holds its draw in Nyon, Switzerland. This years UEFA Cup has some great sides already qualified while the following squads are looking to advance to the group stage: Hajduk Split, Salsburg, Hertha Berlin, Brøndby, Manchester City, FC Copenaghen, FC Moscow, Gent, Slovan Liberec, Besiktas, AEK Athens, Aris Salonicco, Lokomotiv Sofia, Young Boys, Grasshopper e Zurigo, Red Star Belgrade, Rennes, Aston Villa, Sporting Braga, Sturm Graz & Deportivo La Coruna (SPA). The following sides have already qualified for the group stage:
Valencia, Racing Santander, Portsmouth, Everton, Tottenham, Club Brugge, Milan, Sampdoria, Udinese, Nancy, Saint-Etienne, Paris Saint Germain, Metalist Charkiv, Hamburger, Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Motherwell, Benfica, Maritimo e Vitoria Setubal, Rapid Bucarest, Dinamo Bucarest, Unirea Urziceni, Politehnica Timisoara, Feyenoord, Ajax, Heerenveen, NEC, CSKA Mosca, Baník Ostrava & Kayserispor.

Napoli-Panionios highlights