Die U21-EM in Deutschland

[Marcelinho]

Wäre dieses dumme zweite Tor nicht gefallen, wäre vielleicht noch was gegangen. Gegen Italien als Sieger habe ich aber natürlich auch nichts

[Pinturicchio]

[Pinturicchio]

U21 Euro Championship Final - 8/6/04 (20.45)

Italy 3 - 0 Serbia Montenegro

De Rossi 32 (I), Bovo 84 (I), Gilardino 85 (I)

Bochum, Germany (21,000)

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Italy have won the Under-21 European Championships for the fifth time in seven editions with a crushing 3-0 victory over Serbia Montenegro.

The European Championships were decided between Italy and Serbia Montenegro, but it was the fourth time these two sides had met in the last year. They also shared a qualifying group and the opening Group phase of this tournament.

Italy had emerged with a controversial 2-1 victory last week, as Serbia had a late goal disallowed for a dubious offside position. The Serbs qualified from Group A in second position and beat Sweden on penalties in the Semi-Final.

The Azzurrini were without the suspended Giampiero Pinzi, but Giandomenico Mesto returned to the starting eleven after recovering in record time from a thigh injury. Giuseppe Sculli again took that wider role behind lone striker Alberto Gilardino, although the Parma man was struggling with an Achilles tendon problem.

Serb captain Andrija Delibašic and Djordje Jokic were both suspended, so Miladinovic went back to help out the defence.

Claudio Gentile's men had a very poor start to this competition, but were aiming for a record fifth victory in the last seven editions of this trophy. Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic problems outside the stadium in Bochum.

Serbia had the first shot on goal after 10 minutes, but Marco Amelia stood firm behind a long-range Maric effort.

Angelo Palombo's first touch let him down after some good work from Gilardino sparked a promising counter-attack, then Dalovic just failed to slide on to a taut cross from the left.

On 22 minutes the Parma hitman went for goal himself, controlling Marco Donadel's floated pass and volleying on the turn, forcing a tough save out of Milojevic from a very tight angle.

On the half-hour mark Gilardino again ran away from his marker in the box and his cut-back towards Daniele De Rossi was deflected out. From the resulting Donadel corner, Roma midfielder De Rossi was granted a free header for his second goal of the tournament.

Moments later there was another crucial moment in the match, as Nikola Mijailovic received his second booking for hacking down Mesto, leaving Serbia in ten men. Mijailovic is not new to this experience, as he also saw red in the fiery qualifying match in Serbia, enraging the Azzurri by feigning injury when Amelia gave him a slight push on the shoulder due to his slow departure from the field.

Italy started to pour on the pressure and Gilardino ballooned a good chance over the bar from the edge of the box.

It really should have been two just before the break when Gilardino sprung the offside trap on De Rossi's through ball, but he narrowed the angle too much and incredibly sliced it wide.

The start of the second half was delayed for several minutes after Serbian fans threw a dozen flares on to the pitch, but calm was quickly restored.

Sculli was halted for a very dubious offside decision as he ran on to a splendid De Rossi pass from midfield, but despite playing in ten men the Serbs were pushing for an equaliser while Italy began to play to the gallery.

There was a scare when substitute Igor Matic curled just past the post from the edge of the box, then a Lazovic angled drive skimmed the woodwork.

There was a curious moment on 72 minutes when the sprinkler system in the middle of the field sprung into life, drenching several nearby players. The exhausted stars took advantage of the situation to refresh themselves on a humid night in Bochum.

Italy needed a substitution and replaced the tired Giuseppe Sculli with Brescia wide man Simone Del Nero. It revived the squad and soon after Gilardino's pass just failed to reach De Rossi in the centre, then a long-range Donadel effort was easily held.

The Azzurrini thought they had doubled their lead with substitute Del Nero's tap-in from close range on 79 minutes, but it was disallowed for another extremely tight offside decision.

The net was rippled again four minutes later, and this time the goal stood to make it 2-0 to Italy. The goalkeeper dropped a floating Del Nero free kick to the back post and it was child's play for Lecce defender Cesare Bovo to tap in the loose ball.

Serbia fell apart and less than a minute later Gilardino sprung the offside trap and sprinted round the 'keeper to take the trophy home to Italy. It was the Parma hero's third goal of the tournament, his 15th international strike for the Under-21 squad.

The tension rose and Ivanovic saw a straight red card in stoppages for a very late challenge on Del Nero, so the Serbs ended the game with nine men.

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Italy U21: Amelia; Bonera (Zaccardo 95), Barzagli, Bovo, Moretti; Mesto, De Rossi, Donadel (Brighi 88), Palombo, Sculli (Del Nero 74); Gilardino

Serbia Montenegro U21: Milojevic; Ivanovic, Basa, Miladinovic (Naziri 80); Milovanovic (Matic 64), Stancic, Maric, Bisevac, Mijailovic; Lazovic, Dalovic (Vukcovic 46)

Ref: Medina Cantalejo (Spa)

Sent off: Mijailovic 34 (S), Ivanovic 91 (S)

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[Djet]

Hach, das ist fast so wie wenn Parma irgendwas gewonnen hätte. Gestern standen mit Amelia, Bonera, Donadel und Gilardino vier Parma-Spieler in der Startaufstellung, dazu noch Spieler mit gelb-blauer Vergangenheit wie Moretti oder Brighi und evtl. Parma-Spieler der Zukunft wie Palombo, Sculli oder Del Nero.

Man kann stolz sein auf diesen Titel, eine tolle Generation die da nachwächst.

[Pinturicchio]

und evtl. Parma-Spieler der Zukunft wie Palombo, Sculli oder Del Nero.

Sculli geht entweder zu Udinese oder kommt nach Turin.

[Djet]

Da wäre ich mir nicht so sicher. Bei Juve hätte er kein Leiberl, der Udinese-Transfer ist alles andere als konkret und Parma würde ihn als Gila-Nachfolger in Erwägung ziehen.