Roma snatch Italian Cup from Inter
May 18, 2007 - 1:00:29 PM
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'I never won anything although I have been a coach for some years now, therefore this cup is very important. I had told Roberto- that had I not won it, I would have asked him to lend me one.
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By DPA,
[RxPG] Milan, May 18 - Roma won the Italian Cup despite a 2-1 defeat in a second-leg tie against holders Inter Milan, who had beaten them in the past two finals. The final result was declared on the basis of a wide 6-2 lead from the home leg.
The 12,000 Roman fans who followed their team Thursday in the Giuseppe Meazza could thus celebrate after 16 years an eighth cup that brings them one success shy of Juventus.
Dejan Stankovic came close for Inter early in the game hitting the bar with a lob and missing by a hairsbreadth on seven minutes, but Roma also had their chances through Brazilian Mancini and Francesco Totti, both having their efforts saved by Francesco Toldo.
Hernan Crespo gave Inter a great chance on the half hour when Alexander Doni miraculously saved his header.
The Brazil's keeper, though, stood no chance on 50 minutes as Crespo, who had scored a brace in Rome, stunned him with a textbook header off a cross from the right from Douglas Maicon.
A winning shot from the left flank by substitute Julio Cruz brought Inter close to filling the gap on 56 minutes, but their efforts were thwarted on 72 minutes by the dismissal of Colombian defender Ramiro Cordoba for a second bookable offence.
As Inter gave up their hopes for a sixth cup, Simone Perrotta pulled one back connecting with a Francesco Totti drive and came close again in injury time before Totti hit the bar.
Rome defender Christian Panucci, who was twice on target in the home leg, was dismissed in injury time for a last-man foul on Alvaro Recoba.
'We lost the cup at the - Olimpico,' said Inter assistant coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who took the place of Roberto Mancini after the coach's dismissal for protests.
'We tried with all our grit and our boys showed their value. If we had scored in the first half, it would have been possible to reverse the deficit. Roma are a great team and it is sure they deserved this cup.'
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti dedicated the cup to the team, 'because they deserved it for their efforts.
'I never won anything although I have been a coach for some years now, therefore this cup is very important. I had told Roberto- that had I not won it, I would have asked him to lend me one.
Mancini boasts six cups won as player and four as coach.
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