Ternana-Napoli 0-0

No Guiding Light
Napoli and Ternana serve up an ugly spectacle. The second half began 20'
late due to a blown light.

17 April 2004 -- Simoni wanted to see the same effort from his team today,
like they showed in the first half against Palermo last week, but instead we
revisited the team that showed up in the second half of that match. Ugly.
The azzurri started the game right away without any enthusiasm, hesitating
to go forward. Simoni's men were playing the waiting game against Ternana,
content to pass the ball around in their own half of the field, and waiting
to counterattack, a counterattack that never materialized, however. As a
matter of fact, one cannot think of even a single true shot on goal by the
azzurri, only long crosses that vainly ended up out of bounds, or safely in
the arms of the Ternana keeper, Brunner.

Let's start from the beginning. The first play worth mentioning is by
Ternana, and it takes 4' to occur: on a rapid counterstrike, Montesanto
flattens Jimenez; Jimenez, from fairly far out, quickly shoots towards goal.
Manitta is able to intercede and deflects the ball to his left, resulting in
a corner . At 29' Borgobello is able to maneuver within the box, on a cross
from the left by Grava, but his shot skims the crossbar; at 40' the last
play worthy of mention by Ternana occurs. Jimenez, once again, proves
himself dangerous with a shot from the edge of the box, which ends up close
to the post, to the left of Manitta.

The game is delayed for close to 20' when the teams take to the field for
the second half, due to problems with the lighting grid. After finally
getting under way, it will be another 14' before anything happens: Manitta
commits an incredible error, losing control of the ball and letting it slip
through his fingers. Fortunately for Napoli, Kharją, who is caught by
surprise at the unexpected mistake of the Neapolitan keeper, cannot convert
this into a goal. At 15' another Manitta error, who mishandles the ball on
a cross from the right, but Del Grosso is able to head clear. At 21' first
shot directed towards the opposing goal by Napoli: Zanini gains a free kick
on the left side of goal, Tosto crosses into the box for Vieri, who finds
himself in a good position to score, but doesn't get off a clean shot, and
sends it harmlessly out of bounds.
At 40' Ternana almost score: a cross from the right by Jimenez, ends up in
the box for Frick, who heads towards goal. Manitta instinctively reacts,
deflecting the ball away before being fouled; another scare for Napoli's
supporters happens at 43' - Frick, able to speedily dispose of Napoli's
defensive corps, finds himself face-to-face with Manitta, who comes off the
goal line cutting down the angle for a good shot, and deflects the ball,
resulting in a corner. This move by Manitta redeems him somewhat, making up
a bit for the earlier mistakes. We are in full added-on time when the last
chance for Ternana occurs, at exactly 48' when, once again, Manitta does not
hold on to the ball, and leaves the goal unguarded. Corrent tries to lob the
ball over the defenseman's head and into the empty net, but his shot sails
harmlessly over the crossbar.

Amidst a sound chorus of jeering, this is the last play of the match. One
can say that this draw was just, being the result of a mediocre match,
played by two mediocre teams, who showed all their weaknesses, and hardly
any strengths. Ternana who really did very little on the pitch, almost won
the match, especially at the end, due to Manitta's erring ways, rather than
by its own merits. At the end of the match, although Simoni claimed to have
gained a precious point towards safety in the standings, he seemed evidently
bitter, not so much with the regards to the outcome, i.e., the draw, but
towards the non-play of his men. At the end of the game, even though the
azzurri did not want to speculate on the travails that assail the club
these days, and talked only about "a weighty point gained against an
excellent team," and of a draw "earned with heart and soul," in the
supporters' minds is the lingering doubt that the play on the field had to
be somewhat conditioned by the financial goings on of a team on the brink of
the unknown.

translation by
Antonello Toscano

TERNANA: Brunner, Grava, Paci, Terni, Nicola, Migliaccio (42'st Corrent),
Kharja, Pesaresi (12'st Ferrarese), Jimenez, Borgobello, Zampagna (12'st
Frick).
NAPOLI: Manitta, Del Grosso, Carrera (24'st Marcolin), Portanova, Tosto,
Bernini (20'st Sesa), Montesanto, Perovic, Vidigal, Zanini, Vieri (32'st
Savoldi).
ARBITRO: Girardi. Assistenti: Lion - Longo. Quarto uomo: Benedetti