Apr 24th 2003: Italian Soccer Renaissance
In last few years Italian soccer clubs used to do very poorly in European competitions – being knocked out long before the finishing stages of Champions League and UEFA Cup. Italians weren't used to that, considering finals, semi-finals and quarterfinals to be their birthright. Some of Italian soccer officials began blaming poor referees, some of them even speculating about UEFA conspiracy against Italian soccer.
Well, this year they won't have to complain. Out of four Champions League semifinalists, three are Italian clubs – Juventus, AC Milan and Inter. That means that the finalist is definitely going to be Italian, and even with such powerful Real Madrid Italians have good chances of having Italian club winning Champions League.
And even UEFA Cup isn't totally beyond their grasp, despite Lazio being in 4-1 deficit after 1st leg of semifinal against Porto.
UPDATE:
It seems that the greatest soccer loser of today was Portugal. Two of their teams lost chance for UEFA Cup Final - Porto and Boavista.
CORRECTION:
Actually, Portugal would have one representative in UEFA Cup final. Porto has qualified after scoreless game in Rome, thanks to its 4-1 victory in 1st leg of semifinal.
(Note: The original version of text was originally posted on Draxblog on April 24th 2003 20:32 CEST. This version is identical apart for minor spelling and grammar corrections.)
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