Ranieri flies Juve flag in Newcastle
Sunday 29 July, 2007
Claudio Ranieri believes only fitness schedules and Shay Given’s Man of the Match performance stopped Juventus winning in Newcastle.
The Bianconeri are still a month away from their Serie A opener, but created plenty of chances in the 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park this afternoon.
“We had so many shots on goal, especially in the first half,” commented the former Chelsea and Parma boss.
“We were missing something in front of the net, but that was above all down to our early pre-season training and goalkeeper Given, who was Man of the Match.”
Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet and Marco Marchionni all tested Given in their first real friendly of the summer.
The game was decided by Jonathan Zebina’s defensive error to give away an Albert Luque penalty and an Andy Carroll tap-in after Gigi Buffon had parried Obafemi Martins’ strike.
“The team moved well, passed the ball around quickly, especially with some great one or two-touch football,” continued Ranieri.
“It’s a shame we conceded those two goals, as we could have done better in those situations. Now we look ahead to the next friendly with Hamburg. I will completely rotate the squad so everyone can gain match fitness.”
Sunday 29 July, 2007
Claudio Ranieri believes only fitness schedules and Shay Given’s Man of the Match performance stopped Juventus winning in Newcastle.
The Bianconeri are still a month away from their Serie A opener, but created plenty of chances in the 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park this afternoon.
“We had so many shots on goal, especially in the first half,” commented the former Chelsea and Parma boss.
“We were missing something in front of the net, but that was above all down to our early pre-season training and goalkeeper Given, who was Man of the Match.”
Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet and Marco Marchionni all tested Given in their first real friendly of the summer.
The game was decided by Jonathan Zebina’s defensive error to give away an Albert Luque penalty and an Andy Carroll tap-in after Gigi Buffon had parried Obafemi Martins’ strike.
“The team moved well, passed the ball around quickly, especially with some great one or two-touch football,” continued Ranieri.
“It’s a shame we conceded those two goals, as we could have done better in those situations. Now we look ahead to the next friendly with Hamburg. I will completely rotate the squad so everyone can gain match fitness.”
