Earlier today Fiorentina beat Rosenborg 2-1 in the second leg of their UEFA cup Round of 32 matchup, winning 3-1 on aggregate, and thus advancing to the sweet sixteen. This sets up an enticing matchup with the team currently in fourth place in the Premier League, Everton. It’s a dream matchup for some, and definitely so for me. Since an English team will be participating, they will show it on regular TV.
I am not going to recap the match with Rosenborg here, as that would be the height of dishonesty; I didn’t watch it. I was at work. (Damn you, regular employment! Damn you, people who pay my wages and put food on my family’s table!!!) Instead, while I plugged away editing academic articles, I surreptitiously followed the match on the ridiculous ESPN “game tracker,” just as I did for the first leg of the tie. Other than the fact that Fiorentina won, and that Liverani and Cacia got the goals, I could tell you little about the match from following the “tracker.” Apparently Fiorentina dominated for long stretches and would have had the shutout if not for a fluky goal at the end. Liverani and Frey, both coming back from injuries, apparently looked fine.
Here are two fine recaps of the match from people who presumably actually saw it, and not just little dots on a computer screen telling you where Adrian Mutu took a long-distance shot from: The first report is from ESPN.com and can be found here, the second is from Goal.com and can be found here.
Couple of other things of interest: Here are the thoughts of Coach Prandelli, urging the media to let the boys enjoy their win for a few minutes before getting all worked up about the fellas down south they have to play this Sunday. And here is a little something from Liverani saying he looks forward to playing Everton. I’m not so sure.
Regardless, I am ecstatic about this result. It’s great to be in the last 16 (and, as if I need to remind you, the last Italian team). The club is showing real heart and ability by continuing to play all-out in Europe while doing their damnedest to keep up their form in the league.
This is shaping up, potentially, to be a very special season for the Viola.
I will be back tomorrow or Saturday to preview Sunday’s game. As I said, I think they are playing some team from the capitol.