Napoli and Genoa face off to regain former glory
MILAN: Napoli and Genoa meet in a promotion decider on Sunday when one team will be assured of a return to Italy's Serie A after a troubled period of history.
The final round of Serie B, Italy's second tier, has thrown up a mouth-watering contest in Genoa which for once will put both famous clubs in the spotlight for the right reasons.
Napoli are second on 78 points while third-placed Genoa are just a point behind on 77 as they prepare to battle it out to follow division champions Juventus back into the top flight.
The two sides, both former Italian champions, are chasing successive promotions after they clambered out of the third division last season following controversial demotions.
SSC Napoli, best known for winning their first Italian championship, or scudetto, in 1987 thanks to the wizardry of Diego Maradona, fell on hard times through the 1990s and were eventually declared bankrupt in 2004.
Film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis formed a new club in Naples called Napoli Soccer but they had to start in the third tier, where they still attracted huge crowds.
They won promotion to Serie B last year and the club's name was soon restored to SSC Napoli, in a story which closely resembles Fiorentina's bankruptcy and re-emergence.
'Beautiful twins'
"Now we have to play the decisive last match against Genoa, a great team and a friendly club," De Laurentiis told the club website.
"We are like beautiful twins and we are two clubs that highly regard and respect each other."
Genoa are among the oldest clubs in Italy, having been formed by a group of Englishmen in 1893. They originally wore white shirts to mirror England's kit and played soccer and cricket against the personnel from visiting British ships.
The port city's name in Italian is Genova but the club have kept the English spelling to reflect their heritage, as well as their full title - Genoa Cricket and Football Club - and the St. George flag on their badge.
They dominated Italian football in the early years and won nine championships in all, but have not taken one since 1924.
The club then moved between the top two divisions and were last in the top flight in 1995.
Genoa did win promotion to Serie A in 2005 but instead were demoted to Serie C1 when they were found guilty of fixing their final match of the season against Venezia, which they had won 3-2.
They made an immediate rise from the third division and have been challenging at the top of Serie B all this season.
'Complicated life'
Promotion jitters have hit though and Genoa conceded a goal in stoppage time in a 1-0 defeat at Mantova on Sunday to surrender second spot to Napoli, who beat Lecce 1-0 at home.
"We have complicated life but nothing is lost. A victory against Napoli is within reach," Genoa vice president Giambattista Pastorello told Radio Rai.
"We know that automatic promotion will be determined in the next 90 minutes. For what they have shown this season, where they have been leading protagonists from the start to the end, Genoa and Napoli deserve to go up."
Napoli now need just a point to return to Serie A, although both clubs could still go up automatically under Italy's complicated promotion rules.
If the third-placed side finishes 10 points or more above the team in fourth then they go up without the need for a play-off between third, fourth, fifth and sixth.
Fourth-placed Piacenza, who host Triestina on Sunday, have 67 points, 10 behind Genoa.
Even if the gap narrows, the third-placed club would still be favourites for promotion through the play-offs because of the low standard of Serie B this season.
Juventus, relegated from the top flight for their role in last season's match-fixing scandal, coasted to the Serie B championship and have amassed 85 points despite having had a nine-point deduction as a result of the corruption verdict.
Despite the greater competition, most Italian supporters would secretly be glad to have "the big three" back in Serie A.
Agencies
(China Daily 06/07/2007 page23)
