2014 Coppa Italia final

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2014 Coppa Italia Final
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome held the final
Event2013–14 Coppa Italia
Date3 May 2014
VenueStadio Olimpico, Rome
RefereeDaniele Orsato[1]
Attendance65,000
2013
2015

The 2014 Coppa Italia final decided the winner of the

Napoli. Napoli won the game 3–1, with two early goals from Lorenzo Insigne and a late third by substitute Dries Mertens, although they had Gökhan Inler sent off in the second half. Juan Manuel Vargas
scored Fiorentina's goal.

As Napoli qualified for the

Juventus
, and won.

The final was marred by pre-match violence, which delayed the scheduled kick-off time. Three Napoli fans were shot, one of whom died following a two-month coma. Club President Aurelio De Laurentiis dedicated Napoli's victory to the wounded fans.

Background

Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella aimed for his team to finish fourth in Serie A and win the Coppa Italia

Fiorentina played their 10th Coppa Italia final, having won six, including their last in

2012.[3]

During

Stadio San Paolo on 23 March 2014, Fiorentina were victorious as Joaquín scored the only goal of the game with three minutes remaining; Faouzi Ghoulam had been sent off for the hosts in the first half for fouling Marko Bakić when the Fiorentina midfielder had an opportunity to score.[5]

Prior to the cup final, Napoli were in third place in Serie A and therefore in the last position to qualify for the Champions League, eight points ahead of Fiorentina with nine points left to play for. Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella said before the game that his priority was to finish fourth and win the Coppa Italia. His Napoli counterpart, Rafael Benítez, warned his players not to expect to win solely based on their league position.[6]

Players and staff of both clubs were invited to Vatican City the day before the final, where they listened to a speech by Pope Francis. Managers Montella and Benítez presented souvenirs of their clubs to the Pope.[7]

Road to the final

Fiorentina Round Napoli
Opponent Result 2013–14 Coppa Italia Opponent Result
Chievo
2–0 Round of 16
Atalanta
3–1
Siena
2–1 Quarter-finals
Lazio
1–0
Udinese 1–2 (A), 2–0 (H) (3–2 agg.) Semi-finals
Roma
2–3 (A), 3–0 (H) (5–3 agg.)

Fiorentina

Fiorentina, of

Siena 2–1 with Josip Iličić opening the scoring and Marvin Compper scoring the winner.[9] Fiorentina's semi-final against Udinese began with a 2–1 away defeat on 4 February, but the second leg on 12 February was a 2–0 home victory with goals from Manuel Pasqual and Cuadrado.[10]

Napoli

Napoli, also of Serie A, entered in the Last 16 on 15 January with a 3–1 home win over

Roma), but secured their place in the final with a 3–0 victory at home on 12 February, with goals from Callejón, Higuaín and Jorginho.[12]

Match

Team selection

Fiorentina were without record signing

Neto and midfielder Borja Valero had been doubts due to recent finger and knee injuries respectively, but made the starting line-up.[6] Midfielder Cuadrado was suspended, having been given a yellow card towards the end of their semi-final victory over Udinese.[13]

Napoli's top scorer of the season, Higuaín, started despite a bruise to his shin from his last match. Benítez said "Not everyone in the team is 100 per cent, but we are in good shape".[6]

Pre-match violence

Three Napoli fans were shot outside the stadium before the match, two with arm injuries.

firecrackers and other projectiles being thrown between them in the Tor di Quinto area of Rome. Kick-off was subsequently delayed as Napoli fans did not want the match to start without knowing the condition of the shot fans. When match organisers attempted to speak to the Napoli fans, accompanied by their midfielder Marek Hamšík, they were "pelted with flares and smoke bombs".[16] Daniele De Santis, a Roma ultra was convicted of shooting Esposito and was sentenced to 26 years in prison on 24 May 2016;[17] his sentenced was later reduced on appeals to 16 years on 26 September 2018.[18]

Summary

Napoli winger Insigne opened the scoring in the 11th minute by cutting in from the left and curling a shot past Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto. He doubled the lead six minutes later by connecting to Higuaín's cross and forcing a deflection off

Juan Vargas volleyed the ball into the goal.[19]

Fiorentina had chances to equalise in the second half, with a long shot from substitute Matías Fernández tipped over the crossbar by Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and Iličić missing a one-on-one.[20] Despite being reduced to ten men for the last ten minutes after a second booking for Gökhan Inler after he fouled Iličić, Napoli extended their lead in injury time when substitute Mertens scored a third after being set up by Callejón.[19]

Details

Napoli
Vargas 28' Report Insigne 11', 17'
Mertens 90+2'
Attendance: 65,000
Fiorentina
Napoli
GK 1
Neto
RB 40 Serbia Nenad Tomović Yellow card 48'
CB 2
Gonzalo Rodríguez
CB 15 Montenegro Stefan Savić
LB 23 Italy Manuel Pasqual (c) downward-facing red arrow 56'
DM 7 Chile David Pizarro
RM 10 Italy Alberto Aquilani downward-facing red arrow 83'
LM 66 Peru Juan Manuel Vargas
AM 20 Spain Borja Valero Yellow card 10'
CF 17 Spain Joaquín downward-facing red arrow 72'
CF 72 Slovenia Josip Iličić Yellow card 40'
Substitutes:
GK 25 Italy Antonio Rosati
DF 3 France Modibo Diakité
DF 4 Argentina Facundo Roncaglia
DF 5 Germany Marvin Compper
MF 8 Montenegro Marko Bakić
MF 14 Chile Matías Fernández Yellow card 65' upward-facing green arrow 56'
MF 21 Italy Massimo Ambrosini
MF 27 Poland Rafał Wolski
MF 30 Brazil Ryder Matos
MF 88 Brazil Anderson
FW 32 Italy Alessandro Matri upward-facing green arrow 83'
FW 49 Italy Giuseppe Rossi upward-facing green arrow 72'
Manager:
Italy Vincenzo Montella
GK 25 Spain Pepe Reina Yellow card 81'
RB 4 Brazil Henrique
CB 21 Argentina Federico Fernández
CB 33 Spain Raúl Albiol Yellow card 36'
LB 31 Algeria Faouzi Ghoulam
CM 88 Switzerland Gökhan Inler Yellow card 50' Yellow-red card 79'
CM 8 Italy Jorginho
RW 7 Spain José Callejón
AM 17 Slovakia Marek Hamšík (c) downward-facing red arrow 63'
LW 24 Italy Lorenzo Insigne downward-facing red arrow 81'
CF 9 Argentina Gonzalo Higuaín downward-facing red arrow 70'
Substitutes:
GK 15 Italy Roberto Colombo
GK 80 Spain Toni Doblas
DF 2 France Anthony Réveillère
DF 5 Uruguay Miguel Britos
DF 11 Italy Christian Maggio
MF 14 Belgium Dries Mertens upward-facing green arrow 63'
MF 16 Italy Giandomenico Mesto
MF 18 Colombia Juan Zúñiga
MF 20 Switzerland Blerim Džemaili
MF 85 Switzerland Valon Behrami upward-facing green arrow 81'
FW 19 North Macedonia Goran Pandev upward-facing green arrow 70'
FW 91 Colombia Duván Zapata
Manager:
Spain Rafael Benítez

Post-match

Napoli supporters invaded the pitch to celebrate following their team's victory. However, they were brought under control in order to allow the trophy ceremony to take place.[21]

Aurelio De Laurentiis, club president of Napoli, dedicated the cup win to the then unidentified fan who had been shot before the match and operated on.[22] On the pre-match violence, Demetrio Albertini, vice president of the Italian Football Federation, said, "It certainly wasn't a great scene, what we displayed today alongside football, for a football lover like me, it was an ugly display."[22]

As cup winners, Napoli qualified for the

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, 2–2 after extra time, and Napoli won 6–5 in the penalty shootout.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Coppa Italia: Napoli-Fiorentina, arbitra Orsato". Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Strategic talks in Dubrovnik". UEFA. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Italy - List of Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Napoli close in on Roma". Sky Sports News. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Napoli 0-1 Fiorentina: Joaquin downs 10-man hosts". Goal.com. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d "Coppa Italia final preview: Fiorentina hoping to overcome Napoli". Sky Sports News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Coppa Italia, Napoli e Fiorentina incontrano il Papa". la Repubblica (in Italian). 3 May 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Fiorentina 2 - 0 Chievo". Sky Sports News. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Fiorentina 2-1 Siena: Late Compper show books semi-final berth". Goal.com. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Coppa Italia: Fiorentina beat Udinese 2-0 to book place in the final". Sky Sports News. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Napoli 1-0 Lazio: Higuain snatches semi-final spot". Goal.com. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Coppa Italia semi-final: Napoli beat Roma 3-0 to win 5-3 on aggregate and reach final". Sky Sports News. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  13. ^ "Fiorentina's Cuadrado dealt final ban". ESPN. Associated Press. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Gunfire injures three Naples fans ahead of Italy final". BBC. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  15. ^ "Napoli fan shot during fighting before Coppa Italia final dies in hospital". The Guardian. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Coppa Italia final: Kick-off delayed after three Napoli fans are shot in Rome". Sky Sports News. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  17. ^ "Notorious football hooligan given 26 years in prison for shooting rival fan". thejournal.ie. 24 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Esposito killer given 16 years". Football Italia. 26 September 2018.
  19. ^ a b c "Coppa Italia final: Rafael Benitez's Napoli beat Fiorentina 3-1". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Insigne brace seals Coppa". ESPN. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  21. ^ "Napoli defeat Fiorentina after fan is shot to win their fifth Coppa Italia". The Guardian. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Napoli defeat Fiorentina after fan is shot to win their fifth Coppa Italia". The Guardian. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  23. ^ "Juventus 2-2 Napoli (5-6 on pens)". BBC Sport. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.