European flair to dominate English F.A. Cup
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): As if a sign of the changing times in sport, an Italian and a Brazilian take center stage tomorrow in what is essentially a very English affair. In a drama scripted in soccer heaven, Gianfranco Zola and Juninho meet head-to-head as Chelsea and Middlesbrough contest the FA Cup final at Wembley.
SCTV will broadcast live the match between Chelsea and Middlesbrough on Saturday at 9 p.m. Western Indonesian Time.
An eagerly anticipated confrontation, the respective routes to Wembley have not been without incident.
Unhappy in Serie A with Parma, Zola was enticed to Chelsea by its charismatic manager Ruud Gullit. Small in stature, but with a big heart, Zola made an immediate impact on the club and its supporters.
In a season where Chelsea has struggled for consistency, Zola has been a revelation. Whether making his trademark forward runs or tracking back to help an overworked midfield or defense the diminutive Italian has been a huge success.
But it was his eventual pairing with Mark Hughes that helped turn Chelsea's season around. The temptation for Gullit had been to pair Zola with fellow Italian Gianluca Vialli. While an appetizing prospect, it soon became obvious that Zola needed a strong man up front to play off.
Down 2-0 to Liverpool in the fourth round, Gullit brought on Hughes after the interval. The rest, as Chelsea romped home 4-2, is history. Since that wet Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge, Hughes and Zola, the broad sword and the stiletto, have struck up a remarkable understanding.
A threat from anywhere in the last third of the pitch, it is Zola's close control and awareness around goal that Middlesbrough fear most. These qualities were much in evidence at Highbury where he ended Wimbledon's semifinal hopes and at Wembley where his first-half strike beat England in the World Cup qualifier.
Whether scoring, creating chances, pulling players out of position or embarking on mazy runs, he is a defenders nightmare. It is as if Wembley was made for him.
Juninho will revel in the wide open spaces, too, although it is questionable whether he has the energy to exploit them? For the stress of almost singlehandedly carrying Middlesbrough's hopes has taken its toll.
At the final whistle against Leeds on Sunday, the fight for Premiership survival lost, Juninho sat disconsolate on the turf, head bowed, his face stained with tears.
Effect
The psychological effect of that loss will not be known until the game gets underway at Wembley. But it is unlikely Juninho will change his style of play, a style that has shone beacon bright all season.
Sublime individual skills combined with a huge engine and the capacity and inclination to work, make the Brazilian a player of rare standing. Indeed, the abiding memory of the last few weeks has been his dancing, jinking runs and mesmeric dribbling often from deep in his own half.
In common with size, skill and Latin temperament, Juninho and Zola also share the same direct approach to their play. Where others might look to play the ball square or to the wings, they see only the goal and the shortest route to it.
Amid this unashamed celebration of the individual, we should not lose sight of the fact that football remains a team game. Juninho and Zola will make this the most exotic final in years, but both will need help of teammates to win. Once again, the road to Wembley has been one of marked contrast.
Chelsea had a comfortable win at Everton last week. Only Zola was rested from its Wembley line-up. Set to play 4-4-2, Gullit will have Grodas in goal, Sinclair, Leboeuf, Clarke and Minto at the back and Petrescu, Newton, Di Matteo and Wise in the middle.
Should Gullit choose to man-mark Juninho, then the task will fall to either Frank Sinclair or Eddie Newton. With Zola and Hughes to play up front, Vialli will occupy the substitutes bench alongside perhaps Gullit himself.
Barely able to remember a stress-free tomorrow, Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson will hope that the back injury Ravanelli suffered at Old Trafford has responded to treatment. He will also look for improved technique and temperament from two others of his foreign legion, Mikkel Beck and Emerson.
Assuming all are of sound mind and body, Robson will play a 4- 3-1-2 formation with Roberts in goal, Fleming, Pearson, Festa and Blackmore across the back, Hignett, Mustoe and Emerson in midfield, with Juninho to play just off the front pairing of Beck and Ravanelli.
Favorites to take the Cup, Chelsea appears happy, relaxed and confident. In contrast, Middlesbrough, with Juninho set to play his last game before moving to Spain, is a team physically and psychologically on the floor, and soon to be pulled apart by departures and transfer requests.
Yet, in a Cup campaign that has favored the underdog, could Middlesbrough be the shock waiting to happen? With Ravanelli fit and Juninho running amok out wide it does have a chance. But it must tighten a defense that has shipped goals all season. And if they can stop Zola and Hughes, anything is possible.