Report Index--> 1997-98--> All for 19980516 | ||||
<-Page | <-Team | Sat 16 May 1998 Hearts 2 Rangers 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
<-Srce | <-Type | Independent ------ Report | Type-> | Srce-> |
Jim Jefferies | <-auth | Phil Gordon | auth-> | Willie Young |
[A McCoist 81] | ||||
23 | of 138 | Colin Cameron pen 1 ;Stephane Adam 52 | SC | N |
Salvatori the inspirer seeks Cup salvation; An Italian can today bring Scottish Cup glory to Hearts, or see three compatriots take the honours for Rangers. Phil Gordon. IN ITALY, it is common practice for statues of saints to be carried through the streets on their celebrational feast day. Salvatori's presence in the Scottish Cup final at Celtic Park denotes that the east end of Glasgow will be turned into Little Italy for a day. The former Perugia pair of Rino Gattuso and Marco Negri will be part of Walter Smith's thinking for his final game in charge of the side he made the epicentre of Scottish football over the last decade. With neat symmetry, Amoruso played against Salvatori in the Hearts midfielder's last game in Italy two years ago. "It was a two-leg match," recalled Amoruso, "and we won the first match in Florence and then I scored in the second leg when we won 3-1. Amoruso has tasted that tradition first hand. It was an occasion which moved the giant 27-year-old, who had been ruled out almost from the day he joined the Ibrox side with an Achilles injury which required three operations and two months of rehabilitation back in the old country. "I only planned to sit on the bench, not play," said Amoruso, "because I was not really ready. "It was marvellous to hear my name being sung and then to discover the sensations of being a footballer that you have missed for so long: making tackles, shouting to team-mates. At Hearts, Salvatori is perhaps grateful not to be weighed down with tradition: because all of it is negative. "The past is not important," said the 31-year-old ballwinner. In that time, Salvatori has been impressed by the club's growth both on and off the pitch. "We lost the title," he says ruefully. Certainly that has been the evidence both at Rangers this season, and at Salvatori's old club, Milan. At the same time, a young defender called Amoruso was making a name for himself down at Bari. Amoruso eventually helped Bari win promotion and Fiorentina bought him to add some steel to the side behind the cavalier talents of Garbriel Batistuta. "I told my agent that I had a good feeling about Walter Smith from the moment I met him," explained Amoruso. Naturally, Amoruso and the other Rangers players wish to give Smith the Scottish Cup as a leaving present before he makes way for Dick Advocaat. For Salvatori, winning would represent the last piece of the footballing jigsaw he feels his adopted city needs to challenge the Old Firm duopoly. "We have got some fantastic players," the Italian enthuses. "On the pitch, we have a 50-50 chance. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/scotland/ |
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<-Page | <-Team | Sat 16 May 1998 Hearts 2 Rangers 1 | Team-> | Page-> |