A meagre crowd (3,887) greeted the players on a dull evening. (I think Rai state that the takings were 56 million lire, but I cannot be sure!). And, get this! We had a referee from Glasgow!!
We didn't start with our best eleven. Vanoli, Boghossian and Crespo were rested; while the returning from injury, Amoroso, had to be content to start the game on the bench.
Tragedy!! On 6 minutes, Kryva scored! To be honest, this was only what we deserved! It looked as though the players (Parma's that is) had expected an easy evening - and were looking very laid-back and "superior". However, this seemed to wake us up a bit and on 14 minutes, Di Vaio scored. Not a bad finish either! On 19 minutes, he scored again - and a sigh of relief echoed its way around the empty seats.
So, anyway, there were no more goals in the first half, which was an absolute pity.
Half-time: Parma 2 Kryvy 1.
Cut to crazy Italian adverts and interviews with Crespo and Boghossian from the stands. They really should've been on the PITCH! (Which, incidentally, was chronic - cutting up all over the place.)
Much relief greeted the substitution of Benarrivo for Serena (who is such junk!) on 54 minutes - and then mass cheers (for the people who had bothered to turn up were pretty vocal!) as Amoroso was seen to be warming up. He came on on 60 minutes for Stanic. However, I did not see him make any particular improvement to the side. He tried one spectacular overhead-kicked pass, had one goodish shot saved and whined like a baby when he hurt his finger with his wedding-ring and had to go off to be "treated" by having a plaster put onto it! Mr Amoroso - you should not be wearing jewellery on a football pitch!!
The three phases of the Amoroso debut |
 Smiling during warm-up at half-time |
 Coming on to rapturous (hopeful) applause
(genuflecting wildly) |
 "Ouch! Me poor finger!" |
On 67 minutes, something really wonderful happened! Dino Baggio scored the most splendid goal from a most splendid header! I described it as "backwards and sideways" which might sound half-cocked - but that's exactly what it was (backwards and sideways, not half-cocked!).
We should've got more goals - we really should've! And then what happened??? They (Kryvy) went and scored again!! AND we were very fortunate that we didn't concede an equaliser, because they were all over us in the closing stages!!
Boo to the Scottish referee though, who refused us a penalty in injury-time! Unfortunately, it just happened to be Ortega who was felled in the area (and he flailed his arms rather a lot) so the ref took the view that he'd been acting. Ariel, your reputation has a lot to answer for!
To be brutally fair though, Ortega had a pretty good game. You cannot possibly fault his enthusiasm - but let's see what he's capable of against the better Serie A sides.
So, that was it, the game ended 3-2, which is bitterly disappointing. I think we will have a hard time in the Ukraine. Considering that our buddies in Serie A (Juventus and Roma especially) showed better in this first game than we did, does not bode too well for the scudetta!!!!!
But although I'm disappointed (as most people are) I cannot say that I'm distraught. We should've been in the Champions League. This is only very much second best.
Teams and things
Parma (3-4-1-2): Buffon 6, Thuram 5.5, Torrisi 5.5, Cannavaro 5.5, Fuser 6, Breda 5.5 (30' st Sartor), Baggio 6.5, Serena 5.5 (9' st Benarrivo 6), Ortega 6, Stanic 5 (16' st Amoroso 6), Di Vaio 7. (22 Micillo, 5 Apolloni, 25 Walem, 26 Montano). Coach: Alberto Malesani 5.
Kryvbas (3-1-4-2): Lavrentsov 6, Anishcenko 6, Doroshenko 6, Granovskyi 5.5, Kriulin 6, Ponomarenko 6.5 (39' st Rymshyn), Platonov 6, Zotov 6, Simakov 6.5, Yakimenko 6 (15' st Yaskov), Palyanitsia 6.5 (26' st Monarov 6.5). (12 Dolganskyi, 16 Sukhoruchenko). Coach: Oleg Taran 6.5.
Referee: Dougal (Scotland) 6.5
Scorers: 5' pt Palyanitsia, 14' and 20' Di Vaio, 22' st D.Baggio, 29' Monarov
Yellow cards: Granovskyi, Serena, Yaskov, Benarrivo
Crowd (!): 3.887
This is what ESPN Soccer had to say
Holders Parma struggled in its opening UEFA Cup match on Thursday while former European champions Juventus and Ajax swept lowly rivals aside in convincing fashion.
Parma, reluctantly back in the second-tier competition after being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers by Scotland's Rangers, beat Ukrainians Kryvbas Kryvih Rih 3-2 in Italy in a first round first leg match.
The two vital away goals for the well-organized and effective Ukrainians mean that a poor-looking Parma, without a win in Serie A this season, now have a tough fight on its hands to progress in the away leg.
Parma was lucky not to be seriously embarrassed on a rainy night in the Tardini stadium after the Ukrainians pushed for an equalizer and twice forced goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to make diving saves in the final stages.
Kryvbas striker Olexandr Palyantsa stunned Parma with a well-taken goal after just five minutes, but two goals from Marco Di Vaio, a summer signing from Salernitana, put Parma back in control by the 20th minute.
A Dino Baggio header made it 3-1 in the 67th minute, but substitute Roman Monaryov pulled one back in the 74th after just two minutes on the field.
