15th March is the Ides of March - the day when Julius Caesar was stabbed. How appropriate then that several Middlesbrough fans have been stabbed in Rome, where their team play Roma in the 2nd leg of their UEFA Cup tie, in which Middlesbrough lead 1-0 on aggregate.
Football fans stabbed in Rome
09:14am 15th March 2006
Three Middlesbrough football fans have been stabbed and injured in Rome ahead of tonight's Uefa Cup match against Roma.
Ten other fans have reportedly been injured after trouble flared between the two sets of fans.
Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb confirmed several fans were hospitalised.
"There was an incident in one of the bars in a square in Rome. Some Boro fans were drinking in a bar and the bar was attacked by some Roma fans," he said.
"A number of Boro fans have been injured - a small number - and taken to hospital and received medical treatment.
"As far as I'm aware everybody is okay now, although one was retained in hospital but is in a stable condition."
A police spokesman said the Italian fans appeared to be "an organised gang" and were wearing scarves and bandanas around their faces.
Thirteen fans were injured in the trouble, and one 39-year-old Middlesbrough fan later underwent an operation for stab wounds to his back and chest.
Two other fans, aged 18 and 31, were also stabbed and needed hospital treatment.
A spokesman for Cleveland Police said today: "Tables, chairs and bottles were being thrown, and police called to the scene broke up the fight with their batons."
Late last year a Middlesbrough fan died after being stabbed outside a bar in Amsterdam, after travelling to watch his team in the Uefa Cup.
Brendan O'Connor, 36, of London, had joined friends to travel to Holland where his team were playing Dutch side AZ Alkmaar last November.
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becks10
Active Member
Posts: 199
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:04 am
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GreatBriton
CKA Elite
Posts: 3171
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:34 am
Now the Romans definetely HAVE got something to complain about. Middlesbrough won and are in the quarter finals...
Hasselbaink header sets up Boro's memorable Italian job
Roma 2 - 1 Middlesbrough (Agg: 2 - 2)
Middlesbrough win on away goals
Louise Taylor at the Stadio Olimpico
Thursday March 16, 2006
The Guardian
The flares and fireworks unleashed by Roma's ultras last night were intended to intimidate Middlesbrough. Instead they simply illuminated Steve McClaren's side's achievement in reaching the quarter-finals as Luciano Spalletti's Italians were hoist by their own counter-attacking petard.
Headed home by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink from Stewart Downing's immaculate cross, Boro's own breakaway goal ensured they enter tomorrow's draw thanks to the away-goal rule as Downing enhanced his chances of making England's World Cup squad and McClaren announced himself as a viable candidate to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson.
"Over the two legs we deserved it," said McClaren. "Our clean sheet in the home tie was the key. We conceded two poor goals tonight but we won on character. Once we scored we felt we were in control but, credit to Roma, they fought and made it very tough. But we held out. You don't have nights like this very often in your career; it ranks as one of the best in mine."
A wonderful city for lovers, the Eternal City can be a dangerous place for visiting football fans as the stabbings, street fights and ambushes by Roma's masked ultras testify. Having dodged the violence, some Boro fans were undone by the Italian capital's light-fingered pickpockets and many pundits expected Roma to subject their guests to a similarly subtle fate.
Instead Spalletti's side cast off counter-attacking patience, threatening at every opportunity. The assault began in the first minute when Philippe Mexes's long ball ruffled Gareth Southgate and co.
McClaren predicted this would be a "very different" Roma from the one that lost 1-0 in the first leg, and so it proved. Granted, the hosts lacked an authentic striker but they fielded a trio of ersatz forwards, featuring Simone Perrotta behind Alessandro Mancini and Rodrigo Taddei.
With slick positional interchanging Roma poured forward, winning several free-kicks. Yet, though Gaizka Mendieta made a most untypical defensive interception to dispossess Mancini as he shaped to shoot and Cesare Bovo's drive hit the bar, Mark Schwarzer was rarely in action, at least early on. Nevertheless, the goalkeeper was relieved to see Edgar Alvarez shoot wastefully wide.
The watching Eriksson must have been delighted to see Downing conjure that classic breakaway goal for Hasselbaink. McClaren had insisted Boro were capable of scoring, and they did so when Downing escaped down the left. Having eluded Cesare Bovo he delivered a perfect cross from which Hasselbaink, advancing from his deep-lying role and holding off the otherwise impressive Mexes, directed a header beyond Gianluca Curci's reach.
Eriksson must now seriously consider making the young left-winger, who missed the first half of the season through injury, a late and potentially valuable addition to his Germany-bound squad.
Roma required three goals and McClaren's pre-match analysis was looking prophetic. But he had also said: "There'll be twists and turns before the final whistle." He was again proved correct when, after fluid home passing, Mancini's first-time rising shot arrowed just inside the far post.
Soon Downing, switching to the right, provided Aiyegbeni Yakubu with a glorious cross only for Curci to kill the danger. It was the second of Boro's only two serious attacks.
Boro, and Southgate especially, were defending stoutly, even if Schwarzer was finally required to make some vital saves. McClaren took the precaution of replacing Yakubu with Ray Parlour as Roma camped in Boro's half, but Parlour swiftly conceded a penalty for tripping Okaka Chuka and Mancini made no mistake from the spot. It was a nervy finale but Boro clung on by their fingernails, enjoying breathing space when Mexes was sent off for a second yellow card.
Roma (4-4-2) Curci; Bovo ·, Kuffour, Mexes··, Chivu (Panucci, 86); Alvarez (Aquilani ·, 71), De Rossi, Dacourt (Okaka, 63), Perrotta; Mancini ·, Taddei.
Subs not used Eleftheropoulos, Kharja, Cufre, Rosi.
