Parma, 15 October 2020 – With our away fixture against Udinese on Sunday 18 October fast approaching, this week’s Crociati History column will look at our first victory away in Friuli in the top flight.
Alessandro Melli, one of the key players at our Club, produced a masterpiece to secure all three points.
It was Sunday 29 August 1993.
Sandrino decided the game in the 17th minute with a feat of technical genius, and it remains among the highlights of his career. A particularly skilled forward from Parma, he entered the opposition box down the left with the ball at his feet. He tied the Bianconeri defense in knots with a series of feints until he made an opening, taking a right-footed shot, aiming for the top corner, away to goalkeeper Graziano Battistini’s right. The ball flew into the back of the net, just inside the post (1-0).
There was no further change in the score before referee Angelo Amendolia blew the final whistle. The efforts of Marco Branca – the Udinese forward – in the first half weren’t particularly troubling for Luca Bucci, who saved with ease. The only real challenge of the game for our shot-stopper came from midfielder Francesco Statuto during the last few minutes of play. Bucci produced the stop without exerting much effort, tipping the shot over the crossbar.
Massimo Crippa, who was shown a second yellow card and sent off moments away from the end, had a couple of chances to double the Crociati’s lead in the second half.
He wasted the first chance as he went for an unlikely lob, while the second saw Battistini divert the ball out for a corner kick.
It was the first day of the Serie A season, with Parma going on to finish in fifth place. In Europe, meanwhile, they concluded their campaign by again reaching the Cup Winners’ Cup final. However, it wasn’t as jubilant a result as the previous year, when they’d held the trophy aloft in May 1993.
Header: Captain Lorenzo Minotti, Crippa, Tomas Brolin, Antonio Benarrivo and Nestor Sansini, who was then still at Udinese (he arrived at Parma a few months during the winter transfer window to replace the injured Georges Grun). Below: the Crociati crowd at the Stadio Friuli, 29 August 1993.
