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Coppa Italia: Final Countdown
The Calcio Italia era has seen some great Finals and heroes in the Coppa Italia. James Sugrue takes a look back at the last 15 editions of the tournament since we first started covering it



1993 - Torino Torino's last trophy of any note will go down in history as one of the greatest Cup Finals ever. After securing a comfortable 3-0 lead in the first leg, Toro were shocked by a Giuseppe Giannini-led Roma fight-back which saw them hit five goals at the Stadio Olimpico. However, cult hero Andrea Silenzi secured the Coppa with a brace to give the Granata the win on away goals. 1994 - Sampdoria Little Ancona shocked the calcio world by reaching the Final and holding David Platt and Ruud Gullit's Sampdoria to a 0-0 draw in the home leg. In Genoa, it was the Blucerchiati who emerged as comprehensive winners though. Attilio Lombardo struck twice as Samp recorded a 6-1 win, with veterans Alberigo 'Chicco' Evani and Pietro Vierchowod also getting on the scoresheet. 1995 - Juventus Juventus comfortably overcame Parma in 1995, although most of the hard work had already been done when they defeated Roma and Lazio in the previous two rounds. The scoresheet for the Final will look familiar to British fans. Sergio Porrini bagged a brace alongside Fabrizio Ravanelli's strike, two players who went on to play in the UK for Rangers and Middlesbrough respectively. 1996 - Fiorentina Fans of Fiorentina will always remember this success as Gabriel Batistuta's Coppa. The Argentine legend scored eight goals to fire the Viola to glory, including a brace in the Final to defeat Atalanta 3-0 and a quad against Inter in the semi-final. The Christian Vieri-inspired Bergamo boys also deserve praise for knocking out Juventus and going all the way to the Final against the odds. 1997 - Vicenza One of the great underdog stories of the modern era. Coach Francesco Guidolin built his reputation by taking unfashionable Vicenza all the way to the Final and beating Napoli to claim the trophy despite being 1-0 down after the first leg. Just as amazing was the European Cup-Winners Cup run that the minnows embarked on in the next season, making it to the semi-finals. 1998 - Lazio A real classic of a Final saw Lazio walk away with the trophy thanks to young Alessandro Nesta's winner. Goals from George Weah and Demetrio Albertini weren't enough for the star-studded Milan side as Sven-Goran Eriksson guided the Biancocelesti to their first Cup win since 1958 with a 3-2 aggregate win. 1999 - Parma It took away goals to separate Parma and Fiorentina in the 1999 Final after Hernan Crespo and Gabriel Batistuta had earned their teams a 3-3 draw, with Paolo Vanoli's strike for the Gialloblu at the Stadio Artemio Franchi proving decisive. Interestingly, this competition saw a third-place play-off between Inter and Bologna to decide the qualifier for the UEFA Cup, with the Rossoblu coming out on top. 2000 - Lazio Lazio completed a historic double by adding the Coppa to their Scudetto win. They faced an Inter side hungry for success in the Final, but a 0-0 draw in Milan saw their 2-1 victory in Rome crown them as Cup Kings. Pavel Nedved and Diego Simeone hit the back of the net to secure the victory for Sven-Goran Eriksson's team, while Clarence Seedorf got the Serpenti's consolation goal. 2001 - Fiorentina Savo Milosevic and Nuno Gomes were the scorers in Parma and Fiorentina's 1-1 draw in the second leg, meaning that the Viola's 1-0 win in the first game gave them victory. This threw up one of those cult heroes that only the Cup can produce. Paolo Vanoli had scored the Gialloblu's winner against Fiorentina in the 1999 Final, but this time hit that decisive Gigliati strike in the first leg against his former club. 2002 - Parma Sadly the 2001-02 edition of the Coppa Italia will always be remembered for the fatal car crash involving Brescia defender Vittorio Mero before their semi-final with Parma. The Gialloblu eventually went on to win the competition in a dramatic comeback that saw them triumph after going 2-0 down to Juventus, thanks to Hidetoshi Nakata's away goal. 2003 - Milan Roma took an early lead in this Final through Francesco Totti after battling through a Rome derby in the semi-finals. But three goals in 10 minutes from Milan effectively ended the tie in the first leg, despite a spirited fight-back from the Giallorossi in the second match which saw Totti add another two goals to his name. This Final is also notable for a rare Rossoneri goal from Rivaldo. 2004 - Lazio In a controversial edition, the decision to expand Serie B to include 24 teams saw many sides refuse to play some group stage games in protest. The Final was full of the more traditional entertainment though. Lazio took a 2-0 lead in the home leg through Stefano Fiore, before Juventus struck back to make it 2-2 at half-time in Turin. The Biancocelesti secured the win with two second half goals. 2005 - Inter Inter eased to victory against Roma to claim their first trophy under new Coach Roberto Mancini. A brace from Adriano gave them a 2-0 lead in the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico and left the Giallorossi with a mountain to climb. Sinisa Mihajlovic scored the only goal at the San Siro against his former club to secure a comfortable 3-0 aggregate win for the Nerazzurri. 2006 - Inter The 2005-06 Coppa Italia saw the group stages abolished in favour of a straight knockout competition, as Inter became the fifth team to retain the trophy. They defeated Roma in the Final for the second year running - fittingly, the Giallorossi are the only other team to have won consecutive Finals against the same team - with an impressive 3-1 win in the second leg after a 1-1 stalemate in the capital. 2007 - Roma Inter were denied a historic third Cup on the trot as their battle with Roma continued. This time it was the Giallorossi who emerged victorious thanks to an amazing 6-2 win in the first leg, with Christian Panucci emerging as the surprise two-goal hero. The Nerazzurri grabbed a 2-1 win at the San Siro, but it wasn't enough after their collapse in Rome.

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