|
|
Article: De la Cruz lives up to Italy's billing
- Article from:
- Evening News - Scotland
- Article date:
- June 4, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 Evening News - Scotland. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
ECUADOR'S first-ever match in the World Cup finals may have ended
in disappointment but Hibs star Ulises de la Cruz, pinpointed by the
Italians as the South American country's dangerman, lived up to that
billing.
The 28-year-old may not quite have met Francesco Totti's
comparison to Pele, but De la Cruz certainly did enough to prove that
Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni's assessment that he was the biggest
threat was no idle warning.
Indeed, Trapattoni ensured that defenders Cristiano Doni and Paolo
Maldini were never far apart when De la Cruz was in possession.
If Trappattoni was worried, his counterpart Hernan Dario Gomez had
no illusions about the task facing his team. He said: "It's ...