Bans frustrate final foursome
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Article summary
The four UEFA Cup contenders all have a key player suspended for Thursday's semi-final first leg matches.
Article body
Carmignani cautious
Bresciano's 83rd-minute booking in the goalless quarter-final second leg against FK Austria Wien which secured Parma's path to the last four on away goals means the midfield player will have to sit out today's game at the Ennio Tardini. The ten who will not travel to Moscow if they receive a card tonight are Jorge Bolano Correa, Daniele Bonera, Guiseppe Cardone, Matteo Contini, Alex Gibbs, Marco Marchionni, Domenico Morfeo, Andrea Pisanu, Fabio Simplicio and Fabio Vignaroli.
Back-to-back bookings
CSKA midfield player Evgeni Aldonin was cautioned in both legs of the 4-2 aggregate victory against AJ Auxerre in the last eight, meaning he misses the trip to Italy. A further seven players will be ruled out of the home leg against the Serie A strugglers should they collect a yellow card in Parma - Igor Akinfeev, Daniel Carvalho, Rolan Gusev, Miloš Krasic, Chidi Odiah, Deividas Sembaras and Yuri Zhirkov.
Thin ice
Beto and Barry Opdam will be suspended for Sporting Clube de Portugal and AZ Alkmaar respectively when their teams meet at the Estádio José Alvalade in the other semi-final. Bookings for Sporting's Sá Pinto, Custódio and Joseph Enakarhire on Thursday would sideline them for the decider in the Netherlands, while Alkmaar trio Michael Buskermolen, Tim de Cler and Kenneth Perez will also be treading on thin ice.
