[Jager]

Friendlies: Udinese hit back Wednesday 25 July, 2007

Udinese bounced back from Sunday’s defeat against Mezzocorona with a 3-0 win over Serie B outfit Spezia, thanks to a Gyan Asamoah hat-trick.

New boss Pasquale Marino endured a miserable start to his reign last weekend when his Zebrette slumped to a 1-0 defeat against fourth tier opposition.

However, the ex-Catania tactician got the reaction he wanted against Spezia as a determined Bianconeri side hardly allowed the Ligurians a kick of the ball.

Summer signing Gokhan Inler and 23-year-old Ukrainian Viktor Boudianski ran the midfield excellently in the first period and Finnish starlet Roman Eremenko also impressed.

The star of the show was Ghanaian hitman Asamoah who fired all three goals with a brace in the first period and a 61st minute strike.

Coach Marino was evidently relieved during his post-match Press conference and took the chance to praise the key men and explain the absence of striker Antonio Di Natale.

“Inler is an enforcer as he’s so strong physically,” he stated. “Asamoah has the potential to get much better if he works hard.

“Di Natale was left out as a precaution. He has a pain in his knee and although he has been working very hard in training I’d rather not risk him.”

Udinese: Handanovic (Chimenti 45); Mesto (Motta 72), Coda, Zapata, Dossena (Zenoni 85); Eremenko (Masiello 72), Boudianski (D'Agostino 45), Inler (Vargas 85); Quagliarella (Siqueira 61), Asamoah (Pepe 61), Floro Flores (Paolucci 45)
Spezia: Dazzi (Maiorani 45); Camorani, Zaninelli, Pecorari (Zamboni 61), Bianchi; Ponzo, Saverino, Manzoni, Bau (Ceccarelli 60); Guarinello (Colombo 45), Eliakwu

channel4.com - Football Italia