Diego scored on his Juventus debut in a 3-0 Peace Cup victory over Koreans Seongnam along with Vincenzo Iaquinta and Nicola Legrottaglie.
The former Werder Bremen star finally made his first appearance in the Bianconeri jersey in Jerez de la Frontera after recovering from a minor injury.
He started behind David Trezeguet and Iaquinta in Ciro Ferrara’s favoured 4-3-1-2 system and immediately created a chance that the Italian fired straight at the goalkeeper.
Diego curled a free kick just wide and Iaquinta wasted another opportunity one-on-one set up for him by Mauro Camoranesi’s through ball.
However, Seongnam had an even better scoring chance on 29 minutes when Dongwon was face-to-face with Gigi Buffon only to fire off target.
Iaquinta made up for those errors with the opening goal in chaotic fashion. Trezeguet’s cross connected first with his head and then his hip as the Korean goalkeeper came flying out.
After the restart Trezeguet also flopped in front of goal, firing over from point-blank range following a link-up between Diego and Felipe Melo.
The moment Juve fans had been waiting for arrived on 53 minutes, as Diego celebrated his debut with a goal. He ran into the box and switched to his left foot for an angled drive.
Trezeguet’s diving header brought a tough save out of Sung Ryong Jung moments before Legrottaglie made it 3-0 by nodding in Sebastian Giovinco’s cross.
There was a worrying scene late on, as Camoranesi was booked for reacting to a foul, something he has run into trouble for several times.
This is Juve’s second victory in the Peace Cup after a 2-1 triumph away to Sevilla. They sweep through to the semi-final, where they are most likely to face Real Madrid. |