March 1, 1999 – Revolution 1×0 Alania Vladikavkaz

A Joe-Max Moore free kick gave the Revolution a 1-0 win over Alania Vladikavkaz, which had won the Russian title in 1995, finished second in ’96, 10^th in ’97 and eighth in ’98. The preseason match was staged in Massa, Italy. Alania had several national team players, plus five Brazilians, who seemed to be under the most pressure after the defeat. Valeriy Gazzaev was coaching the Snow Leopards, and he did not take losses lightly. This was a preseason game, but the competitive level was intense. Early in the match, Raimondas Zutautas ripped a necklace off of Giovanni Savarese, and I never found out why.

This Revolution team had typical characteristics of their early years – plenty of talent but little chemistry. Walter Zenga’s idea was that a tough preseason playing against Italian and other teams would be excellent preparation for the future. It made sense, in theory, but the Revolution had a disastrous ’99 MLS season.

The Revolution received plenty of attention on this trip, and not just because of Zenga. Marcello Lippi, who had coached Juventus to the 1996 Champions League title and would take the Azzurri to the 2006 World Cup championship, attended a Revolution practice near his hometown, Viareggio. Few observers attended Revolution training sessions, but Lippi’s presence prompted a Bologna journalist to note “one Lippi at practice means more than having 1,000 people there.”

REVOLUTION-ALANIA VLADIKAVKAZ 1-0

At Massa, Italy

REVOLUTION: Zenga (Causey); Burns (Fox), Calichman (Motajo), Goulooze (Dunseth), Chronopoulos (Van Saun); Baba (Kelderman), Dos Santos (O’Brien), Moore (Torres), Jair (Gorter); Savarese, Rocha (Ze Rodrigues)

ALANIA: 1-Mandrakian; 2-Pagaev, 3-Fedorov, 4-Zatautas, 5-Cheretzely, 6-Elio Batista, 7-Chaidze, 8-Chaika, 9-Paulo Emilio, 10-Kanichev Demetradze, 11-Jefferson

Goal: Moore 36′

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY