Amantino Mancini was the toast of the Roma faithful as he scored the only goal against Sampdoria.

Brazilian at his best to earn Roma semi-final spot

Amantino Mancini was the toast of the Roma faithful as he scored the only goal against Sampdoria to book his side a place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals. On home soil Roma were always favourites to progress following a 1-1 draw in the first leg and the bookies were not disappointed by what ensued in the capital. Roma had three decent chances in the opening sparring as Mancini, Francesco Totti and Ludovic Giuly all went close but failed to deliver a knockout blow. Sampdoria were restricted to counter-attacks but conjured decent chances of their own through Claudio Bellucci and Stefano Lucchini. In the second period Sampdoria started brightly as Hugo Campagnaro's effort from range was cleared off the line. It was though Mancini that again proved to be Roma's talisman as he executed several of his trademark step-overs to perfection to bamboozle Luigi Sala before slamming home the game's only goal.