1994 European Cup Winners' Cup Final

The 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match on 4 May 1994 contested between Arsenal of England and Parma of Italy. It was the final match of the 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 34th European Cup Winners' Cup final. The final was held at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, and Arsenal won 1–0 with the goal coming from Alan Smith. It is widely considered as the peak of Arsenal's famous defence. Arsenal became the fourth London club to win the trophy after Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and West Ham United.[1]

1994 European Cup Winners' Cup
Match programme cover
Event1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup
Arsenal Parma
1 0
Date4 May 1994
VenueParken Stadium, Copenhagen
RefereeVáclav Krondl (Czech Republic)
Attendance33,765

Background

Having beaten Antwerp in the same competition in the previous year, Parma were aiming to become the first side to win consecutive finals; five sides had previously failed to do so after reaching the final for a consecutive year. The final was the first time that Parma had come up against English opposition. On the other hand, Arsenal had three times played out two-legged affairs with Italian clubs. The first meeting was in the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, when they overcame Lazio 4–2 on aggregate, drawing the first leg in Rome and winning the second leg 2–0 at Highbury. Arsenal had also faced Italians in the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup at the semi-final stage; Arsenal won 2–1 on aggregate. The most recent meeting was in the quarter-finals of this year's competition, where they overcame Torino 1–0 over two legs.[2]

It was the first time Parken Stadium had hosted the major European competition's final and the first time any European competition's final had been held in Denmark. The stadium had opened only recently – in 1992 – and was the home of Copenhagen and the Danish national football team, taking two years to construct at the cost of 640 million Danish kroner. It was built on the site of the national team's previous home, Idrætsparken.[3]

Route to the final
Further information: 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup
Arsenal Parma
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Odense 3–2 2–1 (A) 1–1 (H) First round Degerfors IF 4–1 2–1 (A) 2–0 (H)
Standard Liège 10–0 3–0 (H) 7–0 (A) Second round Maccabi Haifa 1–1 (3–1 p) 1–0 (A) 0–1 (a.e.t.) (H)
Torino 1–0 0–0 (A) 1–0 (H) Quarter-finals Ajax 2–0 0–0 (A) 2–0 (H)
Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 1–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Semi-finals Benfica 2–2 (a) 1–2 (A) 1–0 (H)

Match

Summary

A crowd of 33,765 witnessed a tactical match. Parma's Tomas Brolin hit the post early on but, in the 20th minute, Lorenzo Minotti miss-hit an overhead clearance and Alan Smith capitalized, beating Luca Bucci with a left-footed volley.[4] Arsenal then invited pressure from Parma but, by controlling Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla, defended their lead and became the fourth London club to win the trophy.[1] The final was noted for Arsenal fans singing "one nil to the Arsenal" throughout the match.[5]

Arsenal were without their leading goalscorer Ian Wright, who missed the final through suspension as well as the injured John Jensen, Martin Keown, and David Hillier.[6]

Details
Arsenal 1–0 Parma
Smith  20' Report
Attendance: 33,765
Arsenal
Parma
GK1 David Seaman
RB2 Lee Dixon
LB3 Nigel Winterburn
CM4 Paul Davis
CB5 Steve Bould
CB6 Tony Adams (c) 25'
RW7 Kevin Campbell 78'
CM8 Steve Morrow
CF9 Alan Smith
LW10 Paul Merson 86'
CM11 Ian Selley 51'
Substitutes:
DF12 Andy Linighan
GK13 Alan Miller
MF14 Eddie McGoldrick 86'
MF15 Ray Parlour
FW16 Paul Dickov
Manager:
George Graham
GK1 Luca Bucci
RWB2 Antonio Benarrivo
LWB3 Alberto Di Chiara
SW4 Lorenzo Minotti (c)
CB5 Luigi Apolloni
CB6 Roberto Sensini
CM7 Tomas Brolin
CM8 Gabriele Pin 71'
CM9 Massimo Crippa 44'
AM10 Gianfranco Zola
CF11 Faustino Asprilla 45'
Substitutes:
GK12 Marco Ballotta
DF13 Roberto Maltagliati
DF14 David Balleri
MF15 Daniele Zoratto
FW16 Alessandro Melli 71'
Manager:
Nevio Scala

Assistant referees:
Josef Zvonic (Czech Republic)
Otakar Draštík (Czech Republic)
Fourth official:
Lubomír Puček (Czech Republic)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of golden goal extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes.
  • Maximum of two substitutions.

See also

References
  1. "European Cup Winners' Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 26 January 2000. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. "European Competitions 1993–94". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  3. "Parken". The Stadium Guide. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. "Football – Match (C2) Cup Winners' Cup : Arsenal vs. Parma". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. JOE LOVEJOY (5 May 1994). "European Cup-Winners Cup: Smith's strike brings Arsenal European glory: Battling Londoners make light of the loss of Wright and Jensen". The Independent. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  6. "1. May 1994: Arsenal 1–0 Parma". Goal.com. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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