Sampdoria are back in Serie A after defeating Varese over two legs in the final of their promotion play-off.
The Marassi outfit had already drawn first blood in the tie, winning 3-2 thanks to Daniele Gastadello s double and a strike from Nicola Pozzi, cancelling out Emanuel Rivas and Giuseppe De Luca s respective efforts.
Having done the hard work in Genoa already, Sampdoria only needed to avoid defeat in the return leg to confirm their place in next season s Serie A championship, but Pozzi s late goal saw his side go one better and seal a 4-2 aggregate win.
It caps a magnificent turnaround for the club, who despite qualifying for the Champions League play-off round in 2010, saw their fortunes take a dramatic turn for the worst.
The departure of coach Luigi Del Neri and general manager Giuseppe Marotta to Juventus in the same summer was soon followed by a heartbreaking extra-time loss to Werder Bremen in the play-offs.
Two months later in October Antonio Cassano was dropped from the first team after a bitter row with club president Riccardo Garrone for not attending an award ceremony.
Replacement coach Domenico Di Carlo soon followed Cassano out of the door, and Giampaolo Pazzini s January departure to Inter sealed their fate as Alberto Cavasin could not save the side from dropping into Serie B.
The start of 2011-12 did not promise much either, with the likes of Stefano Lucchini, Jonathan Biabiany and Andrea Poli all departing in the close season, forcing through a considerable recruitment drive.
New boss Gianluca Atzori failed to get his new team to gel, but ex-Brescia trainer Giuseppe Iachini took the reins and eventually got his troops going, leading them oo a run of 10 wins in their 15 matches.
