Holdon said:
It's not that Sheridan Bird wanker again, is it?
Well, I think he is...
He is an anti-Juventino...
For those who don't know him, just read this article he wrote before more than 6 months:
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If You Only Ever Watch One Juventus Match...
Get your snazzy Prada raincoat out and retrieve your D&G blizzard jacket from the loft, because there is a big storm in Italy. The TV, radio and the print media are talking about nothing else (well, apart from Prince William’s girlfriend ). This latest tempest regards the men in the middle, most notably Signor Antonio Dattilo, who had a wretched weekend.
When speaking about dodgy refereeing decisions, one understands that we are talking about Juventus, naturally. In their home game with Udinese, the real villain was the man with the whistle. He stamped his authority all over the match in the worst possible way.
First he sent off Udinese midfielder Muntari for two bookable offences. As both fouls were worthy of a yellow, this in itself wasn’t the problem. The Ghanian with the Mr. T haircut had to go, even if Pavel Nedved’s majestic swan dive helped rush the dismissal along. In fact, Muntari’s second foul, the aggressive tackle on the Czech winger, was the kind that Nedved himself does five or six of every week, but doesn’t get punished.
The away bench and fans were irked because when Juve’s Emerson committed his own bookable foul, as he does every week, Dattilo didn’t get his cards out. Even the impartial viewer had a feeling of 'One rule for Juve, another rule for the others'. It does seem rather strange that Juventus are top of the fouling table, but have received the second fewest cards this season. Coincidence?
That was not the most controversial episode though, because the game was won by a goal which should never have been allowed. From a Zambrotta cross, Del Piero and Trezeguet were lurking just outside the six-yard box, in clear offside positions. Del Piero, being a good professional, didn’t wait for the flag though, and stroked the ball into the net. When it became apparent that the ref and his assistants weren’t going to annul the strike, the Udinese staff at pitchside went understandably crackers town. In training the goal would have been chalked off, let alone a Serie A match featuring the champions.
In the scrap to get back into the game, ten-man Udinese fought hard, and thought they had a penalty when Fabio Cannavaro pushed Vidigal, who was lining himself up to nod the ball into an empty net. A spot-kick could have been given very easily, but, somehow it wasn’t. Some would say the Big Fabio was being smart nudging the Portuguese player to put him off. Others will say he was cheating. But no penalty.
The anger was palpable, and TV cameras picked up Udinese manager coach Serse Cosmi shouting "What a disgrace" at ref Dattilo, and an Udinese player ironically asking the fourth official, "Why don’t we just return to Udine now?", as if to suggest there was no way they were going to be leaving the Stadio Delle Alpi with anything. Cosmi’s assistant manager was sent off for protesting too much.
It all made for very uncomfortable viewing, and couldn’t have come at a worse time - a week before the Inter v Juve match, the nearest thing there will be to a title-decider this year. This fixture, the Derby D’Italia, doesn’t want for past controversies. Most famously in April 1998 when the Bianconeri defender Mark Iuliano blatantly bundled Ronaldo over (who was a slim-ish genius in those days) in the box, but the ref waved play on. The Turin club went on to win 1-0 and take the Scudetto too. This incident is still shown on TV here all the time. After that match Big Ron himself declared that all the officials had been 'bought by FIAT' (i.e. Juventus) and he copped a ban for the outburst.
The man who made the terrible decisions this time, Antonio Dattilo, has been suspended for a 'Non breve periodo' after his Sunday afternoon effort, and all eyes will be on the weekend’s Inter v Juve match. Will it be a fair game, an example, a showpiece of fair play and skill for the world to enjoy? Or will it be yet another hornet’s nest, packed with debate, bitterness and accusations? If you only watch one Juve match this year (which isn’t actually a bad idea) make it this one...
February 07 2006
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