Totti tears into Juve
Tuesday 8 March, 2005
Francesco Totti has launched a bitter tirade at Juve, Fabio Capello, referees, the ‘powers that be’ and Alessandro Del Piero.
The fall-out from Roma’s controversial 2-1 defeat to Juventus on Saturday night shows no signs of abating as the captain took the opportunity of today’s press conference to stir up more debate.
“The truth is that it’s difficult to win when it’s 11 men against 14,” said Totti. “If football carries on like this then your desire to play the game will just fall away. By the end of it only two or three clubs will bother carrying on.”
The Giallorossi had won the Scudetto with Capello at the helm in 2001, but that was an unusual blot on the landscape.
“In 10 years only Roma and Lazio have broken the stranglehold over the title. As for the rest, it was all Juve and Milan, taking it in turns. I don’t care if I get fined for saying this, as I am just speaking the truth.”
The fiery encounter at the Stadio Olimpico also saw Leandro Cufre caught on camera striking Del Piero on the chin after an altercation in the penalty area. So far, the Disciplinary Commission has not called for video evidence to be used and Totti gives an interesting take on the whole incident.
“Cufre was not crazy and if you watch the footage again then you’ll see that before he hit Del Piero, the Juve man punched him in the stomach,” continued the Roma star. “I don’t want to say Cufre was right to do it, but these things happen in a tense game and Del Piero was not an innocent bystander to be praised for his fair play. The media talks about what it wants to, regardless of the evidence.”
The Argentine defender also spoke up about the incident after he was vilified in the Italian Press for lashing out.
“Del Piero kicked me from behind and then he punched me in the stomach before I retaliated,” said Cufre. “How can Juve boast of fair play when their team has given away more free kicks than anyone else and then come to Rome to steal points?”
At the end of the 90 minutes there were over 63 free kicks awarded – more than any other Serie A game so far this season – but referee Racalbuto was blasted for handing Juventus a penalty for a foul that was outside the area.
“The referee made the biggest mistake right from the start, as he changed the face of the game,” insisted Totti. “Juve committed at least 30 fouls early on, and if he had started waving yellow cards around then the situation would not have gotten out of hand.”
However, Totti also reserved his barbed comments for teammate Antonio Cassano, who gave a television interview before the match praising Capello and confessing that he was re-evaluating his contract negotiations with Roma.
“We all know Antonio and that his timing isn’t great,” noted his friend. “It was rather hurtful to hear some of the things he said, but he made that choice. I’d advise Cassano to leave Capello and Juventus well alone. As for my own future, the club knows what my terms are and I don’t want to leave.”
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