Journalist Roberto Beccantini offers his analysis of a recent chaotic football Sunday.
Here I am, dear readers: I missed a Sunday like this, with everyone against everyone at dinnertime. Like when I was a boy going to the stadium, eyes fixed on the pitch, ear glued to the crackling transistor. Under normal conditions, we would have only talked and written about the shoulder-to-shoulder challenge in Juventus-Udinese. But no. Always a quibble. The 2-2 draw between Inter and Lazio and the 0-0 draw between Parma and Napoli have practically handed the Scudetto to `Conte Dracula`. One point away from the end. Imagine that.
I smiled reading the squabbles between Napoli and Inter fans: `Yes, there was a foul before the ambush on Neres, but how many penalties like that have been given?`; `Bisseck`s arm? At VAR, with Di Paolo, there was Guida, the one who said `Don`t make me referee Napoli because I have three kids and want to be able to go grocery shopping“. And the newspapers. Uhm. Going back to the San Siro match. For Corriere dello Sport-Stadio, it was a `clear penalty`; for Gazzetta, `doubts remain`. [And briefly revisiting the Nico-Solet collision: for Corsport, `more a foul than not`; for Tuttosport, signed by Calvarese, `no foul`. Aleoooooooh].
What a night. The red card to Gimenez, in Roma-Milan, for an elbow similar to Beukema`s (nothing given) and Kalulu`s (sent off). On January 18, 2022, I wrote that Matthijs De Ligt`s handling incidents were not just a list, but a history. Inconsistent handball decisions have been a problem since the 2019-2020 season and haven`t been fully resolved. Decisions often seem made on the fly, with video assistance seemingly influenced by public and media reaction.
Inzaghino and Baroni, Chivu and Conte: all expelled. Attributing it to adrenaline, grit, the desire to win. Instinctively, I don`t imagine parliamentary motions or DNA tests. How would it have gone in the twentieth century, without the `artificial intelligence plasters` (VAR/technology)? Who knows. As Aldo Busi wrote, `You don`t put underwear on words`.