President of AIA, Marcello Nicchi, and Pescara coach, Zdenek Zeman, both slam Buffon for his ‘disappointing’ comments after Saturday night’s top of the table clash between Milan and Juventus
Last Saturday night’s Milan-Juventus encounter was billed as the game of the season and it didn’t disappoint. With only a point separating the teams at the top of the table beforehand, a victory for either side would be a telling blow against their title-rivals.
However, the post-match comments were dominated by the Sulley Muntari ‘goal’ that was amazingly missed by the match officials as well as the increasingly-strident comments made by all sides afterwards.
Milan began the match with a pace to their game that Juventus seemed unable to match. Perhaps the title-winning experience of the Rossoneri was the difference with Pirlo the only Bianconero showing the composure required by this potentially title-deciding tie.
Milan’s dominance was rewarded with the opening goal following Antonio Nocerino’s deflected strike and the home side continued to look like the favourites to take all three points.
Their sustained pressure led to the most talked-about moment of the game when, after a scramble in the Juve area, Sulley Muntari headed the ball over the line, only for Gigi Buffon to parry the ball out. Referee Paolo Tagliavento initially indicated a goal but following an Oscar-winning performance by Buffon, who simply bluffed everyone by carrying on and launching a Juve counter-attack, the officials allowed play to continue. No goal.
Juventus rallied in the second half and eventually equalised through substitute Alessandro Matri – although this goal had followed another effort by Matri that was erroneously flagged for offside when replays showed that Matri was clearly level.
And so the game ended 1-1, leaving things as you were in the title race, with Milan still a point ahead but with Juve still holding a game in hand and their unbeaten status still intact.
Following a heated end to the game where the pre-match row between Juve’s Chiellini and Milan’s Ambrosini (over Ibra’s suspension for this match) threatened to get out of hand as the players left the pitch, Juve coach Antonio Conte managed to get himself involved in a live TV row with former Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban.
After Boban argued that clearly both errors were of different ‘value’ (Muntari’s non-goal preventing Milan from going 2-0 ahead being different to Matri’s disallowed equaliser), Conte emphatically dismissed the Croat.
“They are both technical errors, two goals are regular, yet you tell me that they were two different errors. What’s the difference? That goal was a goal and the other not? Two goals are regular, tell me what difference there is, I can not see it.”
But the comments that would reverberate in the following days came from Juve’s Gigi Buffon when he was quizzed about the phantom goal after the match. “I didn’t see whether the ball had crossed the line or not, but I wouldn’t have told the referee anyway,” he said.
Buffon’s comments were not well received by the footballing fraternity in Italy with the President of AIA, Marcello Nicchi, commenting: “He said things that he could have avoided saying.”
“It’s not a good example to set for youngsters. Everyone’s free to think what they want, but people should be more cautious when expressing their views as youngsters have to look up to their sporting champions.
“Did Buffon make the comments because in the past people haven’t believed other comments he’s made? I doubt it: that was one game, yesterday’s was another.”
Even Pescara coach Zdenek Zeman joined in the debate: “Usually during matches, no one would say whether the ball has crossed the line or not. But after the game, you have to admit whether it did or not. Players who do that are honest. Buffon’s even the captain and goalkeeper of the Italy national team: I think he should lead by example and show some honesty.”
Not unsurprisingly, Gigi wasn’t in the mood for backing down as he himself responded: “I’d say everything again, exactly as I said it on Saturday night. The respect and admiration of my teammates is enough for me. I don’t care about anything else,” responded the Italy captain.
“I’m happy to be who I am and I’m even more proud to be the way I am. I’m much more loyal and better than a load of rhetoric hidden behind certain comments. In this world, everyone has opinions and is free to express them.
“I don’t need to justify anything. People can write what they want and I repeat, I didn’t see anything during that incident [whether the ball crossed the line or not].”
UEFA President and equivocator Michel Platini joined the debate with the type of non-committal language that seems to come naturally to the Frenchman: “He (Buffon) exaggerated with his comments, but it would have been much more interesting had the referee actually asked him during the game whether he thought it was a goal or not. I think we need to do that, to ask the referee to ask the player…”
“Had I scored a goal by handling it into the net when I was a player, I’d only have admitted it had someone asked me about it.”
Italian team coach Cesare Prandelli threw in his tuppence worth as he defended his captain: “Two or three days after the incident, everyone can say that the ball was in or not, but we can’t expect a player who is unsure to help the referee during such an important incident. He won’t lose the captaincy.”
And as Milan were involved, naturally Silvio Berluconi had an opinion: “I am more disappointed than angry. The result was falsified by that incident. If we’d gone 2-0 up, the situation would have been very different.”
“Was the referee conditioned by Antonio Conte’s comments during the week? [Conte spoke about how Juve had only been given one penalty this season and that referees had generally allowed decisions to go against the Turin giants] I really think so, yes. In any case, it was a mistake and I absolutely do not want to believe in a plot against Milan.”
With both clubs due to face each other in a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg in late March (Juve lead 2-1 following the first leg in the San Siro) and with a Scudetto still up for grabs, these two giants of the Italian game, once famous for their civil relationship, will be at loggerheads for a few more months to come.
Results:
Atalanta 4-1 AS Roma, Cagliari 1-2 Lecce, Catania 3-1 Novara, Chievo Verona 1-0 Cesena, Siena 4-1 Palermo, Bologna 1-3 Udinese, Lazio 1-0 Fiorentina, Napoli 1-0 Inter, Genoa 2-2 Parma, AC Milan 1-1 Juventus, Siena 0-1 Catania
Fixtures:
Saturday, March 3
Palermo v AC Milan
Juventus v Chievo Verona
Sunday, March 4
Parma v Napoli
AS Roma v Lazio
Bologna v Novara
Fiorentina v Cesena
Lecce v Genoa
Siena v Cagliari
Udinese v Atalanta
Inter v Catania
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