Note the italics ho ho:
CHONAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Any team would be angry if they had been eliminated from the World Cup like Italy were against South Korea.
Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni and Francesco Totti (Reuters)
But surely no other team, especially if they were former world champions and one of the soccer powers of Europe, would have behaved with such uncontrolled fury as Italy have in the past 24 hours.
Players, press, officials and the public are seriously suggesting that there was a plot involving the referee to get rid of Italy, one of the most popular teams at the World Cup and one of the few remaining 'elite' teams.
'It was a scandal. The truth is he (the referee) had his mind set against us - this was a desired elimination,' said striker Francesco Totti, sent off in extra time in Korea's 2-1 win.
'By who? I don't know - there are things greater than me but the feeling is that they wanted us out.'
The history of the World Cup, like any other sporting competition, is littered with controversy and recriminations, and referees on the global stage are as capable of error as anywhere else.
The Italians had five goals disallowed in three matches and a series of questionable decisions go against them before Tuesday's second round match against co-hosts South Korea.
Totti was controversially dismissed and what appeared a very tight offside decision went against them, both in extra time, before Italy lost on a golden goal to the co-hosts.
UNDERSTANDABLE ANGUISH
But what some Italians have suggested as an explanation for Ecuadorean referee Byron Moreno's performance goes beyond the understandable anguish of a team that feel, with some justification, they were unlucky to be eliminated.
'The referee was a disgrace, absolutely scandalous. I've never seen a game like it. It seemed as if they just sat around a table and decided to throw us out,' Franco Frattini, Italy's minister for public offices, said.
Not too much should be read into the words of a politician watching the game on television in Rome but even the head of the Italian Football Federation's delegation - the country's senior soccer diplomat - was suggesting underhand practice.
'Korea is a powerful country. It's clear that they would have done something,' he said on Italian state television, without elaborating. 'I've never in my life seen refereeing that bad.'
In soccer terms Korea is not a powerful country while Italy most certainly is, being home to one of the sport's most famous leagues and many of its greatest players.
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni also offered a strange explanation for his team's exit.
'Yesterday after Japan were eliminated I said that it would be tough that we had an additional opposition. I am not talking about a plot but about an additional opposition,' said Trapattoni.
There is more than just bitterness behind such conspiracy theories - the reaction of the Italians is a reflection of a mindset that is firmly established in their own domestic league.
MATCH-FIXING CLAIMS
Barely a Serie A season passes without someone claiming that something irregular may have occurred - without presenting any evidence.
Three seasons ago, Roberto Mancini, then a Lazio player and now coach of the Rome club, claimed that only one of the previous ten championships had been won fairly after a controversial refereeing decision went the way of their title rivals Juventus.
In the 2000-01 season Franco Sensi, the president of eventual champions AS Roma, referred to mysterious and apparently influential 'cold winds of the North' after some refereeing decisions he considered to have favoured Turin club Juventus.
Sections of the Italian media have frequently opined that the poor performances of Serie A clubs in European competition could be influenced by the lack of Italian representation on UEFA committees.
Quite how these bureaucratic bodies affect the outcome of Champions League matches is left unexplained.
Nonetheless the view that failure in sports politics may be having an impact on the pitch was raised again after Italy had two goals disallowed in their 2-1 defeat to Croatia.
Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro, under fire for failing to be present at the game, offered a refreshing dismissal of that view after he flew to Japan.
'In Italy there are probably some people who believe that things at international level are decided in the corridors of power but most people know that the world game is not decided at the meeting table, otherwise it wouldn't be as exciting as it is,' said Carrraro.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that those Carraro refers to have had their outlook influenced by living in a country where corruption, in football and society in general, was widespread for many years and where there were proven cases of match-fixing.
But, there is also a curious view in Italy that due to their history and tradition, the Italians deserve to be treated in a more favourable manner by referees.
Speaking after Italy's exit defender Fabio Cannavaro said of the referees: 'Unfortunately at this World Cup they messed up.
'We have to ask why we were treated in this way? In international football we are an important team'. |
