Former Juventus defender Mark Iuliano insists the notorious penalty incident with Inter striker Ronaldo in 1998 ‘wouldn’t have been given with VAR.’
The incident in Turin got here throughout a showdown on the prime of the desk on April 26, 1998.
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Iuliano and Ronaldo collided within the penalty space and the referee waved away appeals, adopted by a Juve counter-attack to earn their very own penalty with Alessandro Del Piero on the different finish.
It went down in historical past as , and among the many explanation why Italian soccer pushed more durable than some other to introduce Video Assistant Referee expertise.
Nonetheless, Iuliano insists the matter was overblown and stands by the unique resolution of the referee.
Iuliano stands by his place on Juventus vs. Inter row
MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 04: Mark Iuliano attends the AIC Oscar del Calcio Awards on December 04, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Picture by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Pictures )
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“I preserve that penalty wouldn’t have been given even with VAR, as a result of it’s so troublesome to agree on what occurred,”
Would he have reacted with the identical anger because the Inter gamers if he had an incident like that go towards him?
“Sure, earlier than seeing the replay. At the moment, the referees took duty together with their assistants, now they’re virtually pointless.
“Everybody asks me about this, however I used to be simply standing there and he’s the one who bumped into me. Do you might have any thought what number of related moments there are and the referees nearly by no means blow the whistle?”
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Referee Piero Ceccarini, who was officiating that day,
25 Oct 1998: Ronaldo of Inter Milan and Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus in the course of the Italian Serie A match on the Delle Alpi Stadium in Torino, Italy. Juventus received the sport 1-0. Necessary Credit score: Allsport UK /Allsport
Inter reacted furiously on the touchline, with coach Gigi Simoni threatening to stroll off and declaring ‘disgrace on you’ to the referee.
“Juventus had been a lot of a superior group to Inter then that you simply couldn’t even examine them,” responded Iuliano.
“Ceccarini gave a penalty to us 30 seconds later and Gigi Simoni, an awesome individual, ran onto the pitch together with your complete bench. The referee ought to’ve despatched all of them off and take motion.
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“Moreover, Taribo West did commit the foul for our penalty. I do not forget that night time individuals needed to ask me questions, however seeing as we had virtually received the Scudetto, I simply went out to rejoice.”
Curiously, the penalty was irrelevant, as a result of Alessandro Del Piero noticed it parried by Gianluca Pagliuca.
Juventus had opened the scoring with Del Piero within the first half and that’s the way it remained.
Iuliano additionally reveals one other facet to that legendary second, insisting there was no unhealthy blood.
“It makes me snigger that everybody asks about this, as a result of I’ve met with Ronaldo once more, we performed in matches collectively, we by no means talked about it.
“It was a media storm that meant extra to the followers and the golf equipment than to us gamers.”