South Korea-Italy twenty years later, second episode. After the interview with Gazzetta dello Sport the referee of that game, the Ecuadorian Byron Morenoalways on the site of the rosea arrives the replica of one of the protagonists of that unfortunate challenge of Daejeon which cost us the elimination in the second round of the Japanese World Cup, Mark Iuliano.
South Korea-Italy, Iuliano: “Moreno ruined my only match in a World Cup”
The then defender of the Juventus was chosen by the coach Giovanni Trapattoni as owner together with captain Paolo Maldini to replace the unavailable Alessandro Nesta e Fabio Cannavaro, and on that occasion he played his only game in a world championship. Not exactly the best opportunity to wear the blue shirt in such an important event. And the wound of that defeat (2-1 with a golden goal by Ahnwho played at the Perugia) is still open. Here are the words of Iuliano.
“They ruined my only presence in a World Cup. In my entire life I have never wanted to watch videos of that game again. It felt like being in a movie. I tried to remove all memories. A bad football page, even today I find it hard to remember the episodes on the pitch. Moreno? Other than a referee, a person put there to ruin matches “.
South Korea-Italy, Iuliano: “Did Moreno do nothing wrong? Incommentable words “
Moreno immediately whistled a penalty against the Azzurri, and yet the former South American whistle at the Gazzetta confirmed that he had not done anything wrong. Here is Iuliano’s reply.
“It is madness, his words are incommentable. Every whistle was against us. He made a series of mistakes that did not allow us to go on to the World Cup. Every action, every counterattack: everything was stopped in the bud. After the penalty against us we immediately understood what the match would be. With Vieri we managed to take the lead, then everything happened. We were tense and the game was conditioning from the referee’s choices “.
“After the first protests we started not to carethere would all warned or expelled. I remember a hard contrast on Tommasi, Moreno continued the game. The opposing fans whistled us at every ball, the stands were all red. We entered a dead end tunnel, we lost the game. We certainly could have done better. But we lived one complicated mental situation. We were conditioned, in a normal match we would never have conceded those goals. We had to win at least 4-0unfortunately it did not go like this “.
South Korea-Italy, Iuliano: “Moreno diabolical mind with whistle in hand”
Moreno, who after that game incredibly did, among other things, the teacher for young refereesalso says that Totti, after the expulsion, did not protest because he was aware that it was right. Iuliano replies like this.
“He did not believe (Totti, ed) that all this was real. We were in the second round of a World Cup, there should have been the best referee available. I don’t know how Byron Moreno got there. It had become useless to protest. According to him Trapattoni was wrong to enter Gattuso instead of Del Piero? Who is he to judge a manager’s choices? He was there to referee or for look at the substitutions of Italy? Today his words are only provocations ”.
“Did he admit he was wrong not to draw the red for the killer entry on Zambrotta? If only that was the problem. He didn’t make a correct decision. As for example the goal canceled to Tommasi for offside. What a trio, him and his assistants. All against us. What do I feel like telling him twenty years later? I wish he was permanently forgotten. He was a diabolical mind with a whistle in his hand ”.
OMNISPORT
