Behind closed doors
Friday 29 September 2006
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The 'Do not disturb' sign was a giveaway, surely? (©Getty Images)
We all know that sometimes, regrettably, football games have to be played behind closed doors. But none the less it is always important to open said doors at least briefly before the match, otherwise there could be a problem.
Close affair
US Salernitana Sport travelled to Ternana Calcio last week keen to continue their promising start to the Serie C1 season in Italy. But as the teams gathered, then the match officials and finally 500 fans, a problem was clear. That is, the doors were locked and no one could get into the stadium. Still they waited, but no key turned up, and 15 minutes before kick-off the referee decided enough was enough and called off the game. Now Salernitana have been awarded a 3-0 win that takes them into second in the table. Salernitana sporting director Enrico Coscia said: "We don't like these three points. But what else could we do?" Learn lockpicking?
Go figure
The gates were opened as normal by amateur side Bennekom for the big visit of Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Cup on 21 September. Unfortunately, AZ brought their goalscoring boots along and by the 64-minute mark Simon Cziommer had claimed a hat-trick, Moussa Dembélé struck twice, and Maarten Martens, Demy de Zeeuw, Stijn Schaars and David Mendes da Silva also all found the net too. At this stage, Martens scored again but those arriving late at the match might have thought that an upset was on the cards, as the scoreboard, unable to cope with double figures, switched back to 0-0. Luckily for AZ, a possible '1-0' defeat was prevented when Joey Didulica pulled off a save in the dying seconds of the match.
Eyes wrong
Now, as we stressed when reporting the tale of the referee who gave a goal scored by a ballboy last week, Off the Ball is not in the business of mocking officials, who do a difficult job in the toughest of circumstances. But we are going to do it again anyway. UD Almería and Cádiz CF were competing in a televised Segunda División encounter in Spain when assistant Manuel Rodriguez Vallejo flagged for a penalty. Almería had a player sent off and Cádiz converted, but the effect was only spoiled when replays showed the incident was three metres outside the box. Especially unfortunate as Rodríguez Vallejo is studying optometry. The video clip has since been doing the rounds on the internet, and Rodríguez Vallejo told sports newspaper AS's website: "I am putting up with it as best I can but have decided not to make any comments on what happened the other day. I just want it all to blow over as soon as possible so I can concentrate on my next game." Luckily, Almería still won 2-1.
End of an era
Finally, a salute to one of the great characters of Spanish football. On 7 September Emilia García died at the age of 99 after 80 years' loyal service supporting Real Oviedo. Nicknamed 'La Pixarra', she was distributing newspapers in Oviedo when the club was formed in 1926 and immediately became a member. She never once missed a home game and always came armed with her catapult, used to intimidate assistants. García was also once caught on camera hitting a referee with an umbrella (not that we endorse such behaviour, etc). Sat behind the dugouts, La Pixarra always cried when her team scored, saying: "It might be the last goal I see." The synthetic pitch built by the club in 1995 was named in her honour and a bust depicting García now guards the entrance to the training ground. "Oviedo is the only vice I have and I won't give up on it until the day I die," she said. "And on that day, everyone will go to my funeral because I'm their grandmother." Fittingly, her words proved right as a huge crowd gathered to bid a final farewell.
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