There was a match, at the ‘Marulla’, the classic one that lasts ninety minutes plus injury time, and then another began, shorter and decidedly more intense. Because the public present in the stands had not given weight to what happened in an apparently banal moment during the match: Cerofolini lay down and saved an insufficiently dangerous shot from Rizzo Pinna, about twenty minutes from the end, with Cosenza trailing by a goals. A simple dive, ordinary administration. Or at least that’s how it appeared to everyone. In the field, however, there is something wrong and the first to notice it and almost instantly are the photographers who, as we know, they baptize every moment of the game, even the small ones. Little by little something happens at home too, thanks to the replays provided by Dazn. In the meantime the game runs smoothly. But what happened? After the save by the former rossoblù goalkeeper today for the Ciociari, the defender Monterisi relaxes with the intention of thanking his guardian angel for having defused the opponent’s attempt. It’s a shame that instead of caressing Cerofolini’s head he visibly leaned, and for a few seconds, on the ball: a handball in all respects. Who in the penalty area, by regulation (except for caroms, at the moment, involuntariness has been banned), is punished with the penalty. Without ifs or buts. Nobody noticed it – photographers aside – immediately, but this represents a precedent that could lead to the introduction, a bit like it has been for many years in tennis with theeye of falconthe Var… on call. That is, offering the team the opportunity to invoke the technology for doubtful episodes. Yesterday’s episode in Cosenza could have made law.
The other match, the one that hurts even more
Such an angry Alvini had never been seen in the ‘Marulla’ area. The episode of the missed penalty and the foul on Ricciardi (on the occasion of Frosinone’s goal) sent him into a rage. For a team fighting to save its skin, living with a four-point penalty, a match lost in a direct clash can be decisive. In addition to reviving the Ciociari, who until a couple of weeks ago seemed to be the weak link in the cadet championship, the internal defeat interrupts a positive streak that had lasted for months. Scoring points – always – is vital. However, once legitimate frustration has been overcome, we need to think again and understand whether yesterday’s defeat was just the result of poor refereeing or there is much more to it. Here, we feel like giving this answer: there is much more. In a very tough championship which, like never before this year, has no strong teams and in which you can win or lose against anyone, we cannot allow performances like this. The real strength of Alvini’s Cosenza, until yesterday, was the compactness, the wickedness, the desire to arrive before the others on the second balls, the courage to try from outside the area beyond the ninetieth minute, to ‘throw in’ beyond the law : yesterday we saw little or nothing of all this repertoire. The first real reason for the defeat was this. Only chance (four poles and a sensational miracle from Micai) prevented the match from ending with a very heavy partial against the rossoblù. We must become aware that this team must always travel at the maximum of its possibilities in order to think of competing, because as soon as we shift down a gear, the others, who can show more quality, take advantage of it. And even a Frosinone team without many players seemed more assorted. This is why we should look this team in the face and give them a gigantic round of applause for having won 20 points (at least on one pitch), despite being a team full of young people and bets, which has lost its technical and spiritual leader Tutino and has focused on players looking for a raise or coming from lower categories. Alvini, a buccaneer from the cadet seas, has staked everything on his boys’ desire to emerge and has given the team an identity, but it is physiological that you can lose even against teams that are sailing in bad waters (it also happened against Sudtirol, always at home). And here’s why focusing only on refereeing errors could be counterproductive. Just when you say you don’t want to offer the team an alibi, you end up providing them with a pretty big one. There are obvious personnel limitations, but they were there even when no one could beat the rossoblù. The team will have to be strengthened during the January transfer window, if we don’t want to have another year of passion. Director General Ursino and Director Delvecchio will have a lot of work to do. And, above all, they will have to protect Alvini in case other missteps arrive before the end of the year. Because the rossoblù coach is in all respects the true creator of a miracle. Because if Cosenza – this Cosenza – was penalized by four points and almost no one noticed, the credit goes to Alvini and his boys who, however, as soon as they climb that blessed gear, end up at the back.