Gianluca Vialli has revealed the reasoning behind his controversial tweet aimed at Pescara Coach Zdenek Zeman.
Gianluca Vialli has revealed the reasoning behind his controversial tweet aimed at Pescara Coach Zdenek Zeman.
The former Sampdoria” data-scaytid=”7″>Sampdoria and Juventus” data-scaytid=”8″>Juventus star posted a remark on social networking site Twitter last week, in relation to how well Zeman’s Pescara side are performing in Serie B.
“Who knows how Zeman would feel if someone began to suspect him about so much energy,” the 47-year-old wrote, prompting the Czech-born Coach’s irritated defence of his players in a Press conference the next day.
The dispute was the latest example of the poor relationship between the pair, which can be traced back to 1998, when then-Roma Coach Zeman publicly accused Vialli and former Juve teammate Alessandro Del Piero of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
A case was brought against the Juventus players, but neither was found guilty. As Vialli later explained, his Twitter ‘joke’ was a form of payback for Zeman’s original accusations.
“You know, it has been 15 years, but I still feel a bit resentful for what he said about me and what he said about Del Piero,” he told Football Italia's Rossella Marrai (@MilanistaSA).
“Every now and then something comes to mind and it was just a sort of tongue-in-cheek joke and I tweeted it.
“I don’t suspect anything. I just wanted him to understand how I felt 15 years ago. I think it is only natural.
“Look, I am not perfect…”