Marino continues attack on Juventus ‘mentality’

Udinese director Pierpaolo Marino continues to attack Juventus after the 2-1 defeat on Sunday. ‘Juan Cuadrado is a specialist in diving’.

The Friuli had been leading 1-0 until a late comeback with a penalty and a header from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Udinese director Pierpaolo Marino continues to attack Juventus after the 2-1 defeat on Sunday. ‘Juan Cuadrado is a specialist in diving’.

The Friuli had been leading 1-0 until a late comeback with a penalty and a header from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Marino already addressed the ugly scenes at half-time, when Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici was standing at the entrance of the players’ tunnel shouting at referee Daniele Chiffi.

The Udinese director continued to talk about the incident with Paratici but also pointed at former Udinese winger Cuadrado's ‘diving’.

“Last night I didn’t sleep out of anger,” Marino told Udinese Tonight. “To see the lads in training today, so depressed and disheartened after giving everything without collecting anything, it made me even more nervous.

“The anger has not gone away. I state that I have been the referee for almost 300 games, even though I was very young, and I know a little about the psychology of how to manage games.

“I had never seen protests at the end of the first half because there was no injury time.

“This was an instrument of pressure towards the referee. I was there and I also reassured the referee because it was an instrumental fact.

“It’s not possible that, when there are still 45 minutes to play, and with only one goal difference, there will be complaints for a minute of injury time.

“This thing disturbed me a lot, the awarding of a free kick to Juventus in the decisive moment of the match saddens me.

“As a former referee and a seasoned manager, I have always been against this type of psychological pressure on the referee.

“These moments are reminiscent of the invasion of the emirs at the World Cup and are ghosts of the past that must not be see again.”

He claimed it’s not an attack on sporting director Paratici, but the ‘mentality’ and ‘sportsmanship’.

“It’s not a discussion against Paratici but against a mentality, that of going to psychologically condition the referee,” Marino continued.

“A sportsman should not do it, going to condition the referee during a match is horrible. As technical director, I’m authorised to go to the bench.

“As for the free kick, I don’t understand. If someone arrives on the ball first, it means that he has not been fouled.

“[Jens Stryger] Larsen doesn’t touch the opponent. Cuadrado is a diving specialist: he arrives first on the ball and when he realises that the opponent can take away the ball, he dives.

“In addition, to influence the referee, he pretends to fall on the ball with his hands, but in reality he wants to condition the referee to get a punishment.

“It’s a tactic that many experienced players use. This for me is a free kick for Udinese for Cuadrado’s handball.

“After the half-time pantomime, everything in the middle were directed in favour of Juventus."