Lorenzo Lucca was hauled off the field by Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic in what was only the latest in a series of ugly public rows over who should take a penalty this season.
The incident overshadowed Udinese’s 1-0 victory away to Lecce in last night’s Serie A Week 26 opener.
It proved pivotal, because Lucca did convert to seal the victory for his team, but he argued with several teammates before finally being allowed to take the spot-kick.
This refusal to stick to the agreed order of penalty-takers infuriated coach Runjaic, who sent a message by taking Lucca off before half-time.
Even his teammates were fuming, as they refused to celebrate with him.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport point out, this is only the latest situation where players have disobeyed team orders on penalties this season.
Penalty rows spread like wildfire
It comes just days after Ademola Lookman did the same during Atalanta’s Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge, but in that case his effort was saved.
This prompted coach Gian Piero Gasperini to declare Lookman was “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” highlighting why he should not have put himself above the team.
In Serie A, Albert Gudmundsson wanted to make his mark during his debut for Fiorentina, earning and converting a penalty in the 2-1 win over Lazio in September 2024.
When the Viola received another spot-kick, Moise Kean wanted the opportunity to step up, but Gudmundsson stuck to his guns, safe also in the knowledge he had been given the role by the coach.
The Stadio Franchi was also the scene of more controversy in October 2024, when Milan managed to miss two penalties taken by Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham.
Coach Paulo Fonseca later revealed neither of them were supposed to be there, as Christian Pulisic was the designated taker in a 2-1 defeat.
The overpaid primadonnas are becoming more and more individualistic. It isn’t about trophies (only a handful of clubs win those) so it becomes about merchandising, public profiles, social media following, stas that drive club salaries and me, Me MEEEE!!!!
And when they screw it all up, like Theo with his diving, the team, coach, club are left with the choice of defending and covering, or the financial pool of singling out and letting the players take the blame they brought upon themselves.
It’s one of the less attractive sides of the otherwise beautiful game. The sporting side has been secondary to the financial field the clubs and ownership for a couple of decades already, but it is in the most recent seasons that the sporting side comes secondary also to players.
Best of luck to Leao in his music career. The dribbling rapper is a position i never thought I’d see in calcio.
Does this mean that a load of fake outrage post will be appearing on social media or does this not count as he is Italian?