Trick or treat? Players drop shorts to fool goalie
Officials upset when players on Italian club lower shorts to block view
 | Catania's forward Gianvito Plasmati, right, is seen with his shorts down as his teammate Giuseppe Mascara, not pictured, scored a goal during a match against Torino on Sunday. Three Catania players dropped their shorts down near their knees so Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni couldn't see Mascara's kick. Catania carried out the maneuver to perfection when Giuseppe Mascara scored in the club's 3-2 victory. |
Francesco Pecoraro / AP |
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ROME - In the latest fashion statement out of Italy, soccer players are dropping their shorts to score goals.
Catania, a team in the country’s top division, unveiled the new look while taking a free kick. The players lined up in a wall and dropped their shorts in an effort to block the goalkeeper’s vision.
The Sicilian team carried out the maneuver to perfection Sunday. Three players dropped their shorts practically to their knees so Torino goalie Matteo Sereni couldn’t see the kick by Giuseppe Mascara, who scored during Catania’s 3-2 victory.
Catania is coached by Walter Zenga, a former goalkeper on Italy’s national team.
“This is a strategy that Zenga tries continually in training,” Pietro Lo Monaco, the club’s chief executive, told RAI state radio Monday.
Former referees coordinator Paolo Casarin called the move “unsportsmanlike and in bad taste.”
“It’s a trick that should not be tolerated anymore by the referees,” he said.
Lo Monaco replied: “A trick? I wouldn’t say so. It’s up to the referee to decide if it should be penalized, otherwise I don’t see where the problem is. ... Good taste is relative.”
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