By Adam Zielonka - "Italian soccer team fields seven players, loses 20-0," The Washington Times - Sunday, February 17, 2019; original article contains links
JB personal note: I lived in Rome as a U.S. foreign service brat, 1958-1962, where/when I loved watching calcio games; and I can still swear in Romanesco!
Italian soccer team fields seven players, loses 20-0
Image from article, with caption: A 2014 World Cup official soccer ball, called Brazuca, sits on the sidelines as Bosnia-Herzegovina players pass the ball, background, during a training session at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, June, 14, 2014.
An Italian soccer club whose players and coaches are striking over unpaid wages suffered an embarrassing loss Sunday.
Pro Piacenza lost on the road to Cuneo 20-0, a result of only being able to field seven players for the match. Cuneo scored its first 16 goals in the first half alone.
The club plays in the country’s third tier of pro soccer, Serie C.
Pro Piacenza’s regular players and coaches refused to travel for the match due to the wage battle, so the team was only able to scrounge up seven players — the minimum required for a match — between 16 and 19 years old to take the field against Cuneo’s regular 11 players, ESPN reported.
A 19-year-old player served as Pro Piacenza’s manager for the match, as well.
The president of the FIGC, Italy’s football association, reportedly called the blowout “an insult to the sport and its founding principles.”
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