by Salvatore Riggio
Former Lazio captain Paolo Di Canio, now a commentator for Sky Sport, attacks the two Milan players regarding the cooling break incident: “It’s a disgrace, not even at the workers’ club. This is delegitimization; they are not kids.”
The events during the cooling break in the 73rd minute of Lazio-Milan (August 31) continue to stir discussions, not just within Milan.
Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao, who came off the bench after facing criticism at Tardini in Parma (where Milan lost 2-1 on August 24), did not approach the bench, staying on the opposite side of the field and ignoring Abraham’s invitation. In fact, the Englishman had urged them, in vain, to join the rest of the team even just to hear Fonseca’s instructions. All of this happened while cameras captured the two Milan players.
After the match, the main players downplayed what occurred, and even the club on Via Aldo Rossi adopted a lenient approach and decided not to fine them. But Paolo Di Canio does not agree. The former captain of the biancocelesti, now a commentator on Sky Sport, lashed out at the blatant choice of the two Milan players: “Now I hear the do-gooders say they are just kids with eight million. Things happen. But we are at Milan!”, the former striker thundered.
He then intensified his criticism: “If something like this happens at the workers’ club, even with my friends while we are joking around and playing, if someone sits aside with their belly out I tell him: ‘Hey, what are you doing? Come join us’. Now, I don’t want to be populist, but this is a disgrace. The captain sits there chatting. It’s delegitimization! In my time, they would have been pinned to the wall with punches. Really, what are you doing? The coach and teammates feel demoted by that attitude.”
On Monday afternoon, there was a rather sharp response from Rafa Leao via social media. On Twitter (now X), the Portuguese striker published the Roman salute, from the time in Lazio, of the former player and now television commentator. It was January 6, 2005, a time when the striker defined himself as fascist. A period he later retracted during another incident: he was already a Sky commentator and in a photo posted on Facebook from his show, it was noticed that he had a tattoo with the word “Dux” on his right arm. He then explained to Corriere della Sera: “I learned to put myself in others’ shoes, to reason with them. There are many people who have every right to feel hurt by the unintended display of those tattoos.” Today, however, Leao is reminding him of that past.