«Quel gesto da solo merita il cosiddetto premio Fair Play della Fifa a fine stagione»
Durante la partita tra Ascoli e Reggina, i marchigiani hanno lasciato campo libero al gol del pareggio dei calabresi dopo che a rete del vantaggio ascolana era stata caratterizzata da un infortunio occorso al difensore granata Valdez.
«Quel gesto da solo merita il cosiddetto premio Fair Play della Fifa a fine stagione - si legge nell’edizione online del NY Times - Potrebbe non ottenerlo perché Ascoli Piceno è solo un club di Serie B e non ha titoli in prima pagina come Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo e, Thierry Henry».
Ecco lo stralcio dell'articolo del NY Times in cui si parla dell'Ascoli:
"But on Saturday, the players of Ascoli, a team struggling at the foot of the Italian second division, demonstrated fair play to a man. It led at 14 minutes, after a controversial goal that came directly from an injured opponent, Carlos Valdez of Reggina, trying to boot the ball out of play to receive treatment.
Ascoli intercepted his clearance and scored its goal. In the heat of Reggina’s protests, its defender Andrea Costa was red-carded by the referee. But when calm was restored, Ascoli’s players did the right and proper thing. They stood aside and allowed Reggina to equalize, unopposed.
That act, alone, is worth the FIFA so-called Fair Play Trophy at the end of this season. It may not get it because Ascoli Piceno is a mere Serie B club, off the radar of the headliners like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and, well, Thierry Henry.
For what it’s worth, this column salutes the team. Fair Play in soccer, however, might yet have repercussions for Ascoli. The equalizer led to a 3-1 home defeat, and the points lost Saturday could be critical when the relegation places are settled at the end.
Way above Ascoli’s pretensions, the Serie A title in Italy is warming toward a three-way contest".
