SOUR GRAPES MAKES AN ITALIAN WHINE

Last updated : 13 June 2002 By Editor

It was a robbery," Trapattoni complained after the game (surely "grand Larseny" - ed.), "but there's no point going down the road of regrets and recriminations - we must pull ourselves out of this mess with our next match." That's not till Thursday though, so there's plenty of time for the Italian press and public to recriminate all they like.

Larsen, we read in the papers, is none other than the same lame Dane who "cost Italy the European title" back in the Euro 2000 final with France, when he failed to spot a French foul just before Slyvain Wiltord sent the game into extra time. As for Saturday's referee - England's own Graham Poll - the Gazzetta dello Sport dubbed him "Pontius Pilate" for letting Larsen get away with it yet again. "Will he be our exit - Poll?" their front-page leader wonders. Clever stuff.

Bubbling away under this is a burgeoning conspiracy theory: that Saturday's raw deal is actually payback time from beleagured Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who Italy have come out against in the ongoing Fifa power struggle. The head of the Italian FA has taken the first plane east, to add some political clout to the
Azzuri's challenge.