(Cassano! What happened in Catania?)

At Stadio Massimino this weekend, during Sampdoria’s loss to Catania, Antonio Cassano stormed off of the pitch and swore at a teammate. At that moment, calcio fans everywhere rolled their eyes, as we’ve seen this kind of behavior from Cassano before.

Following the match, Cassano and Coach Mazzarri supplied identical excuses for the incident. Both claim that Antonio became upset at the fact that he was injured for the “umpteenth” time. Mazzarri went further, explaining that the heated exchange between Cassano and Montella was “a misunderstanding and nothing more,” while Cassano said that he was simply “disappointed and miserable,” and that he doesn’t understand “all of this clamour for my decision to reach directly the tunnel of the dressing room.”

Well, Antonio, perhaps I can help you “understand all of this clamour.” See… you have a long history of acting like a jackass (both on the field and off), and despite the fans’ desire to forget about your antics, you decided to pull one out of the archives and put it on display for all to see. Contrary to what you may think, no amount of skill or athleticism is an excuse for selfishness and/or lack of self-control. Players have been injured before, Antonio, and how many storm off the field in a tantrum befitting a 10 year-old?

I don’t know when it will happen, but some day, teams will realize that Antonio Cassano represents more liability than asset, and when that happens, maybe the man once called “the future of Italian football” will come down to Earth and realize that it’s not all about Antonio.

Here are the match “highlights,” for anyone who didn’t see the absurdity unfold as it happened:

Categories: Catania, Sampdoria, injuries