Source: REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
[Saba Sports News] In Serie A Round 26, Udinese won 1-0 against Lecce. Notably, Udinese player Lorenzo Lucca’s insistence on taking a penalty during the match sparked controversy. In the 30th minute, Udinese was awarded a penalty, and the team’s designated penalty taker is captain Florian Thauvin. However, Lucca ignored his teammate’s advice and clung tightly to the ball, wanting to take the penalty himself. Ultimately, Lucca scored the penalty as he wished, but no teammates celebrated with him, and he was quickly substituted by head coach Costa Runiayiqi. After the match, Runiayiqi stated: “We have clear regulations regarding who takes penalties. I did not like the way they argued about it; they discussed it for a long time. He took it upon himself to make a decision. Even though he eventually scored the penalty well, I still chose to substitute him. This isn’t the first time players have disputed penalty duties. I made this decision because I do not like people who do not follow the rules, and I must take action. However, all of this will be resolved in training, and we will focus on the next match.”