Marginalized in the national team by the selector Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian footballer Nicolae Stanciu, 32 years old, has hard days in the club team as well. The midfielder could become a hero for Genoa, if he converted last night’s penalty awarded in extra time against AC Milan (final score 1-1). Tied in overtime, his team could leave Milan with all the points if the Romanian scored. However, he executed the shot from 11 meters far over the goal.
Images appeared on social networks, before the penalty shot by Stanciu, with the home team’s player, Strahinja Pavlovic, in the main role. It was the 99th minute of the match. Pavlovic, taking advantage of the endless protests of his colleagues, got out of the frame and went to the point with lime.
He made a hole in the field there, tapping the area four times with his left foot and twice with his right, to make sure that the ball would not sit properly and the execution would be a missed one. That’s what happened, the ball flying from Stanciu’s leg well over the crossbar.
The moment reminded Italians of a similar move made by another footballer, Ricky Maspero, before Chile’s Marcelo Salas took a penalty in a derby played in Turin in 2001.
Maspero discreetly stuck his foot across the penalty spot from where Salas was supposed to shoot, and the ball was sent high. Strahinja Pavlovic did the same against Genoa, getting an identical result.
Unlike Maspero, who moved on his toes, the Serbian defender acted diligently (he later received a yellow card for a recalcitrant gesture). Maspero later called his initiative a “stroke of genius”. Waiting for Pavlovic’s reaction.
Sabotaged by an opponent, Stanciu is ridiculed on social networks. “Stanciu decided to send the ball to Mars before Elon Musk’s Space X“, writes a fan.
Stanciu’s future at Genoa seems sealed. More reserve at Genoa (last night he came off the bench, at the end), which “ate” two points in Milan, he seems tempted by a return to the championship in China. The Romanian publicly apologized for missing the penalty. For a needy team like Genoa, the two points would have been golden.
