Milan Classier Than Their Keeper; Won’t Appeal Result

When Nelson Dida went down as if he’d been shot by the supporter who ran onto the Parkhead pitch last night, there were a lot of theories put forth about the reason for the four day delay between the contact and the falling down in agony. Me, I was thinking late-acting acid, while others suggested things like an eye-poke so dire it took several seconds to register, and the well-known Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique (thanks, for that Paolo).

Barring any of those reasons, though, it seems as if there are two plausible explanations for Dida’s behavior: 1)That he was so humiliated and frustrated that he wanted to get off the pitch ASAP, and decided getting stretchered off was the way to go; 2)That in the middle of chasing the Pitch Invader, the keeper suddenly realized that UEFA’s no-tolerance policy might turn into a punishment of Celtic that awarded Milan the match, and crashed to the ground to help that happen.

If the latter was in fact the reason for Dida’s actions, the club has crushed his dreams in the dust by announcing they won’t appeal the results of the match. Good for Milan — that’s a very classy decision by a team that could use all the help it can get right now and shows a whole lot of self-control. Whatever punishment UEFA hand Celtic (and there’s going to be one, probably severe), their 2-1 win will stand, and Milan will go back to trying to sort things out on the pitch, instead of trying to get three gift points. (Did I mention good for them? Because really, that’s awesome. And, I have to admit, somewhat unexpected.)

Also: Could someone please explain to me why a Celtic supporter would slap the man whose shaky goalkeeping was a big reason his team were winning the match? Was he trying to kiss him, maybe? Or, has anyone considered that this guy was an exasperated Milan fan?

Edit: And, adding insult to (fake) injury, it looks as if UEFA might fine Dida for his playacting. Damn, that is cold.

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Category: AC Milan, Champions League, Rumors & News, Serie A