As if Things Weren’t Already Bad Enough for Cagliari

By: Martha | December 5th, 2007

In happier times/ Just to review, Cagliari have won twice, are on their second manager, and are joint bottom of the table with 10 points. Life sucks there and, despite the arrival of a teenage American keeper, it’s not looking to get better any time soon. In fact, things seem to be getting rapidly worse: Davide Marchini and Pasquale Foggia are fighting, and Marchini’s even got a lawyer involved (though mostly he just seems to be talking).

Foggia’s emergence is one of the few good things that’s happened at the club during their dismal first half; Marchini, meanwhile, has hardly seen the pitch, playing just once so far, despite appearing 17 times last season. The two are known to not get along, but the club have done a nice job of keeping the details more or less under wraps. Until now, anyway.

According to an interview Marchini’s lawyer gave La Gazzetta, the two players had a blowout in training late in October, after who Foggia issued a vague threat, suggesting something would happen the following Monday. On that day, Marchini and Robert Acquafresca were innocently hanging out in a restaurant; when Foggia came in and asked to sit with them (despite, apparently, even talking to Marchini for days), he was denied and stomped out, only to be replaced by a friend with a “broad Neapolitan accent” (look out). I’m sure you can guess what happened from this point: Arguing, Marchini walking away like a good boy, the friend following him out, punching him, and throwing a chair at his car. Your typically footballer bust-up.

Marchini reportedly ended up in the hospital and, like any of us would in such a situation, called his parents, and told them to call his boss. Jesus. How old are these people?! Supposedly the incident has made things a bit tense at the Cagliari training ground (I wonder if they warned ~~Jim Smith~~ Nedo Sonetti before offering him the coach gig — I’m guessing no.), but the club hasn’t taken any official action. Now that everyone knows, however, they might have to do something. Because, you know, life isn’t already hard enough on Sonetti as it is, now he has to play daddy for a couple of morons.