Embarrassment. The match last Thursday between the Italy and Armenia national teams for the Euro 2020 qualifiers left a memorable moment for fair play defenders. Leonardo Bonucci, centerback and captain of the 'Azzurri', carried out a dishonest action against his opponent Aleksandre Karapetian from Armenia, which has gone viral on all social media. The Juventus player pretended to have received an elbow, Karapetian was sent off, and -annoyed- he dedicated a message to him.
"I have great respect for what he has achieved (Leonardo Bonucci) in his football career, but that was shameful," were the words used by Armenian striker Aleksandre Karapetian on his Instagram account, thus showing his annoyance by the unfair expulsion he suffered. This foul led him to the showers earlier, as he had previously received a yellow card. What a shame.
A depleted Italian national team required two goals in the final part of the match against Armenia to secure a 3-1 victory on Thursday over a rival that was reduced to 10 men in a Euro 2020 qualifier. The result extended Italy's perfect start in the qualifiers for the European national team tournament, which will take place in the middle of next year.
Bonucci faked receiving an elbow in Italy-Armenia and his opponent was sent off. (Twitter)
Italy's coach, Roberto Mancini, looked furious at his players' inability to generate serious goal opportunities in the second half despite having the advantage of playing against a 10-man Armenian team. That was until substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini broke the 1-1 tie at the 77th minute. Andrea Belotti later extended the lead with his second goal of the match. The initiative taken by Armenia paid off after 11 minutes, when Aleksandre Karapetyan scored on a counterattack that started with a defensive mistake by Italy. With five wins in five matches, Italy leads Group J with 15 points. Second-placed Finland faces Greece later.
"Ho grande rispetto per quello che hai raggiunto nella tua carriera ma questo (la simulazione ndr) è vergognoso" Il messaggio di Karapetian a Bonucci che imbarazza il club Italia https://t.co/yrEcumIXJe
— Maurizio Pistocchi (@pisto_gol) September 6, 2019
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