Juventus' Krasic banned for diving
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?Milos Krasic |
Juventus winger Milos Krasic will miss Saturday's Serie A clash at AC Milan after being banned for two matches yesterday for diving to win a penalty in Sunday's 0-0 draw at Bologna.
Serie A said that after reviewing video evidence, it was clear there was no contact with Bologna's Daniele Portanova. "The referee made an error because of a dive by the Juventus player," a statement said, adding Krasic must serve a two-game ban.
Vincenzo Iaquinta missed the resulting penalty after 36 minutes to partly placate furious Bologna players but Italian media has castigated Serbia's Krasic, who had made an excellent start to his Juventus career.
The winger looked destined for a ban when teammate Alberto Aquilani admitted after the game that Krasic had "made a mistake" although others at the club defended the player despite the television evidence looking damning.
Italian soccer has used video evidence after matches to ban divers in the past and has been at the forefront of calls for world governing body FIFA to make use of technology while games take place.
Blonde-haired Krasic, a transfer window signing from CSKA Moscow, had quickly gained a place in Juventus fans' hearts thanks to his driving runs and resemblance to former hero Pavel Nedved.
His absence for fifth-placed Juventus against second-placed Milan has been made worse by news that Amauri will miss the game with an Achilles problem while fellow striker Iaquinta is highly doubtful with a knee injury.
Alessandro Del Piero, one away from breaking the club's Serie A scoring record of 178 goals at the age of 35, is likely to come into the side and lead the line with Fabio Quagliarella.
