Italian Players Drop Their Pants For Victory

Italian soccer players are known for innovative play. For the better part of a century the Azzurri, for example, have played a third of international matches writhing on the ground and grabbing perfectly healthy ankles. Why they do this is a mystery to me and to scientists the world ‘round, but it is innovative in that no one does it as well, and that like most other innovative things it really, really pisses people off.↵
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↵Another innovation from Italian soccer: pulling your pants down to distract the goalie. (Go full-screen here, not because you want to see men pulling their pants down, but because it’s a bit difficult to see.)↵

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The move is an “innovation” from Walter Zenga, the coach of Sicilian club Catania and new platinum-level member of our Hall of Awesome. The goalkeeper was appalled enough to allow the critical goal in a 3-2 match through, so it worked despite critics calling it “a trick.” The club’s president, Pietro Lo Monaco begs to differ in one of the better answers you’ll ever hear from management ever:↵↵⇥Lo Monaco replied: “A trick? I wouldn’t say so. It’s up to the referee to decide if it should be penalized, otherwise I don’t see where the problem is. ... Good taste is relative.”↵↵Good taste is relative. Italian soccer, you never, ever disappoint. (Bill Belichick is currently running this drill on field goals as we speak.)↵