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Following the 3-2 loss to Juventus in the Derby d’Italia Saturday, Inter Milan defender Davide Santon reportedly received death threats to the point his girlfriend was scared for her life.
Santon, who came on in the latter stages of the game for striker Mauro Icardi – we will get to that in a bit – when Inter was up 2-1.
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In the span of a few minutes, an own-goal by Milan Skriniar followed by a goal by Gonzalo Higuain – of which Santon drew much of the criticism for – put Juventus over the top. With just 10 men thanks to a red card drawn by Matias Vecino in the first half, the Nerazzurri were unable to respond.
But, the fact that Interisti would resort to death threats following the game is more than just over the top, it is downright childish and dangerous.
“I’m really lost for words about humans,” she wrote on an Instagram story. “People commenting on this game have been sending death threats, threats of rape or wishing disease on us.
“To the idiots who believe that the money [Davide earns] alleviates these comments, all I can say is that my father is currently dying due to a pancreatic tumour and money does not help.
“Football is about passion and I understand and appreciate that, but for the first time in my life, I’m afraid of being at home alone with my baby. When you’re being told to lock yourself in and that you need to worry whether your partner will come home, then it’s not OK.
“No one is more devastated about the result tonight than Davide.”
In all fairness, there is enough blame to go around for Saturday’s loss. It isn’t just Santon’s to bear.
Vecino picked up a red card in the first half that changed the complexity of the game completely.
We had numerous missed opportunities throughout the game. Luciano Spalletti’s decision to bench Icardi for Santon may have had good intentions – albeit, we aren’t really sure what those are just yet – but that proved to be a monumental mistake.
The own-goal in the latter stages of the game to tie it up may not have had initial fault assigned to it, but it was also a mistake that cost us three points.
So, in the end, did Santon make a marking mistake, yes. But, does it deserve death threats, absolutely not. In all fairness, the bad marking burden wasn’t just Santon’s to bear.
Let’s not forget about the shoddy officiating for this entire match.
A challenge not worthy of a 2nd yellow in a decisive period of the match for both teams. A decision that did influence the full time result. Even with Spalletti's shocking substitutions they may never have come to pass if the right decision was made here to send Pjanic off. pic.twitter.com/ChXOfFLHK2
— InterYaSkriniar (@InterYaSkriniar) April 29, 2018
And even slower - Tell me what we have VAR for? pic.twitter.com/Hf17hdMWhU
— InterYaSkriniar (@InterYaSkriniar) April 30, 2018
Replay angles of the Cancelo decision, Total acceptable obstruction apparently. pic.twitter.com/g5weMQAlDs
— InterYaSkriniar (@InterYaSkriniar) April 29, 2018
It is that kind of activity that poisons the game and gives our team a bad name internationally.
While it can be easy to get caught up in the fandom of a game or of the team, it goes to a completely different level to threaten the lives of players and their families because a decision doesn’t go your way.
There is no place for that kind of activity in football and those fans who took part in it certainly don’t deserve the title of Interisti.
What do you think? Post your comments below!