Immobile acts: Italy star with very embarrassing “miracle cure”


Immobile is acting
Italy star with very embarrassing “miracle healing”

After an exciting match against Belgium, Italy deserved to make it into the semi-finals of the European Football Championship. Meanwhile, Ciro Immobile takes care of the negative scene of the game. The attacker of the Italians affords an embarrassing “miracle cure”.

No, miracles are not commonplace in Catholic Bavaria either, that’s what makes them so special. And even if some people feel differently, football stadiums in particular are more earthly than divine. So it must have been something else that the viewers of the European Championship quarter-finals between Italy and Belgium witnessed late on Friday evening. The Italian striker Ciro Immobile, a man of stately stature, was apparently badly hit in the Belgian penalty area in a duel with defender Jan Verthongen, a scream, audible up to the press box high up under the roof, caused the worst to be feared. Despite the clearly visible, at best slight contact with Verthongen.

The game went on, Immobile didn’t. He remained unheeded by opponents and colleagues in the penalty area. The attacker, who was worth 18.5 million euros to Borussia Dortmund and whose market value after formidable years at Lazio Rome is now estimated at almost 40 million euros, held his leg, his face buried in the grass.

It was 0-0 in the 31st minute when Immobile sein – Warning: Spoiler – drama began, eight seconds later it was 1-0 for the Italian team, which was not impressed by the alleged suffering of their own striker. In a roundabout way, the ball got to Nicolo Barella, who thrashed it in the corner, fed up and untenable for Belgium goalkeeper Thibault Courtois. All of this became possible because no one fell for the Lazio star’s contribution. Referee Slavko Vincic ignored the actor.

Immobile hadn’t noticed anything, the 31-year-old hadn’t even let his suffering be spoiled by the fact that the attack continued without him and his team had been robbed of his actually sharpened weapon – himself. But when he realized with his face in the grass that something – well – miraculous must have happened when the cheers of the Italian fans posted behind the gate resounded, so the 31-year-old looked around in astonishment, jumped up and was healed, in time to cheer together with his colleagues.

In the network, the striker’s action quickly caused ridicule and malice, and occasional anger. ZDF expert Per Mertesacker arranged the situation first with a cynical smile, then constructively: “Immobile wants to get something out,” said the Rio world champion, who spoke of a “miracle cure”. “But he did one thing, namely to distract Vermaelen. In doing so, he may have missed the millisecond in which he could deliver Barella.”

Distraction is actually not what Ciro Immobile stands for: In the 2019/20 season he was the top scorer in Serie A with 36 goals, in the past season he still scored 21 goals. In the group stage of the EM Immobile scored twice and prepared a goal. In the knockout phase, however, he is still waiting for a goal participation. Against Belgium he remained largely harmless except for his acting role, in the 74th minute coach Roberto Mancini brought his center forward off the field.

In the end, the ex-Dortmunder’s embarrassing acting performance went unpunished: Immobile and his Italians were able to celebrate a 2-1 victory and a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship, on Tuesday it’s against Spain for the final.

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