Free Alessandro Florenzi … and his grandma!
Florenzi will have to pay a fine after his family-oriented goal celebration during an Italian Serie A (first division) game Sunday, ESPN reports.
Florenzi, a midfielder for AS Roma, gave his team a 2-0 lead over visiting Cagliari in the 13th minute. Florenzi then bolted into the stands so that he could give his grandmother a hug and kiss.
The referee showed Florenzi a yellow card for leaving the field, and the 23-year-old faces further punishment from his club. Roma will fine Florenzi for breaking a club rule about picking up unnecessary yellow cards.
“He’s going to pay a fine,” Roma head coach Rudi Garcia told Sky Sport Italia. “But he will be happy to pay it.
“It was a beautiful image, to see his grandmother so delighted and moved. I love to see moments like this.”
Florenzi said he had no choice but to visit his grandmother in the stands.
“My gran’s fantastic,” Florenzi told Sky Sport Italia. “It was her first time here. She never came to watch me play even when I was a kid and it would have been easy. This time she’s come all this way at the age of 82.
“She told me after I missed that chance for the national team that she would come to the stadium just to see me, but that I had to go and say ‘hi’ to her.”
We know rules are rules, but come on. Florenzi deserves a break in this case.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@CodigoFutbol
