Unmistakeable: Collina is entering the late autumn of his career (VladimirRys/GettyImages)
A fitting farewell?- Roberto Gotta
Readers with a long memory may remember that almost two months ago I took a trip to Vicenza, the town in Veneto whose team was trying to keep its collective head above water in Serie B.
Vicenza, those of 'cat-eating' reputation, beat Salernitana 4-1 that evening and appeared to be primed for a good run to end the season well above the relegation zone.
The run-up to Serie B's finale turned out to be a rather different, and last Saturday the last act of the relegation battle took place at the Stadio Menti with the return leg of Vicenza's playoff against Triestina, with the loser making the drop down to the Serie C1.
But there were going to be more facets to this story, as Pierluigi Collina, perhaps the world's best know referee, was a surprise choice to ref the game.
Having reached the mandatory retirement age of 45, Collina was thus going to end his illustrious and media-friendly career with a match that was surely going to fly under the radar of general interest in Italy.
Collina had been called up for another dramatic relegation playoff just a week earlier; a torrid confrontation between Bologna and Parma which had seen the home side lose 2-0 and slip down to Serie B after winning the away leg 1-0 just four days earlier.
Bologna-born Collina has refereed a lot of his hometown club's matches and, as those with a penchant conspiracy theories point out, they have rarely produced good results for the Rossoblu. The more refined among those anoraks believe Collina, who's been living in Tuscany for years and so qualifies to do Bologna games, unconsciously does little to help them in order to show he's not biased.
Of course this is just one in a plethora of unreasonable suspicions that create a sort of parallel universe in Italian football, although recent allegations about Genoa bribing their way to the Serie A (a criminal investigation is under way) shows there are more and more connections between the real world and the perceived one.
Anyway, after taking charge of the World Cup final three years ago and of the Serie A decider between Milan and Juventus in early May, it was always going to be weird to see Collina bow out in a provincial stadium on a hot, humid Saturday night in late June.
Everyone among the 17,000 crowd which packed the Menti (prices had been reduced to a ridiculously low €5 for the ends, €20 for the main stand, with all Under 16s let in for free) knew that Vicenza's task of winning by at least two goals after going down 2-0 in Trieste was going to be the evening's main, if not only, story. Nevertheless few fans had actually saved tears for Collina's farewell, keeping them instead just in case Vicenza did not meet their obligations.
And meet them they didn't; after a passive performance that reminded everyone at the stadium, and the hordes - er, not quite - watching live on TV, how Vicenza had deteriorated as the season went on.
Triestina, of course, set out to stifle their opponents and keep them out of their penalty area, and this they did, with little effort. Vicenza were let down by their apparent inability to cross properly, as ball after ball from the flanks was either too close to Triestina's keeper Campagnolo, or gave new meaning to the words 'far' and 'post', landing nearer the opposite corner flag time after time.
Some of Vicenza's more vocal fans wandered amongst the more sedate crowd sitting amongst them in the stands with the aim of stirring up some emotion in the areas far from the ultras.
“ Collina didn't have much to do. He made the correct decision every time, keeping an eye on the physical struggle and generally did what a good ref's got to do; fading into the background and letting the players grab the spotlight. ”
Not that those standing near the away fans' needed any prodding: word had spread that before the game some Triestina fans had pulled their train's emergency brakes right outside the Vicenza stadium and engaged in rock-throwing with the Police which left five people injured. A few confrontations broke out early in the game, which sadly at the time proved more interesting than anything on the pitch.
Collina did not have much to do. He made the correct decision every time, keeping an eye on the physical struggle between Triestina's excellent centre-forward Denis Godeas and the home team's defenders, and generally doing what a good ref's got to do; fading into the background and letting the players grab the spotlight.
Sadly, the quality of football was so low that you couldn't help but take a look at the famous bald head from time to time, as Vicenza's attacks were repeatedly foiled by poor crossing, poor finishing and by a clearance on the line by defender Pecorari after a close range header by Margiotta on 40 minutes.
Triestina, who would have gone down had Vicenza won 2-0 because the home team had finished above them in the table before the relegation playoff (bizarrely called playouts here), settled matters 26 minutes into the second half, when their covetted centre-forward Denis Godeas slotted home a Tulli freekick which had only been parried by Vicenza keeper Sterchele.
The three-goal gap looked like a mountain to climb for Vicenza, who never looked like getting back into the game after that; and so the crowd got restless.
A couple of banners mocking coach Maurizio Viscidi were held up, and another one noted that Viscidi was taking Vicenza down to Serie C1 just days after former local icon Mimmo Di Carlo, a midfielder in the Cup Winners' Cup days in the late 1990s, had led Mantova to Serie B, their second promotion in a row.
In Italy no home team's failure is complete without the fans turning against the players and chanting 'andate a lavorare' (loosely translated: get a proper job).
And it duly happened a few minutes from the end in a surreal atmosphere with Vicenza attacking with no real hope of achieving the impossible, Triestina fans celebrating and Vicenza substitute Gonzalez being sent off for headbutting an opponent, an incident which briefly brought Collina - who again got it right - back to the stage.
When Godeas headed his second goal with one minute to go, most of the home fans stood and clapped him, a not-so-subtle hint to Vicenza players that they had been humbled by Triestina. A few seconds later a toy cat was hurled from the Triestina fans onto the pitch, again mocking the cat-eating reputation still attached to the locals.
Recent events - not to mention the last three close seasons - have proved that, because of gambling scandals, clubs on the brink of bankruptcy and other forgettable stuff, what Serie A, B and C look like in June may change in a couple of months' time, so there's a slight chance Vicenza may still keep their Serie B place by default, but do not bet a single cent on it.
As for Collina, unlike Vicenza, he'll get a second chance: this week, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is expected to confirm that he will be allowed to go on for a further year, as will all others belonging to the Elite group of refs once they reach 45.
The shiny bald pate and the wide-eyed stare will stay with us until December 31 for European matches and June 30, 2006 for domestic competition.
Had it not been for the Police and Carabinieri, who smuggled them out of the changing rooms inside their patrol cars eluding the few hundreds fans who were seeking, er, an 'explanation' for their abject performance, some Vicenza players might still have been locked inside the Menti by the time Collina bows out for real.
