Mark Iuliano, former Juventus defender, has spoken once again about the infamous penalty incident involving Ronaldo during the 1998 Derby d’Italia. The match between Juventus and Inter on 26 April 1998 remains one of Serie A’s most controversial moments, largely centred on the collision between Iuliano and the Brazilian striker Ronaldo in Juventus’s penalty area.
Reflecting on the incident in a recent interview on the podcast ‘Centrocampo,’ (as quoted by IlBianconero) Iuliano was clear about his stance:
“Not even with VAR would they have agreed. If they had given me a penalty like that, would I have cursed? Yes, before watching the replay, yes.” He went on to explain, “Back then the referees took the responsibility to whistle what they saw together with their linesmen, who now are useless. Everyone asks me; I was still and he was the one who passed through… And how many similar interventions happen where they hardly ever whistle?”
Iuliano also addressed the ongoing controversy:
“Everyone asks me the same thing. With all that one has won in their career, sometimes it seems like everything boils down to one episode. It makes me laugh because Ronaldo and I saw each other, we played other matches against each other, and we never talked about it. It was a media bomb that affected the fans and the clubs more than us players.”
Regarding Inter’s protests after the incident, he stated,
“We were so superior that the two teams were incomparable. Ceccarini gave us a penalty after 30 seconds and Gigi Simoni, a great person, came onto the pitch with the entire bench. They should have sent everyone off, suspended the match, and taken measures. Then the penalty for West’s foul was there. That evening Raimondo Vianello asked me questions, but I was under a media blackout. We had practically won the Scudetto, and so I went to celebrate.”
