Football Italia
·21 February 2025
Udinese players fight over penalty duty: Lucca scores and immediately subbed off
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Football Italia
·21 February 2025
Lorenzo Lucca went against team orders to take a penalty during the Serie A match between Lecce and Udinese on Friday night, fighting off several of his teammates to take the spot-kick, despite not being the designated taker.
Several Udinese players were furious with their teammate, who grabbed the ball and stood over the penalty spot despite the fact that Florian Thauvian was on the pitch as the designated taker, and was wearing the captain’s armband, too.
Lucca refused to let anybody else take the kick, which led to an angry confrontation from some of his teammates, including Jaka Bijol, who tried to push him away from the penalty spot.
Thauvin, Alexis Sanchez and Oumar Solet were among the other players to get involved in the confrontation. Even the Lecce players were left annoyed by the situation, given how long it took for the penalty to be taken.
In the end, it was a well-dispatched penalty, flying over Wladimiro Falcone and into the top left corner of the net.
Incredibly, Udinese coach Kosta Rubnjaic decided to substitute Lucca off immediately afterwards, sending Iker Bravo on to replace him in the 36th minute.
LECCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 21: Head coach of Udinese Kosta Runjaic and Lorenzo Lucca of Udinese during the Serie A match between Lecce and Udinese at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2025 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)
Defy your captain’s orders 😤 Bury the penalty kick ⚽️ Get subbed off 😬 What a wild turn of events for Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca 😳 pic.twitter.com/pcj4yxXYfw