Stankovic cried and apologized to Italy team – Viviano

(GSM) – Italy goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano has revealed that Serbia star Dejan Stankovic cried before apologizing on the behalf of his national team’s fans during the crowd violence that stopped the Euro 2012 qualifier between Italy and Serbia at the Luigi Ferraris in Genoa.

Viviano, who was almost hit by a firework during the aborted Euro 2012 qualifier, said he feared for the safety of his family members in the stands as he saw violent fans break loose.

“More than fear for my physical safety, it was weird playing football while keeping a constant eye over my shoulder to see what the fans were doing,” the goalkeeper told Sky Italia.

“It had become clear they would’ve done anything to stop the match. My family members were in the stands and more than anything else I feared for them when I saw the Serbians were trying to smash down the barriers.

“Unfortunately, we seem to have wandered into the middle of a political protest that has nothing to do with football. By doing it in Italy, they got as much publicity as possible, but we were entirely irrelevant.”

The match only lasted six minutes, but despite the fact that the Azzurri are now likely to be handed a 3-0 victory, Viviano insists the cancellation of a match is always a ‘defeat’ for sport.

“There is sadness that we never got to play, especially as the Italian fans had flocked to the stadium. We all wanted to play football and have a fun evening, so we’d love to play the game again. Not taking to the field is always a defeat for sport.”

Viviano said he apologized for Internazionale star Stankovic for getting involved after a firework nearly struck him.

“I spoke to Dejan Stankovic and told him I was sorry about the fact I got involved when the firework nearly hit me, so I had to leave the penalty area, but the Serbian players were really disappointed.”

However, the Bologna keeper also revealed that the Inter midfielder cried before apologizing on the behalf of his team for the embarrassing behavior of the Serbian fans. Still Viviano understands that the Serbian team must not take the blame for what happened.

“I saw Stankovic crying, because obviously he knew it was an embarrassing moment. He came over to apologise on behalf of the entire team, but it wasn’t their fault.”