Goalkeepers are not immune to receiving red cards during football matches. You can now make online sports betting on 1xBet, where you will also be able to wager on whether a player will be shown a red card. Obviously, outfield players are far more likely to get one, but this doesn’t mean that keepers never get them.
Former Italian goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca holds the “honor” of being the first keeper to ever get a red card in the history of the FIFA World Cup. This happened on the 23rd of May 1994, during the tournament held in the United States. Making online sports betting on the 1xBet website is very simple, and this platform can also be used to wager on the FIFA World Cup.
A handball that brought plenty of consequences
On the aforementioned day, Italy was playing against Norway during the World Cup. In the 21st minute of the first half, a Norwegian player sent a very long pass that none of his teammates was able to reach. The 1xbet.com/en/mobile is a website that should really be visited whenever the Italian national side is playing.
Pagliuca went out of the box to try to get the ball away. Unfortunately for him, he touched it with his hands. Normally referees don’t forgive goalkeepers after an action like this. German official Hellmut Krug had no doubts. A straight red card was shown to the Italian goalie, giving him the “honor” of being the first keeper to ever be sent off in a World Cup. The 1xBet website may also be used if you think that another player is likely to see a red card as well.
Contingency plan
Italy was down to 10 players only 21 minutes into the game. Manager Arrigo Sacchi needed to quickly move the board if he still wanted to have chances to win the match. At any moment you can start to place football bet online now – 1xBet has all matches of the best national teams in the world.
Roberto Baggio was the most skilled player of that Italian team. However, Sacchi was forced to sacrifice him in order to bring substitute goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani into the match. Eventually, the manager’s gamble paid off, as Italy won the match 1-0 with a goal from Dino Baggio.
It is not really surprising that Italy was able to win the match despite playing most of it with 10 players. This squad had some excellent names, such as:
- Paolo Maldini;
- Alessandro Costacurta;
- Demetrio Albertini;
- and Pierluigi Casiraghi;
You can place an online football bet now at 1xBet on all matches played by the Italian national side. Curiously, the next red card shown to a goalkeeper during a FIFA World Cup happened 16 years later. Here South African keeper Itumeleng Khune was sent off. The third one was shown to Welsh keeper Wayne Hennessey in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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