The young players of Bosnia and Herzegovina have closed the door to the World Cup to Italy, but one of the protagonists of this feat, 14-year-old Afan Cizmic, has also earned a place of honour in the eyes of the fans. He is the ball boy who, it was discovered after the match, stole the piece of paper with the notes on Bosnia's penalty takers from Gigio Donnarumma .
While every moment of the final in Zenica is watched, rewatched, and commented on endlessly, even on social media, the video that stands out is the moment the boy picks up the paper as Tahirovic is successfully kicking the first penalty . From that moment on, the Italy goalkeeper hasn't managed to make a single save, and in Bosnia, part of the credit is given to Cizmic himself, who has become a national hero.
In Italy, there have been a few cases of ball boys who stole the spotlight, like Domenico Citeroni, the then 16-year-old who, in January 1975, during Ascoli's match against Bologna, used the tip of his foot to deflect the ball kicked by Savoldi, which would have given the Rossoblu a 4-1 lead. He also ended up on TV, as did his Genoese peer Maurizio Piana, who was kicked in the leg by Daniel Passarella during a Sampdoria-Inter match in March 1987 because he wasn't quick enough to pass the ball to the Nerazzurri.
Cizmic has also been interviewed several times by local TV and receives constant attention, so much so that he is now considered a mascot of the team and a unanimous request has been made: «Let's take him to the World Cup» .
The boy claims, among other things, that he acted after seeing Donnarumma try to tear up a similar piece of paper that was in the possession of the home goalkeeper, Vasilj . The incident sparked an argument between the two goalkeepers , with the Bosnian goalkeeper ultimately being booked by the referee.
Vasilj himself, moreover, spoke about the clash with Donnarumma yesterday after the Bundesliga match where he played for St. Pauli against Union Berlin: "He tried to snatch the penalty sheet from my hand. Luckily, we were prepared; we had a second copy. To be honest, I almost couldn't believe it. It was the first time something like that had happened to me," he said, calling the Italian goalkeeper "unsportsmanlike."
(Unioneonline)