Cavese Beat Licata 19-5 in Bizarre Italian Lower-League Match
It's not every day you see a 19-5 score in football, but there was very little ordinary about the Serie D match between Cavese and Licata.
Licata only fielded nine youth-team players, with no coach, as reported by Reuters, via The Guardian: "Licata, from the south coast of Sicily could field only nine players, all from the youth team, because of a dispute between the senior players and the club, while their coach was also missing, Italian media said."
Meanwhile, Cavese were in an even more uncomfortable situation. The entire coaching staff quit just hours before the match due to a "request" from the fans:
"Cavese's coach resigned hours before Sunday's Serie D, Group I match after a "request" from the club's supporters over team selection. The club, based near Naples, said in a statement on their Facebook page that Francesco Chietti and his staff quit "in response to a request from some fans in the hours before the game to impose two Cavese players on the starting lineup. The coaching staff have taken this decision to avoid possible problems."
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While the circumstances were unusual (and obviously fairly suspicious), it did make for an excellent scoresheet. Most notably, Cavese striker Claudio De Rosa bagged the rare triple hat-trick, scoring nine goals against his overmatched opponents.
