Nelson Dida was forced to sit out a Champions League game last night, but Susy Campanale hopes it will be the first of many

Not even his own teammates could bring themselves to stand up for Nelson Dida after his farcical theatrics in Glasgow. The reasons behind his ‘injury’ when tapped on the cheek by a Celtic fan prompted endless jokes ranging from “a panic attack” to “the supporter holding a poisonous snake that bit the goalkeeper on the cheek.” Not since Marco Materazzi’s close encounter with Zinedine Zidane has the media enjoyed such comedy speculation. Dida has tried to put it all behind him with an act of contrition – he walked all around San Siro before the warm-up to Sunday’s 1-0 defeat against Empoli and bowed down to the crowd. Is this and his one-match Euro ban enough? No chance.

The truth is that Dida has been a source of constant embarrassment to Milan since the moment he arrived and the Celtic Park incident really was just the final straw. Going all the way back to his fumble at Leeds United, where he let a harmless last-minute shot squirm through his hands, the goalkeeper has had fans shaking their heads in disbelief. Never any good on crosses, dreadful at taking control from set-pieces and generally prone to at least one howler per month, he is not good enough to play for the champions of Europe. To think the Rossoneri could have signed Gianluigi Buffon in the summer rather than stump up more cash for this Brazilian liability!

It’s a shame his Champions League ban was reduced from two games to just one, as he could have taken the time to learn medieval basket-weaving, knitting or meditation – alone time where one can reflect on mistakes. While he has taken a monastic vow of silence over the whole Celtic affair, Dida will have to speak to the media eventually and the first question will be: “What the hell were you thinking?! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” He will have no answer, his silence to this point has already spoken volumes.

What’s worse, Dida has now gone from simply not a terribly good player – resting on the reputation created in 2003 by a penalty shoot-out that had more to do with Juventus bottling it than his shot-stopping capabilities – to being an absolute embarrassment. The fans were already jeering him before Glasgow, they are unlikely to forgive him after making the side into a laughing stock the world over. The only reason the Diavolo have put up with him this long is that Zeljko Kalac is even worse. Marco Amelia is already lined up for January and that will be the end of the Dida Comedy Hour.

Kalac is worse? Every time Kalac played he played really good. Look at yesterday's match. He was one of the reasons why we won.

From a C4 Football Italia Blog
I have to agree with blog, Dida has been declining for some time now and i hope a replacement is bought in soon

Kalac is worse? Every time Kalac played he played really good. Look at yesterday's match. He was one of the reasons why we won.

es, dida is currently not in the form he used to be...but this article really pisses me off. dida has been a great goalkeeper for both Milan and Brazil. it's pitiful that someone would use this situation to write something about someone they, apparently, have an axe to grind with.

I have to agree with blog, Dida has been declining for some time now and i hope a replacement is bought in soon

I'm all for buying a new keeper but this article is a shame. The writer is obviously has a problem with Dida from way before the incident.

It may be out of frustration more than anything. It's not liked he hadn't made plenty of mistakes before the Celtic game. She may have just had enough, but the timing of it is.. stupid, nothing more.