By Chris Wright

De Pra: caught with his hands in the jam

A truly wonderful story is emanating from Italy this morning, after Sampdoria claimed that the club apprehended a Genoa spy ahead of tomorrow evening’s Derby della Lanterna clash between the two sides.

Sampdoria reportedly caught Genoa’s youth goalkeeping coach, a chap named Luca De Pra, camped out among the trees on the hills that skirt Samp’s training ground as he watched and took notes on what was supposed to be a closed training session.

As you can see from the photo, De Pra was dressed in camouflage gear and appeared to have holed himself up at the base of a tree. Indeed, Samp even described De Pra’s appearance as “like a new Rambo” in a statement issued on the club site, also claiming that a second Grifone spy on the other side of the training complex escaped before he could be bought in for questioning.

The brilliant statement reads:

“Like a new Rambo hidden among the branches of the hill, Luca De Pra, goalkeeping coach of Genoa, has not been able to counter the counter-intelligence and counter-espionage of Sampdoria.

“No prisoner[s were taken], however, and there was no unnecessary bloodshed.

“Once tracked down, he was caught with his hands in the infamous jam. The soldier on the other side was left free to return to their base. Moreover, you should always forgive your enemies: nothing annoys them more.”

Well, I never. Who said Italian football was boring?