2026 World Cup: Daniele Adani Says Giovanni Minoli Is Brutal
On the eve of the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, Daniele Adani’s controversial commentary continues to make headlines: The former soccer player, now a RAI commentator, openly roots for Argentina, and his outbursts following the comeback against England in the semifinals have gotten on the nerves of many fans and industry insiders.
Among them is Giovanni Minoli, a journalist and longtime RAI personality who spoke very harshly to *Il Foglio* about Adani’s performance: “The other night, Daniele Adani didn’t provide commentary during the Argentina-England semifinal. He shouted a rambling rap over a soccer match. And the funny thing is that they let him get away with it.”
“The first rap with a theological escalation ever broadcast live on Rai 1. But the real ‘patchwork’ isn’t in Adani’s voice as he tries to imitate Brazilian sportscasters. It lies in the fact that that voice comes from a company that ‘raps’ everything in the same way: the programming schedules, the morning shows, the directors—all using the exact same method, which is really no method at all. If a company truly cared about its product, it wouldn’t let a live World Cup semifinal, in front of millions of people, turn into a treatise on South American metaphysics. The fact that they allow him to do this—indeed, that they call on him every time they need to fill an evening slot—shows that nobody cares anymore about what happens on screen. But maybe it’s so hot that, deep down, anything goes.”
Journalist Maurizio Crosetti, who’s been scathing on social media, also took a jab at Adani: “When I think that Aldo Cazzullo—who is, after all, one of Italy’s best journalists—is featured on the same page as Lele Adani in what is still a major newspaper, then perhaps we really should turn our attention to something else,” he wrote, referring to the column Adani writes for *Corriere della Sera*. “Fallaci, Enzo Biagi, Montale, Dino Buzzati, Lele Adani. The only one missing is Baffo Da Crema.”
