It seems the world of football has gone a bit ‘ultra-violence’ recently and fans in Guatemala want in on the ground floor.
Last weekend’s match between Universidad San Carlos and Heredia ended in controvesry after the referee apparently turned down a Universidad penalty shout in the final minutes of a 1-1 draw.
After the final whistle a group of masked attackers rushed the pitch and set about throwing rocks, destroying advertising hoardings and panel beating the legs of any officials in sight, with one linesman needing 20 stitches in his leg.
West Ham 3/ Millwall 1 (AET)
The Spoiler can’t help but feel sorry for genuine West Ham and Millwall fans this morning, whose clubs will once again be tarred by the brush of vile thugs who have absolutely no interest in the beautiful game. Several pitch invasions, two stabbings and anarchic rioting made the Carling Cup tie look like something from the 1970s/ present day South America, and not a country mounting a serious World Cup 2018 bid.
Aside from the chaos, a pat on the back is due for Jack Collison, who played in spite of the tragic accident that claimed his father on the way to Sunday’s match at Spurs.
Check out the Sky News report on the troubled game after the jump…
Some more atrocious sporting violence from South America
Maybe it’s the altitude, or maybe it’s the mysterious inflatable tunnels that mysteriously lead into the ground, but something is riling up the blood of Bolivian footballers.
Blooming’s Sergio Jauregui was sent off in Sunday’s league match with Oriente Petrolero for his pushy retaliation to a perceived foul. This wasn’t all that Medina had stored up in his ‘hurt locker’ though, as he proceeded to deliver a brutal flying kung fu kick to the face of his enemy, leaving him unconscious.
Could you imagine the media outrage if this kind of thing happened in Europe? It would be, er, outrageous.
Spoiler bonus: More violent fun from Bolivia here and here
Probably the best U-14 football brawl you will see today
Approximately 100 per cent of football matches in South America feature an outbreak of violence, something that is apparently taught from a young age.
In this recent encounter between Boca Juniors and River Plate’s U-14 sides, a brawl was sparked when the ref awarded a late penalty. Boca’s coach Roberto Pompei interjected to show his disgust with the decision, and within seconds a massive ruck broke out.
Psychotic pitch invader throws cup tie into disarray
South America’s reputation as the global epicentre of football violence was bolstered yesterday thanks to an incident that occurred during the Copa Sudamericana match between Bolivia’s Blooming and Uruguay’s River Plate.
Shortly after River Plate capitalised on a hideous goalkeeping error [0.12 in the video], a knife-wielding fan ran onto the pitch and attacked River’s Henry Gimenez. Thankfully, the moronic supporter was subdued before he could get “stabby”, but the referee had no option but to abandon the game. Blooming fans weren’t particularly happy with this decision, and proceeded to pelt the pitch with missiles and flares.
The was the first leg of the cup tie, and it’s currently not known whether River will be allowed to advance directly to the next stage, or if the authorities will risk playing out the return leg.
Evidence presented in court shows Liverpool captain’s darker side
While his colleagues spread the word of Liverpool FC across Asia, Steven Gerrard MBE this week finds himself in Liverpool crown court, defending a charge of affray that he earned on a marvellous night of drinking and punching in Merseyside last December.
Celebrating a 5-1 victory that would later help Newcastle find a new division, the Liverpool captain went to a restaurant/ disco in Southport, where he entered into a row with 34-year-old ‘businessman’ Marcus McGee. The court heard that Mr McGee was in charge of the playlist at a staff party at the venue, but Stevie G demanded some input into the choice of music. When McGee refused to surrender control of the CD player, he became the man “who has said ‘No’ to Steven Gerrard”.
A fracas ensued, and The Guardian pick up the story from where the CCTV footage moves to the bar area:
The prosecution say that six minutes later, he returned to the bar, approached McGee who was sitting alone at the bar and confronted him with the words: “Who the fuck do you think you are?”"Steven Gerrard had clearly lost his cool - he was very angry with Marcus McGee.”
One of Gerrard’s friends. John Doran, pushed McGee away and elbowed him in the face. The prosecution claims Gerrard then “totally lost it”.
“Almost immediately after the blow from John Doran, in fact within seconds, Steven Gerrard joined in the attack with a succession of well-aimed uppercut punches, delivered with the style and speed of a professional boxer, rather than professional footballer.”
Ian Smith, another member of Gerrard’s party, joined in. Doran and Smith then kicked McGee.
Even though Gerrard delivered the first blow, his counsel are arguing that the attack on McGee was in ’self defence’. The prosecution have asserted that “This was never self-defence in 100 years.”
Gerrard’s do-defendants have all pleaded guilty, meaning the family man is fighting the charge alone.
The trial continues, and is expected to last around a week.
Tottenham star arrested after racist rant and assault
Picture taken at one of Ledley’s previous violent drunken assaults - click here for the (less exciting) latest one
Ledley King is no stranger to the art of drinking too much and starting a fight (see here, here and here), but he massively improved on his own impressive inebriation benchmark on a visit to London’s Punk club on Saturday night. While demanding entry to the Soho nightspot, the classy Tottenham star dished out some racism and violence, which led to a night in the cells. The Sun say:
The Tottenham captain, who had been out in the West End following his team’s 0-0 draw with Everton, spent the night in a sparse cell in a police station.
[Bouncer] Wahib said: “He was so drunk we told him to come back when he was more sober.
“He walked across the road, opened his trousers and urinated all over the pavement in front of everybody. He came back and was so close to my face I could feel his spit on me.
Serial WAG receives comeuppance for destroying relationship
News of the World readers will have been shocked to the core to read that Danielle Lloyd- the glamour model who is passed around the Premier League like currency - has been accused of stealing someone else’s footballer boyfriend.
Spurs star Jamie O’Hara was in a relationship with model Sade Metcalfe for four years, but was recently snared by Miss Lloyd’s “charms” (read: “big fake boobs”). Scorned WAG Sade only discovered the infidelity when she saw the pair at it on TV, and to make matters worse, the midfielder has taken back the £28,000 Mercedes he gave his former love.
Over the weekend, Sade made her feelings towards the perpetual footballer boffer very clear. According to The Sun, the pair confronted one another at Essex nightclub Funkmojoe, and Dani received an unwelcome punch to the face, leaving her with a cut lip:
A scuffle broke out with friends of Sade, 23, and Danielle claims one smashed her in the face
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