You hear people say that they like watching hockey for the fights, and if that’s you, maybe consider checking out some Brazilian U20 soccer. It had a record-breaking donnybrook that produced more red cards than a deck of cards with only hearts and diamonds.
Well, almost. It was one shy of that, actually.
Mamore and Uberlandia were facing off in a state-level under-20 soccer match when an all-out brawl erupted that would’ve made the Broad Street Bullies and Big Bad Bruins of the 1970s shed a tear with pride, according to the Associated Press.
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It’s a nice change of pace to see soccer hooliganism make its way onto the pitch, isn’t it?
“During the celebration of his team’s third goal, a player made provocative gestures to the bench of the hosts and uttered the following words…” referee Fernando Patrick Modesto’s match report said, before writing out the expletives in question.
That last part might make this a must-read match report.
Understandably, the officials — who had their hands full — didn’t stand for it and began dishing out red cards like they were one of Oprah’s favorite things.
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In the end, 43 players and 8 staffers were sent off for early showers, which is more players than I realized even dress for a soccer game.
Of those 51, 48 stemmed from the brawl, while one player was sent off beforehand due to a second yellow card. Two more were dealt red cards after, with one player threatening to hit an official and another going all the way and clocking an opponent.
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Yes; somehow the match continued after the brawl.
That is a Guinness World Record, obliterating the previous mark of 36 set during a 2011 match in Argentina’s fifth division.
There’s no doubt that this is a black eye for the beautiful game… but it might be the only thing that ever gets anyone talking about a random U20 game in Brazil outside of the players’ friends and family.
And there’s no such thing as bad press, right?