Stupidity In Football

Halfway through the Bayern Munich-Chelsea game on Wednesday morning, I received a call from my friend.

"Eh, faster see the Milan game. Dida kena whack by flare. HAHAHA."

I didn't want to watch the Inter-Milan game because 2 Italian teams meet they play footbore, but now that there was finally some "real" action I quickly switched over to channel 24.








It turned out that the Inter fans started throwing missiles onto the pitch after the referee, Marcus Merk, had disallowed a headed goal by Inter. One of the missiles, a flare, hit Milan goalkeeper Dida on the shoulder and the referee stopped the match temporarily for the sake of the players' safety. He tried to restart the game 10 minutes later, but the Inter fans started throwing flares on the pitch again, so he abandoned the match.

It was quite an interesting sight, as I had never seen anything like that before. Red flares, smoke and all... it was like a scene from a war movie. But after watching everything, I have 2 things to say about this incident.

Firstly, footballers are without are doubt the greatest actors in the sporting world. Forget The Rock, Steve Austin or even Eric Cantona. When it comes to the art of acting, you can't beat a footballer. Don't believe me? Here are a few examples.


To run across someone with minimal contact and fall to the ground like you've been hit by truck: Robert Pires.


What do to in the penalty box

To have the ball kicked against your shin and go down like you kena headshot in CS: Rivaldo in the 2002 World Cup.


Medic!! We need a medic over here right now!

To block the ball with your hand and hold your chest like it hit your ribs: Steven Taylor in the Newcastle-Aston Villa game 2 weeks ago.


How do show the emotion, Pain

And now, to get hit by a flare on the shoulder and lie down like you've been assassinated like President Kennedy: Dida of AC Milan.




I've never been hit by a flare so I don't know how it feels, but I don't think it's as serious as the way Dida went down. Come on, you can jump and catch a ball with a 90kg striker barging you in the back but you go down as soon as a 500g(?) flare hits you on the shoulder?

I don't think the flare even burnt him as his jersey was still well intact. Besides, if you get hit and feel that you're in danger; wouldn't it be logical to get the hell out of the way while you still can? I don't know about you, but if I've been hit by an object, I wouldn't lie down and wait to get hit again.

Secondly, I don't blame the Inter fans for trying to disrupt the game at all. If I was there, I might even have joined in. Why? I don't think the Inter fans were trying to hurt anyone. They were merely protesting against an act of stupidity.

Cambiasso's goal was disallowed by referee Marcus Merk for a foul that no one saw except him. The ball came in from the corner, Dida missed the catch, and Cambiasso headed it in. If managers are ejected on the charge of inciting the crowd, Markus Merk should be punished as well because he incited the Inter fans with his stupidity.

If it's anyone's fault that this match was abandoned, it should be his.



Give me bananas!

But I guess at the end of the day, all we viewers can do is just to sit back, and watch the fireworks.



A romantic night out at the San Siro