A Day of Fury in Brazilian Football

As you’re probably aware, Brazilian football (CBF and CONMEBOL for that matter) have no respect for the international break. So two matches took place in Brazil on Wednesday night – one for Copa Sudamericana and one for the Brasileiro. And it was enough for the biggest collective nervous breakdown, I’ve ever seen.

In Rio, Fluminense and Cerro Porteno from Paraguay played the second-leg for the semifinals of Copa Sudamericana. Cerro was eliminating Fluminense, but the home team cameback (Gum and Alan) with two goals in the stoppage time. What followed was a typical South American fight in a continental competition. Players and the gentle police officers of the peaceful local police mixed in a cloud of hits:

In Porto Alegre, it was worse. The match was Gremio and Palmeiras for the 36th round of the Brasileiro. A defeat for Palmeiras meant saying bye to a title of a tournament they led for 19 rounds. In the final minute of the first-half, Rafael Marques scored for Gremio. As the Palmeiras players walked towards the lockers room, defender Mauricio and forward Obina started arguing about how Gremio scored. The players pushed each other, and Obina finished the fight with a punch with his left hand. When the two players returned to the second-half (actually, Obina stayed because he was going to be replaced), the ref ejected the two players. The result? Palmeiras was no challenge for a side that has no bigger goals in the tournament. It lost 2-0 (the second was score by Maxi Lopes), and has very little chances of lifting the trophy.

After the match, the two players were fired from the club in the lockers room and announced to the press moments later. The video: