First off: there’s no mug shot on this one, sorry. Even in Hong Kong they apparently don’t publish mug shots of juveniles. Even juvenile soccer thugs.
Second, if you skip to about 1:35 of the video below, you can see the incident in question. And really, with all the fake soccer dives and other on-field shenanigans (yes, we used the S word again) this really does look intentional. It would have been nice to see it from another angle, but it does look like the boy from the English Schools Foundation team (what opposing parents are calling the “White Bullies”) just moves in and kicks a Chinese kid in the face when he’s on the ground. Not going for the ball, not falling down awkwardly, just booting his head like it was a pinata.
The report doesn’t say what the charges are (likely assault with a deadly foot) but after the video went viral, the downed player’s parents filed a complaint. The kickee was not seriously injured.
Just have to wonder what this guy did to piss SO many people off: first, he got into it with some players on the field, so they gave him a red card and he got ejected. On the way off the field he started getting into it with some fans and THEY started fighting. So, he ran off the field into the safety of the locker room, but was stopped by several men in uniforms pretending to be cops and they beat him with batons.
For those of you playing Fantasy Soccer Violence at home, FC Krasnodar captain Spartak Gogniev earned 27 points for his efforts.
Don’t know who either of these guys are, and neither do we really care. What’s obvious is that Mr. Jose Mourinho (black shirt) obviously does not like Mr. Vilanova because he walks over with great determination while everyone else is watching a brawl between the players, just to stick a thumb in the other guy’s eye. Later though, he claims not to know Vilanova.
What?
Details from the bizarre YouTube description:
Jose Mourinho steals the Clasico headlines with crazy eye gouge of Barcelona assistant August 18th, 2011. A thrilling SuperCoppa second leg may have seen Barcelona win 3-2, yet another masterclass from Lionel Messi who scored twice and assisted the opener for Andres Iniesta, as well as three late sendings off, but once again much of the post-match chatter will centre around Jose Mourinho. Early in the second half, the man Barcelona fans try and denigrate as “The Translator” from his time at the Nou Camp, could be seen on the touchline suggesting both Dani Alves and Lionel Messi were on the smelly side — video here.
In the late brawl between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Mourinho went a step further and produced an outrageous moment that could well see him slapped with a major ban.
As both sides converged on each other, following Marcelo’s disgraceful challenge on Cesc Fabregas, The Special One calmly walked up to Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova and appeared to gouge his eye.
Vilanova pushed Mourinho back towards his dug out with the former Porto and Chelsea boss smirking at the Barcelona assistant in the aftermath.
Incredibly, in his post-match interview Mourinho said “I don’t know who Tito Vilanova is” and when asked directly denied gouging anyone in the eye.
As a result it was left to Pep Guardiola to sum up a mental incident: “The Mourinho-Vilanova incident? I think the images speak for themselves. Mourinho says he doesn’t know Vilanova? Doesn’t matter, for us, he’s crucial. Like so many others.”
