Apart from Zinedine Zidane’s masterful headbutt on Marco Materazzi, the most infamous foul in 21st century World Cup finals is certainly Nigel de Jong’s hatchet man kung fu kick into the chest of Xabi Alonso.
It should’ve been a straight red — even referee Howard Webb admitted as much later — but it takes some cojones to effectively end the World Cup final after only 28 minutes.
The Brazilian Campeonato Pernambucano, while home to legendary club Sport Recife, is not a similar spectacle. I don’t know why the referee of a recent match between Afogados and Retrô pulled a Webb and only gave Junior Juazeiro a yellow for this De Jong-esque challenge, but hopefully he was consistent with any Showtime Kicks later in the match.
Estarrecedor. É lance para cartão vermelho e sair de carona no porta-malas de uma viatura policial. https://t.co/tbABgSD6T2 pic.twitter.com/EoZAa2EyzM
— Leonardo Dias (@leo94dias) July 27, 2020
Siga la pelota!
Não, o jogador do Afogados não foi expulso pic.twitter.com/8eKQWLPrmp— Non Sense Football (@NSFootball1) July 27, 2020
There’s something almost WWE about the way he kicks, plants and then performs an immaculate double jump.
