There’s absolutely no place in the game for this.
At its heart, football is just a game. And what good are games if not for bringing people together?
Sure, sometimes it can get a big competitive and that can be half the fun, but there’s a line and we all know the difference between healthy competition and just being a dick.
Unfortunately, that line was crossed this week during an U-19s match between Bahrain and the United States in the final group game of the L’Alcúdia International Football Tournament – also known as the COTIF tournament.
The US needed a win to leapfrog Venezuela into a semi-final spot in Group A and went into the half with a 1-0 lead, but the second half was not so fruitful for the Brad Friedel’s men as Bahrain equalised within a minute of the restart and eventually built up a 3-1 advantage.
Hat trick for Bahrain’s Abdulaziz Khalid and USA now trailing 1-3 with 16 minutes remaining.
— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) August 1, 2016
As the game entered added time, the Americans attempted one last throw of the dice as they tried to play the ball out of their own half. But as Pierre da Silva carried the ball forward, he was tripped by a Bahraini player – and then subsequently had the ball blasted at his head from short distance by another of his opponents.
Chaos quickly ensued as the benches emptied on both sides and players began pushing and shoving each other.
Video of the incident at the end of the USA U19 MNT game against Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/hI9f0VtmUe
— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) August 1, 2016
Despite their 3-1 win, Bahrain finished third in the group thanks to Venezuela’s superior goal difference, while the US slipped down to fourth spot.
Venezeula will now face Argentina in the semi-finals while Group A winners Spain will face the runners-up of Group B, which will be Qatar if they can hold onto the 2-0 lead they currently have over fellow semi-final hopefuls Costa Rica.
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