World Cup: Bad Boys
Only one team will lift the World Cup trophy at the end of the 2014 tournament next month. While the rest walk home empty-handed, some will have to contend with the humiliation of having been slapped with a red card at the event…
There are some guys who score goals. There are others who score red cards. These are our ‘World Cup Bad Boys’.
By FIFA’s definition, a red card is handed to a player who has been expelled or sent off in a match for extremely bad behaviour.
The 2014 World Cup has seen a number of footballers collect the notorious red ticket. Let’s take a look at some of these stars who were given their marching orders for their poor conduct on-the-field.
1.
Who could forget the red card handed to Portugal’s Pepe in his country’s match against Germany. The defender, whose team lost 0-4, was sent off after delivering a playful but cheeky 'head butt' against Germany's Thomas Mueller.
2.
Italian midfielder, Claudio Marchisio last night was given his red card for kicking Uruguay's Egidio Arevalo Rios in the shin. Italy lost 1-0 to Uruguay and were eliminated from the World Cup.
3.
Greece’s captain Kostas Katsouranis was shown the door following a late tackle against a Japanese opponent last week.
4.
Last week, Cameroon’s Alex Song was hit with a three-match ban during his team’s game against Croatia. The 26-year-old struck Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic in the back with his elbow.
5.
We had to go off-the-field for this one. A company in the UK deserves a red card for mistaking President Barack Obama for English footballer, Chris Smalling. The wholesale company ordered a large batch of soccer merchandise to sell as part of its World Cup stock.
Instead of receiving mugs with Smalling’s photo on the front, staff unpacked around 2 000 cups bearing the US president’s image. It seems a junior employee failed to properly research the image before approving it.
