South America does it again

The Copa Peru in happier times

Well, I opened my big mouth yesterday and said we'd have more insanity from the South American soccer world before week's end, and it took less than 24 hours to find more!

From the report:

At least 100 people were injured over the weekend when a fight broke out during a Copa Peru match in the southern city of Ayacucho, the official Andina news agency reported.

I really, really love being right.

The whole sorry incident makes sense, I suppose. Towards the end of the Copa Peru match between Sport Huamanga and Sport Huancayo (and by the way, looking at that Wikipedia page will blind you, as it's seemingly the most complicated tournament ever), the Huancayo fans get restless and begin fighting Huamanga's fans until cars get upturned and the police are called in. And of course, it's all the ref's fault:

Referee Alejandro Villanueva called a penalty against the home team with four minutes left, and shoving broke out, the El Comercio newspaper reported on its Web site. The referee halted play for nine minutes, then he allowed the match to resume with four minutes on the clock, prompting fans to start throwing stones and other objects on the field. Fans tore down the security fence and ran on the field, battling police, who fired tear gas at the crowd. A National Police patrol car was set on fire by angry fans outside the stadium.

As insane as the footage looks below, it's just another day in the life of soccer in South America (and don't forget the Polish effort from a couple of months ago).



Perhaps the saddest thing of all about this story, besides the violence of course, is a comment on the YouTube page itself:



Mega sigh. Obviously this guy's never been to any sporting event involving a team from Philadelphia.