You may not remember all of them, but I assure you that Spanish football has witnessed some of the greatest reprisals of all time.
Diego Maradona was at Barcelona and at the end of the 1984 Copa del Rey final he kicked the ball to Athletic Club'sMiguel De Andres. Juanito stamped on the back and head of Lothar Matthaus in the European Cup semifinals. Djalminha, a magician from Brazil, headbutted his own Deportivo La Coruna coach, Irureta, in the midst of receiving a huge rebuke. Costa and Ramos spat on each other. When Madrid looked like they were going to drop points at home in 2009, defenderPepe swung a wild boot at a prone Javi Casquero and raked his studs down the Getafe player's back. There is a list going on.
Sevilla's notorious defender, Pablo Alfaro, once said "I'm not a Saint!" after being sent off in a red card. The coverage of me being sent off feels like a national sport.
Vinicius Junior's name is not currently on a list of high-profile, persistently targeted football players. "Don't make me angry because I won't punch or kick you in reprisal" is how the 22-year-old Brazilian says he wants to be remembered. I will create more goals against you.
You can watch LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more on the US version of the network.
If he'd been kicked, barged, obstruction, tripped, knocked over, and hacked down thousands of times, Lionel Messi would have been kicked, barged, obstruction, tripped, knocked over, and hacked down thousands of times. Is it possible that you would react? We would.
Twice, Messi teetered on the verge of complete red mist. The ref did not take action when he moved his forehead dangerously close to Darijo Srna's nose. He was red-carded for the first time in his career in the Spanish Super Cup defeat to Athletic Club when he swung a petulant right hook at Asier Villalibre.
The expulsions for momentary losses of temper and lashing out excluded him from being branded "Mary Poppins-exemplary." His self-restraint and ability to re-divert anger towards scoring and winning were definitely to be admired.
Vinicius is near a crossroads. He is going to be forced to use his anger and feelings of injustice in a different way. Is it possible that he can use them to destroy the opposition? Will he seek out the kind of personal revenge which brings media opprobrium, bookings, red cards and suspension?
Even though he's only 22, the ultra-talented Brazilian is quickly becoming one of the world's top five or six football players. At the minimum, pound-for-pound.
He has hit the net in the last five Madrid matches for the first time in his career after scoring in the LaLiga title-winning match against Sevilla. Two of which came while Benzema was hurt.
It's unfortunate that opponents are trying to hurt him. The coaches plan it, their players carry out the provocation.
It happened again, not by coincidence, against Mallorca at the weekend, to the extent that teammate Vinicius had to go and convince his teammate to stop shouting at the coach. There were traces of bad blood and vendetta between the two teams during the Spanish champion's comeback win over the Islanders.
Real Madrid are practicing free-kicks with a jumping mannequin wall.
The man went after Vinicius. It was deliberate, it was a strategy and it was a small sample of the dark arts which will now pursue this rare talent for the rest of his career
In March, at the Visit Mallorca Stadium, Maffeo scythed through Vinicius taking right leg, and left knee, with a ridiculous challenge which the referee didn't even book. It was a mistake. Maffeo went for the second round of his intimidation mission with the assistance of Martin Valjent.
Vinicius' responses were correct. He was violently bodychecked by Maffeo before a quarter of an hour had passed, and was manhandled to the ground twice in the second half, but he used his fury.
With time running out, Vinicius was brave enough to take the ball, drag possession into the corner of the pitch where Maffeo lunged, missed and then Valjent smashed him down, earning a booking and wasting valuable time.
Vinicius picked himself up, gave a clarion call for an already enraged crowd to raise their decibel levels on a sleepy Sunday afternoon and let his two opponents know that if they wanted to come after him again he was prepared. Despite it being the merest of positives for his team which were by then winning 3-1, the hero of this story was still burning fury as fuel.
It's fine if it stays that way for a while.
When Maffeo tried to chip away at Vinicius' ankle, the coach of Mallorca praised his full-back. Things threatened to spill over when the Brazilian admonished the Mexican manager. They did not.
Vinicius is special for how he plays. When they're losing, opponents can get angry because he dribbles past them. That's sports. Vinicius has a lot of talent and should never change. I would remind him to show respect for the ref and his competitors if he ever did not.
I've seen it all in my career, from headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final to Dennis Wise reaching into Nicky Butt's shorts in 1999. Even calm, placid Andres Iniesta admitted that he kicked out at Mark van Bommel during the 2010 World Cup final, when Spain were being consistently kicked from pillar to post by the Dutch.
Which route is Vinicius going to take? The path of the elite, hard-headed "winners" has only minor losses of temper blemishing a long, beautiful career. Entertainers find it impossible to resist when they are kicked, abused and provoked, and so they take the law into their own hands. His chances of lifting the Ballon d'Or are dependent on the answer.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
