Santos vs Peñarol fight after the 2011 Copa Libertadores final

On 22 June 2011 Brazilian side Santos won their first Copa Libertadores title since they won the tournament back-to-back in 1962 and 1963 with a 2-1 win against Peñarol of Uruguay in the second leg of the 2011 final. The Santos team should have been celebrating wildly at the final whistle but instead their players, coaching staff and a number of pitch invading fans got involved in a mass brawl with the Peñarol players.

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Andrés Silvera takes advantage of hesitant Colón defending to bag his hat-trick

On 21 May 2011 Independiente striker Andrés Silvera scored a hat-trick against Colón in the 15th round of the Clausura 2011 tournament to secure a valuable 3-1 win which shifted his club away from the Primera División relegation zone. The third goal highlighted some real communication problems in the Colon defence.

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Juan Pablo Carrizo blooper contra San Lorenzo, Clausura 2011

After his dreadful own goal in the Superclásico derby against Boca Juniors in round 14, River Plate goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo was hoping to keep out of trouble in their game against San Lorenzo in the 15th round however he had no such luck letting a long range shot from opposition striker Jonathan Ferrari slip through his hands. The game ended 1-1 and left River in the relegation places with only four games of the season remaining.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Huracán - Estudiantes suspendido, Clausura 2011

On 21 May 2011 two teams suffering terrible rins of form met in the 15th round of the Clausura 2011 tournament in Argentina. The hosts Huracán had slipped into the automatic relegation places after a run of five consecutive defeats and the visitors, defending champions Estudiantes had gone 12 games without a victory. After a dreadful goalkeeping error from Pedro Monzón and a free header from hernán Rodrigo López had gifted Estudiantes a 0-2 lead within half an hour the Huracán fans started a riot and succeeded in getting the game abandoned.

Most Argentine commentators seem to agree that Huracán should be severely punished in order to demonstrate that violence will not be tolerated.

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Marcos Litre gift

On 9 April 2011 Olimpo played Colón in Santa Fe in the ninth round of the Clausura 2011 tournament. The visitors were already one goal ahead when Marcos Litre made his first appearance of the Clausura as a second half substitute. Within one minute he found himself presented with a nearly unmissable shot after a mixup between Colón defender Juan Quiroga and goalkeeper Diego Pozo. He tapped the ball in for his first ever top flight goal to secure an impressive 0-2 away win for his club.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Marcelo Trobbiani vs Guillermo Rivarola, manager dispute

On Sunday 20 March 2011 Argentine managers Guillermo Rivarola and Marcelo Trobbiani lined their teams up against eachother in the Peruvian Primera División. Former River Plate player Rivarola was in charge of Sporiting Cristal and former Boca Juniors man Trobbiani led Cienciano.

The incident kicked off late in the second half when Trobbiani entered the field of play to grab the ball after a free kick had been awarded. Rivarola complained to the referee and succeeded in getting his opposite number sent off. At first Trobbiani seemed to be going peacefully but he then attempted to return to have it out with Rivarola. He was prevented from doing so by the police. Trobbiani later said that Rivarola is a cry baby and things could have been a whole lot worse had the police not restrained him as he was in a Mike Tysonesque rage.

Sporting Cristal held onto their 1-0 lead and as a result Cienciano lost their place at the top of the league. Trobbiani faces a one match suspension.

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Players attack a referee in Córdoba

Things got out of hand in this regional league game in Córdoba between Juventud Cátolica de Río Segundo and Sportivo Laguna Larga. The incident kicked off when the Juventud players took exception to a decision by referee Hugo Vega and one of them hit the official. When the linesmen and other officials tried to intervene they also came under attack. Vega received a serious head injury and was taken to hospital recovering consciousness in the ambulance. He later said that it was the first time he had felt fear in his ten years as a football referee. The police are studying the incident to consider whether charges can be brought against any of the players.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Football in a swimming pool

On 12 March 2011 the referee decided to let this Carioca B game between Itaperuna and Aperibeense go ahead despite a large section of the pitch being completely covered with water.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Emanuel Tripodi blooper vs Huracán, Clausura 2011

On 14 March 2011 Under new manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi Argentine side Quilmes played in a classic relegation six-pointer against Huracán in the fifth round of the Clausura. Both sides were in the relegation zone, Quilmes hopelessly adrift at the bottom of the promedios relegation table and bottom of the Clausura 2011 table having lost all of their first four games. The game did not go well for Quilmes, they conceded two sloppy goals and lost the game 2-1. Veteral goalkeeper Emanuel Tripodi was badly at fault for the first one.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Chichizola blooper vs Vélez Sársfield, Clausura 2011

On 13 March 2011 River Plate hosted Vélez Sársfield in the fifth round of the Clausura 2011 tournament. The home side were unbeaten in their first four games and their rookie goalkeeper 20 year old Leandro Chichizola hadn't conceded a single goal. After 395 minutes without conceding a goal Chichizola finally let one in and he had nobody to blame but himself after gifting the ball to Vélez striker Santiago Silva.

Mariano Pavone equalised for River in the second half but Santiago Silva scored again late in the game to give Vélez a 1-2 away win.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Darío Rodríguez vs Hernan Barcos dirty "tackle"

On 9 March 2011 five time Copa Libertadores champions Peñarol of Uruguay hosted the 2008 champions Liga de Quito in a group 8 match in the 2011 edition of the tournament.

Peñarol won the match 1-0 to take over as leaders of the group however had the referee or linesman properly punished Darío Rodríguez with a red card for this sly nut grab on Hernán Barcos perhaps the game would have ended with a different outcome.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Police dog stealing the ball in Brazil.

The highlight of this second division Mineiro state championship game between Uberlandia and Ituiutaba in February 2011 was undoubtedly the moment that a police dog got loose, ran onto the pitch and stole the ball.


Former Boca Juniors goalkeeper Juan Carlos Navarro Montoya has some more painful memories of South American police dogs on football pitches.

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Claypole vs Alem, C Metropolitana 2007-08 - Cosas Locas

In 2008 a mass brawl broke out in a Primera C Metropolitana game between Claypole and LN Alem. Three years later Claypole hit the headlines again after every single player and substitute was sent off in a game against Victoriano Arenas.

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36 red cards, Claypole vs Victoriano Arenas, D Metropolitana, Argentina

On 26 February 2011 Victoriano Arenas and Claypole met at the Estadio Rodolfo Vicente Capocasa in the lowest league of the greater Buenos Aires region, Primera D Metropolitana. In the second half the referee Damian Ruino took the extraordinary decision to send off all of the players including substitutes after a mass brawl. In total 36 players were sent off which is a record for Argentine football, if not a world record.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Luis Moreno owl abuse

On 27 February 2011 Junior faced Deportivo Pereira in the Colombia Primara A. The home team managed to earn a 2-1 win in an entertaining game to get their title challenge back on track . The winning goal was a spectacular individual effort from Luis Páez but it was overshadowed by this moment of animal cruelty.

The incident started when an attempted clearance from the Pereira full back hit the Junior club mascot. Questions have to be asked as to why the owl had been allowed to wander about on the pitch in the middle of the game but the real shocker came a few seconds later when Pereira's Panamanian defender Luis Moreno decided to get the clearly injured animal off the pitch by booting it into touch.

The owl survived with only a minor fracture to it's right leg. The home crowd then shouted abuse at Moreno for the rest of the game and chanted "murderer" at him. After the game Moreno had to be escorted off the field by police and then said that he was sorry and that he only flicked it up with his foot to see if it could fly. 

If the authorities bow to public opinion on the matter then Moreno looks set to suffer some severe punishment, whether from the football authorities or through criminal charges for animal cruelty.

Update:

According to press reports the owl died of shock two days later, Moreno is getting death threats and faces up to three months in jail.

Meta-reaction

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Incredible rain in Estádio do Morumbi, Paulista 2011

On 27 February 2011 São Paulo faced Palmeiras in the 10th round of the 2011 Paulista championship. There was a torrential downpour before the game resulting in stands and dugouts full of water and a pitch looking like something that only English sides in the 1970s would be crazy enough to play on.

Amazingly the game went ahead, the final score was 1-1.

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Cosas locas: Bryan Carrasco autoaggression

On 13 February 2011 Ecuador U-20 and Chile U-20 faced each other in the last round of fixtures in the Sudamericano sub-20 championship. The game would determine which of the two teams would qualify to play in the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.

Ecuador won the game 1-0 and qualified but the most famous incident in the game was not Dixon Arroyo's spectacular long range strike to win the game, it was this bizarre incident where Chilean defender Bryan Carrasco hit himself in the face with Edson Montaño's hand in order to try and get the Ecuadorian sent off.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Emanuel Gigliotti vs Maxi Moralez

Saturday 19 February 2011 will be a date to remember for Argentine minnows All Boys who recorded a famous 1-2 away win against giant neighbours Vélez Sársfield. Sebastián Grazzini scored both of All Boys goals and there were brilliant performances from several other All Boys players like the gigantic forward Cristián Fabianni. Not only did All Boys beat Vélez, they finished the game with only nine players after Carlos Soto and Emanuel Gigliotti were sent off late in the game. Gigliotti's challenge on Maxi Moralez earned him a deserved straight red card.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Cosas locas: Lightning strike La Equidad vs Nacional

On 12 February 2011 La Equidad faced Atlético Nacional in the 2nd round of the Colombian Apertura 2011. The game had to be temporarily suspended after lightning hit the field. The game resumed and the final score was 1-1.

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Cosas locas: Useless stretcher bearer

You have to feel sorry for the player getting stretchered off from this Brazilian Copa SP de Juniores game in January 2011.

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