April 13, 2005

  • For a game that's associated here in America with the offspring of middle-class,
    minivan-driving mothers, soccer is one heck of a rough sport.  The
    odd thing is, it's mostly the fans that are mean as junkyard dogs.

    Case in point: 

    Inter-Milan match ends in chaos: Angry fans throw flares onto pitch

    No kidding!  Over in Italy, at a game between two competing Milan teams, lit flares were being tossed from the stands. 

    The Champions League quarterfinal between Inter Milan and city
    rivals AC Milan was abandoned after 73 minutes on Tuesday after Milan
    keeper Dida was struck by one of dozens of flares thrown down from the
    stands.

    German referee Markus Merk took the players off the
    pitch at the San Siro stadium after Inter fans began hurling plastic
    bottles and then over 30 flares on to the penalty area below them after
    a header by Esteban Cambiasso was disallowed.

    Dida received medical treatment to his shoulder while Inter players urged their fans to stop hurling objects on to the pitch.

    The goal frame disappeared in clouds of smoke as flares continued to be rained down and burn on the pitch.

    The
    players came back on to the field after 25 minutes but Merk took them
    off again after just 30 seconds play and abandoned the game when more
    flares came raining down with no sign of intervention from the police.

    What is it about soccer that brings out the brute in its followers
    around the world?  The ugly behavior of many English and Irish
    fans has been documented for years now, and I remember reading about
    misbehavior in Germany, Mexico and India in the past.