The Derby Paulista is a significant football match. While it may not rival the size of Take That singer Gary Barlow’s son, it is still quite substantial. This rivalry is between Corinthians and Palmeiras, two teams from the Brazilian city of São Paulo. The latest encounter was a league match held on Monday night, where Corinthians emerged victorious with a 2-0 win. Their striker, Yuri Alberto, scored one of the goals. However, the 23-year-old's impressive finish during a rapid second-half counterattack was not his only notable action in the game.
As the match remained scoreless with about 30 minutes played at Corinthians' NeoQuimica Arena, Palmeiras was awarded a corner. Before they could take it, Alberto approached the sideline to kick away a beanbag or pillow thrown from the crowd. Upon impact, he realized it was not a beanbag or pillow but the severed head of a pig. “I almost broke my foot,” he recounted to reporters after the game. “I thought it was a cushion, something like that. I tried to kick it hard, but it was a pig’s head, I almost injured my foot.” This incident echoed a similar event at Camp Nou in 2002 when Barcelona fans hurled a porcine projectile at Luís Figo during his return with Real Madrid.
Tim Vickery, a renowned expert on South American football, immediately tweeted that this was “a new one on me”, indicating it was unprecedented in Brazil’s Serie A. Although two arrests were made by the police, the suspects were released without charge shortly after. It remains uncertain whether the fans who brought the pig’s head into the stadium were supporters of Corinthians or Palmeiras. Despite the finger of blame pointing towards Corinthians, it could have been a visiting fan. Palmeiras, who have been disparaged as “pigs” by Corinthians fans for decades, embraced the insult in 1986. They began chanting it about themselves, culminating in a player, Jorginho Putinatti, posing with a piglet on the cover of Placar magazine. The club later added a giant green pig to their roster of mascots, which previously included only a parakeet.
Join Niall McVeigh at 5.45pm (GMT) for updates on Club Brugge 1-1 Aston Villa, and Scott Murray at 8pm for Inter 2-1 Arsenal. Send letters to mailto:the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is Michael Goulding, who wins a Football Weekly scarf. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
