With the FIFA World Cup 2014 coming to a close, there is lots to reflect on for football fans. The tournament saw some fantastic matches, and some fantastic moments. With the good, there is always the bad too, and this tournament was not free from controversy either. Even though this World Cup witnessed only 10red cards, the least in any edition of the tournament since 1966, there were instances where players lost their cool.These are the top 5 Moments of Madness from Brazil 2014:
#5 Maximiliano Pereira vs Costa Rica
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With the clock ticking towards the final whistle, and his side, Uruguay, trailing Costa Rica by 3 goals to 1, Maximiliano Pereira found himself up against Joel Campbell, who was doing a good job of holding the ball up. Pereira’s frustration got the better of him, and it came out in the form of an ugly hack at the shins of the Costa Rican. It was no surprise when he was shown a red card immediately, and received a one match ban.
#4 Antonio Valencia vs France
Going into the second haf of their match against France, the Ecuadorians still had a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. However, just 5 minutes in, they suffered a huge blow as their captain, Antonia Valencia, without any need, was sent off for a lunge on Lucas Digne. It was an ugly tackle, which could have caused a serious injury, and Valencia too did not protest too vehemently. This left Ecuador in a very vulnerable position. Their manager, Reinaldo Rueda, too said that his team suffered from the incident.
#3 Alex Song vs Croatia
Another unnecessary reaction from an experienced player, and another red card. This time it was the turn of Alex Song. In an off-the-ball incident, song seemed to react to some contact with Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic. He flung his elbow into the back of the Croat, sending him falling to the ground. This did not go unnoticed, and the referee rightly showed a straight red card.
#2 Pepe vs Germany
Pepe is no stranger to controversy, and yet again, he was in the thick of it. In Portugal’s crucial opener against Germany, the defender was sent off for a head-butt on Thomas Mueller. Portugal had just conceded a second goal, and were desperate to find a way back into the game, when this moment of insanity occured, leaving them in all sorts of trouble. They would go on to lose the match 4-0, a result that made it a herculean task to qualify for the round of 16. As it turned out, they never really recovered from that incident and that result.
#1 Luis Suarez vs Italy
No surprise as to what tops this list. Yes, Luis Suarez, yet again. With about ten minutes of regular time to go, Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini in the Italian penalty box, in an off-the-ball incident. Both players went down, Chiellini holding his shoulder, Suarez holding his teeth. The Italian tried to bring this to the attention of the referee, showing the bite marks to him, but as none of the officials had spotted the incident, they could not act on it.
To rub salt into the not-so-metaphorical wound, Uruguay scored moments later, sending the Italians packing. This being the third instance of biting for Suarez, he was expected to receive heavy punishment. He eventually was banned for 9 international matches, as well as any football related activity for 4 months. Many would argue that even this punishment was not as severe as it should have been.
