A Portuguese soccer team branded “thugs” and “butchers” have risen to the top of their amateur league after a string of default wins because opponents are too afraid to play them.
The club, Canelas, from the suburbs of Porto, field three members of the Super Dragons ultras, an infamous fan group of Portuguese giants FC Porto, including their captain, Fernando Madureira, who goes by the nickname “Ape.”
Other clubs in the fourth-tier amateur league are outraged at the tactics of the club, but none have as yet filed an official complaint.
Photo: AFP
The president of rival club Grijo said Canelas players regularly intimidate opposing players and referees.
“Canelas does not respect the rules, they are thugs, butchers and our players are afraid to face them,” Manuel Gomes told reporters.
Their tactics are paying off.
Canelas have won 19 matches so far this season as of the end of last month — 13 of them by default because their opponents preferred to pay a fine of 750 euros (US$800) rather than play.
That has taken the club to the top of their league, 14 points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Their antics went viral last year when a video posted on YouTube registered more than 1 million views and showed Canelas players decked out in their white-and-blue outfits turning a match against opponents from Vila into a martial arts exhibition with high kicks to the chest and head, tackles off the ball and dangerous lunges from behind.
After facing Canelas at the start of the season, rival club Padroense refused to show up for the return match with the amateur outfit.
“Canelas players seek conflict, to make threats, even against referees,” Padroense club president Germano Pinho said.
Madureira said they play tough but fair.
“We are an aggressive team that plays with passion, but no one is stepping on the pitch with a gun or a stick,” said Madureira, who has a master’s degree, as he lay stretched out on a massage table before a home game against Candal, the first team to agree to play Canelas in more than two months. “In the beginning we just wanted to score some points, now we want to be promoted because no one wants to play against us.”
“The idea of forfeiting never crossed our minds. They are not more violent than others,” Candal president Alberto Ribeiro said.
About 300 supporters watched from the stands as Canelas were defeated 2-0 in a match where their opponents outran them and showed better technique.
Canelas president Bruno Canastro said he was “disappointed but proud” and stressed his side is not violent.
“In the images on YouTube, you see only two or three players lose their cool. A big deal was made out of five minutes from a whole season,” he said.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS