Post by QPR Report on Jul 29, 2009 6:27:06 GMT
Although obviously QPR vs China wasn't pre-season!
(Whatever happened to the harsh penalties Paladini was going to impose on the responsible players and he pledged no sleep, blah, blah?)
The Guardian/The Knowledge * Paolo Bandini and Gregg Roughley
When pre-season friendlies go bad
Plus: playing the most home games for one team at different grounds; managers harvesting other sports for knowledge; and The Edwardians. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk
"After reading about Newcastle's brawl with Huddersfield during a friendly last week, I was wondering how many other teams had been involved in dust-ups during meaningless exhibitions," writes Jermaine Henry.
A fair few, would be the short answer, and we have already covered testimonials gone bad in the Knowledge before, but a few stand-out examples do spring to mind and none more so than QPR's fracas with China's Olympic team in 2007. China had been holding a two-week training camp in England, but seven players had to be sent home after a brawl that involved almost every player on the pitch plus a number of coaches and bystanders.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," one witness told the Ealing Gazette at the time. "There were punches, kung-fu kicks and all sorts. It was absolute mayhem." China's Zheng Tao was knocked out and suffered a fractured jaw in the melee, and QPR were later fined £20,000, with assistant manager Richard Hill suspended for three months.
But while that set-to took place on a muddy training field, Thailand and Qatar held their own epic brawl live on national TV back in 1998. Qatar's players had reacted badly to a decision by referee Ekchai Thanatdeunkhao early in the second half, disputing it for more than five minutes before one Thai player came over to complain about the delay. He got shoved in the chest, and then all hell broke loose. The game was eventually abandoned, after a series of running battles involving both sets of players and even one or two journalists, who reportedly began "throwing debris from the sidelines".
Falkirk's pre-season encounter with Turkish side Rizespor in 2006 ended similarly abruptly after a series of skirmishes on and off the pitch. Relations between the sides got off to a bad start after Rizespor showed up at 5.37pm for a match that was scheduled to kick off at 3pm, and the officials then walked off the field after 22 minutes when a scuffle broke out in the Falkirk area. They were persuaded to return and Rizespor scored soon afterwards. When Falkirk scored early in the second half, however, Rizespor's goalkeeper Atilla Koca took exception to the celebrations of Bairns fans behind his goal and quickly became embroiled in a fight with a number of them. The match was swiftly abandoned.
Then again, not all players know how to get involved in such a dust-up. Ivica Olic and Carlos Eduardo may both have been spoiling for a scrap during a friendly - admittedly during the Bundesliga winter break - between Hamburg and Hoffenheim in February, but frankly the game of overhand slapsies that ensued may help explain why footballers don't do this more often.
Know of any other great pre-season brawls that we forgot to mention? Let us know at knowledge@guardian.co.uk
....http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/29/the-knowledge-friendly-fights
(Whatever happened to the harsh penalties Paladini was going to impose on the responsible players and he pledged no sleep, blah, blah?)
The Guardian/The Knowledge * Paolo Bandini and Gregg Roughley
When pre-season friendlies go bad
Plus: playing the most home games for one team at different grounds; managers harvesting other sports for knowledge; and The Edwardians. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk
"After reading about Newcastle's brawl with Huddersfield during a friendly last week, I was wondering how many other teams had been involved in dust-ups during meaningless exhibitions," writes Jermaine Henry.
A fair few, would be the short answer, and we have already covered testimonials gone bad in the Knowledge before, but a few stand-out examples do spring to mind and none more so than QPR's fracas with China's Olympic team in 2007. China had been holding a two-week training camp in England, but seven players had to be sent home after a brawl that involved almost every player on the pitch plus a number of coaches and bystanders.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," one witness told the Ealing Gazette at the time. "There were punches, kung-fu kicks and all sorts. It was absolute mayhem." China's Zheng Tao was knocked out and suffered a fractured jaw in the melee, and QPR were later fined £20,000, with assistant manager Richard Hill suspended for three months.
But while that set-to took place on a muddy training field, Thailand and Qatar held their own epic brawl live on national TV back in 1998. Qatar's players had reacted badly to a decision by referee Ekchai Thanatdeunkhao early in the second half, disputing it for more than five minutes before one Thai player came over to complain about the delay. He got shoved in the chest, and then all hell broke loose. The game was eventually abandoned, after a series of running battles involving both sets of players and even one or two journalists, who reportedly began "throwing debris from the sidelines".
Falkirk's pre-season encounter with Turkish side Rizespor in 2006 ended similarly abruptly after a series of skirmishes on and off the pitch. Relations between the sides got off to a bad start after Rizespor showed up at 5.37pm for a match that was scheduled to kick off at 3pm, and the officials then walked off the field after 22 minutes when a scuffle broke out in the Falkirk area. They were persuaded to return and Rizespor scored soon afterwards. When Falkirk scored early in the second half, however, Rizespor's goalkeeper Atilla Koca took exception to the celebrations of Bairns fans behind his goal and quickly became embroiled in a fight with a number of them. The match was swiftly abandoned.
Then again, not all players know how to get involved in such a dust-up. Ivica Olic and Carlos Eduardo may both have been spoiling for a scrap during a friendly - admittedly during the Bundesliga winter break - between Hamburg and Hoffenheim in February, but frankly the game of overhand slapsies that ensued may help explain why footballers don't do this more often.
Know of any other great pre-season brawls that we forgot to mention? Let us know at knowledge@guardian.co.uk
....http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/29/the-knowledge-friendly-fights