- Coritiba:17th in the League, 1st in Rioting
Forgive us for losing count of the exact tally of SASIC stories we’ve covered, but truth is, there’s never a dull moment down there.
To wit: Coritiba 1, Fluminense 1 in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A action yesterday. By all accounts, a rather innocuous scoreline, though a deeper search reveals that the draw doomed Coritiba to relegation from Brazil’s top flight, an outcome they weren’t particularly happy about.
And what do you do when you’re unhappy?
Riot en masse, of course.
According to AP reports, hundreds of irate Coritiba fans swarmed the pitch to express their anger, tearing down stands and scrapping with riot police once understanding the gravity of the result. 18 people were hurt in the fighting, many of whom took rubber bullets from riot cops before realizing the error of their ways, while three police officers also ended up in the hospital for treatment. Four bus stations were ransacked and wrecked as well, which amounts to a solid day’s work by Coritiba fans; local infrastructure ruined, club’s image ruined, several fans hurt, possibly some kind of fine from the league, and when the tear gas finally wears off, the inescapable fate of Brazil’s Série B.
Check the video: it has a lusty, Faces of Death appeal to it.
Here’s hoping they make it right back to the top flight, else I fear what other damage may be wrought upon the town of Curitiba.
JFC! It’s like the apocalypse.
Also, Gisah has nice Batistas.
Watching the police cocking and shooting their rifles in this video made me think of that scene in Full Metal Jacket where they’re flying in the helicopter, and the door-gunner is shooting his machine-gun at peasant farmers and yelling, “Yeah, get some! Get some!”
@Anonsters: I thought the helmeted guy shooting looked like something from Star Wars.
Is the visiting locker room really accessed from a hole in the stadium grounds? Check out the 1:25 mark where Fluminese are fleeing the melee. Wow…
PR: You see that in Italian stadia all the time. Both teams emerge from underground before and after the games, at half, etc.
I think it’s a special escape hatch in anticipation of riots on the field. They have learned from experience.