Some fans take relegation well, with a shrug of the shoulders or a few tears. Not in South America though, where relegation can be greeted with a carnival of violence.

This was the case in Brazil on Sunday, when Coritiba kind of ‘welcomed’ or 'unwelcomed' Fluminense to the Estadio Couto Pereira. The teams drew 1-1, a result that was good enough to save the relegation-threatened visitors but – you guessed it – also consign Coritiba to the second tier of Brazilian football.


So you can understand why Coritiba’s fans were a teensy bit upset with the way things worked out, especially as two Rio-based clubs – Botafago and Fluminense – survived. And by a little bit upset, I mean this:






That’s right, a good old-fashioned South American pitch invasion, which left one policeman unconscious, needing to be airlifted from the stadium by helicopter.

When the dust settles, it will be interesting to see what punishment is meted out to Coritiba for its fans despicable behaviour. In England, this sort of thing might see a club being demoted two divisions, rather than one, but mental pitch invasions seem to be rather more the norm in Brazil.


At the other end of the table, it’s only fair I mention new champions Flamengo, who won their first title in 17 years after a 2-1 win over Gremio. Congrats. Btw, Gremio’s fans will be delighted to have lost that game, as it meant bitter rivals Internacional missed out on the title.


Although this is a very serious situation, there is still time to laugh in many parts of this video so please don't be ashamed to do so.

Hats off to fans of Argentine side Rosario Central as they visited Newell’s Old Boys at the Colosso. No more of this “Hey, let’s pelt the players with rocks and garbage,” because what does that accomplish, really?

In fact, the sheer determination of Central’s fans to both enter the stadium and cause havoc is deserving of some kind of award. And jail time.

In an an effort to limit incidents, Central fans were alloted just 3500 tickets by Old Boys officials. The visitors reacted as any smart fan would. They simply photocopied someone else’s ticket and turned up thinking nothing could possibly go wrong.When the fans were denied entry they started to cause havoc, to which police responded in the manner that cops around the world absolutely live for.

They began clubbing the fake-ticket-wielding Central fans. Twenty had been hospitalized and 50 arrested when police finally got bored with the beatings.

Inside the stadium, there was a delay as Central fans took to the barbed wire separating them from the pitch. First off, shouldn’t it give someone the chance to realise that they have to be kept from players and pitch by barbed wire? If you’re a South American soccer fan, the answer is a resounding “No.”

So as to make sure their lack of self-awareness is so complete, Central fans climbed the barbed wire fence. After Central captain Sebastian Peratta pleaded with the fans to get off the fence (and after the police threatened to fire hose the lot of them) the fans relaxed their bloody grips and the game started… 20 minutes late, which is probably routine for a South American derby match.

That’s when the fun started for the away fans. First they threw insults at Old Boys keeper Sebastian Peratta. That met with limited success, so they threw a pair of sunglasses at him. Peratta played along and donned the glasses.

Next, Central fans threw a mobile phone at him. Have to admit, no matter how angry I’ve been at a sporting event it’s never occurred to me “Hey, I’m going to throw technology at that b*****d".

Finally, the away supporters just threw a knife at Peratta. Figure flares and debris have never really drawn blood, so this was only a matter of time. Although it’s also kind of stupid, in that, if you’re going to throw a knife, throw it at a position player. They can’t use their hands.

Incidentally, the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

A friendly between Brazilian clubs Paysandu and Cameta turned not so friendly (see what I did there?) when defender Carlos Eduardo decided to play a little prank on the linesman.

Here is a story about a fat lump of lard. A very talented fat lump of lard but still a fat lump of lard nonetheless.