Just as there can be no greater sense of pride than wearing your nation’s colours at the greatest sporting event on earth, surely no feeling can be worse than slinking off the field for an early shower after being shown a red card by the referee.

And there has been no shortage of these in past tournaments. With competition so tense and passions so elevated, that’s not surprising.

For the record, South American nations have the worst disciplinary records, with Brazil topping the list of countries to receive the most red cards ever.

Occasionally, the entire nation is punished, in a collateral sense, as the red card leads to defeat and the end of the road for title aspirations.

Just ask England fans about David Beckham (1998 vs Argentina) and Wayne Rooney (2006 vs Portugal).

The ‘foulest’ ever World Cup game was what become known as ‘The Battle of Nuremberg’, when Portugal and the Netherlands clashed – literally – in a round 16 tie in 2006. No fewer than four red cards were wielded, plus an amazing 16 yellow card cautions! There were more bruised shins post-match than after a game of bridge.

By the way, this was by far not the worst-disciplined soccer match on record.

That dubious honour goes to the combatants in a lower league ‘star wars’ encounter in Buenos Aires in 2011, brawled between club sides Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.

According to the Guinness World Records, all 22 players were sent off! But wait, folks, that’s not all! Several coaches and substitutes also joined the free for all, bringing the final number of red cards to 36. There were quite a few spectators who also became embroiled in the debacle.

For the record, the rules state that once a team is down to seven players, the game must be abandoned, as that is the minimum number that constitutes a ‘team’.

Back to World Cup matters, and occasionally someone who should have been sent off gets away with it.

Etched in history is the ‘hand of God’ goal scored by Argentina hero/villain Diego Maradona, when he fisted the ball into the goal in the quarter-final match against England at the 1986 World Cup, eliminating the ‘three lions’ from the competition.

He later claimed it was justification for England having invaded the Falklands four years prior.

Everyone saw the handball… except the referee and his assistants, who I am sure were denied visas to the UK for life.

In the 2010 World Cup hosted in South Africa, Luis Suarez tried the same trick against Ghana, but saw red after being sent off for using his hands to stop a goal. However, Ghana missed the penalty and Uruguay proceeded to the next round.

Had they scored, Ghana would have been through, and Suarez and his mates would have been back on the plane to South America.

Suarez, however, did not repent. He also received a huge suspension for biting an opponent at the 2014 World Cup.

No ‘once bitten, twice shy’ villain here.

#TacklingQatar2022: Manned by soccer fundi Dave Savides, the Corner Shop is the place to be for Soccer World Cup news. Savides, the long-time editor of the Zululand Observer, is tackling the coverage of the world’s greatest footie extravaganza for Caxton Local Media.

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