It wasn’t a great weekend for Texas sports. Aside from the horrible stuff that went down at the NRA 500, the generally serene-ish FC Dallas Stadium got violent when a player from … uh, FC Dallas scored a game-winning goal. Yeah, I don’t know.
George John scored the game-winner on a header, and before he could even get out of the net and celebrate, a fan tossed some garbage onto the field and sliced him in the back of the head.
John, 26, headed home the game’s only goal in the 87th minute, but he barely had time to celebrate. The bottle hit him as he took his first steps out of the Galaxy goal, and he fell straight to the ground.
“I knew something hit me,” John said. “I wasn’t quite sure what happened, if I ran into the post or what, but then I looked down and saw a beer bottle and I was like that had to of hit me. I felt [my head] and there was a ridge and then I was like ‘Yes, something hit me for sure.’ Luckily I didn’t need stitches and I was able to stay in and finish out the game.” (via NESN)
If you watch the video (included after the jump), it looks like a water bottle hits him in the chest and he flops, lying around holding his head while the time runs out. And then as the video progresses you see him get up with blood all over the back of his head. So … no.
If you’d like your soccer violence escalated, perhaps you’d be interested in what these Millwall fans did during an FA Cup semifinal loss to Wigan Athletic at Wembley Stadium.
Police and stewards appeared to be slow to react to the disorder that broke out before halftime but worsened throughout the second half as groups of Millwall supporters brawled with themselves and security officials.
It features everything you look for in a police vs. fan soccer brawl: bloody noses, violent crowds, a guy trying to sneak away with a police officer’s hat stuffed into his jacket and a highly, highly symbolic girl standing in the middle of the fight, crying.
So if you played soccer this weekend and DIDN’T bleed everywhere, congratulations, you’re in the minority.
