Monday, May 16, 2011

Butting Heads

How bad is this headbutt?

Well, it's pretty bad, but what's the punishment worth?

Check it out:


The headbutter (I know that's not a word but work with me) is Jesus Corona of Cruz Azul. The person who received the headbutt is Sergio Marti, a trainer with Morelia.

This happened on Sunday at the end of Morelia's 3-0 win over Cruz Azul. Morelia reached the final of the Apertura 2011 season because of the victory but a brawl marred the end of the series.

Anyway, because of this, Corona lost his spot on Mexico's Gold Cup squad. Corona had performed admirably for Mexico in a 2-0 win over Bosnia in February and seemingly had just as much of a chance to play in goal for Mexico as the other goalkeepers on the roster - Guillermo Ochoa and Alfredo Talavera. Instead, he's done, off the roster and replaced with Jonathan Orozco.

It seems like a stiff price to pay, though. Even though this was a horrendously cowardly act - headbutting anybody like that is just in bad taste to say the least - this wasn't necessarily a crime that needed to have been punished by removal from the Gold Cup roster. Maybe it's Corona's sordid past - he was not called on by Mexico prior to the 2010 World Cup because of off-the-field issues - or maybe it's more of a moral-clause-type thing, maybe it's manager Jose Manuel De La Torre saying he doesn't want these types of players on his team.

Whatever the case, Corona's rage got the best of him again and not only does he make himself look bad, he ultimately hurts both his club team and the national team.

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