China Soccer Brawls with English Club
When I read a couple weeks ago that China’s under-21 Olympic soccer team would be traveling to London to train with Chelsea and play three exhibition games against 3 English clubs, I would not have predicted I’d write one post, much less two, on this less than thrilling subject. I couldn’t give a shit about sports in China. And I care very little about what everyone here other than me calls “football.” What I do care about are bench-clearing brawls, especially when they involve Chinese people and especially when they involve broken jaws. In the 75th minute of Wednesday’s friendly against Queens Park Raiders, Chinese national striker Gao Lin collided with a Queens Park player. The collision escalated into an argument and the argument became a fist fight. Both benches cleared and the teams pummeled each other as the crowd looked on in amazement. According to a Reuters UK story Thursday, one witness said, “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. There were punches, kung-fu kicks and all sorts. It was absolute mayhem.” Chinese player Zheng Tao (above) was jumped by six Rangers and beaten so badly that he was unconscious for five minutes after the fight had ended. He suffered a broken jaw among other injuries and will be unable to play for 3 months. The China Daily called the fight a “riot” and reported that other than Zheng, two players “suffered flesh wounds.” It seems the China Daily’s been watching too much “E.R.” The referees called the match and Zheng was rushed to a London hospital. This trip to England for the Chinese Olympic team has been quite the disaster. Local police have launched an investigation of the case.
•Sina: More Fight Photos
•Reuters: China International in Hospital After QPR Brawl
•China Daily: Soccer Riot Put Olympic Team’s England Trip to Shame