- Seattle Sounders finish game with seven men
- ‘Our guys played like lions’, says coach
If you’re going to go down, go down in flames. Maybe with a few explosions in the background. And while giving the finger to The Man while you’re at it. That appears to be the philosophy of USA captain Clint Dempsey, anyway.
Dempsey was shown a red card after ripping up the referee’s notebook during extra time of Tuesday’s loss to the Portland Timbers in the fourth round of the US Open Cup.
Things came unglued for the Sounders, last year’s champions in the knockout cup competition, who finished the match with seven men.
Dempsey had already been shown a yellow card for arguing, but further lost his cool when team-mate Michael Azira was shown a red card for a clattering challenge on Portland’s Gastón Fernández in the 112th minute with Seattle trailing 2-1.
The former Tottenham and Fulham striker protested the call by tearing the notebook of referee Daniel Radford to shreds, earning a prompt trip to the showers.
Afterward the officials were escorted by police from the field.
“Our guys played like lions and left their hearts on the field, and they got robbed,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “Caleb [Timbers coach Porter] said last year at the end of the [cup] game that it was the worst refereeing performance he had ever seen. I think it was topped this year.”
Previously, Seattle’s Brad Evans had been sent off in the 69th minute, while Obafemi Martins was injured after all three substitutions were made.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/17/clint-dempsey-tears-up-refs-notebook-and-is-sent-off-in-brilliant-meltdown
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