BUENOS AIRES – An Argentine football player is now expected to be sacked by his club after admitting that he used a needle to hurt his rivals during a cup match on Sunday.
Federico Allende, a defender for lower-division club Sport Pacifico de General Alvear, bragged in a radio interview about using the needle several times against strikers from top-division club Estudiantes.
Speaking to Cordoba’s Vorterix Radio, Allende said: “I kept piercing the Estudiantes strikers with a needle.
“We know that top division players don’t like contact, they don’t like if we waste time or if we play dirty.
“So that was the way to do it. Football is like that. Football is for the clever.”
It is believed he kept two needles in his shinpads, with Estudiantes striker Juan Otero the main target of Allende’s attacks.
Pacifico’s president Hector Moncada vowed to expel the player. “We are devastated. This incident has tarnished the team’s good work. I will expel him from the club,” Mr. Moncada told Clarín newspaper.
Pacifico won the match 3-2, knocking Estudiantes out of the competition in a major upset.
