23 red cards in the cup final in Brazil

In the match report in the final of the “Campeonato Mineiro” cup competition, there were 23 red cards at the end – the most prominent sinner was Atlético captain Hulk. The 17-year-old defender Kaua Prates, who is moving to Dortmund in the Bundesliga in the summer, was also there.

The trigger? With only a few seconds left in the six-minute stoppage time, Cruzeiro attacker Christian rushed past Atlético goalkeeper Everson after attempting a shot. He reacted and pushed his opponent to the ground with his knees. Within a few seconds, a pack formed and almost all players got involved – with punches and kicks.

It took security forces and military police around ten minutes to maintain order. Afterwards the game was finally ended with the score 1-0 for Cruzeiro. Before the mass brawl, referee Matheus Delgado had not shown Candançan a single card.

“I told the referee at the beginning of the game that there would be trouble. He had no personality. (…) He was afraid to whistle the final,” said former Brazil international Hulk.

The 39-year-old continued: “I won’t tire of apologizing. We try to appease, but when you’re hot-blooded and see a teammate being attacked, you react automatically. Nevertheless, it didn’t have to happen like that.”