After watching the following clip, another thing dawned on me: How do fights in the stands at sporting events not result in more fans tumbling down several rows of seats?  We have seen this tactic used before during a stadium brawl, and coincidentally(?) it also came during a soccer match between two Central/South American teams playing on U.S. soil.

So does this mean that our neighbors to the South are the only ones aware of the fact that throwing a man down several rows of seats is an effective way to win a stadium fight?  Or are they the only ones ruthless enough to use such a maneuver?

(P.S. It is hard to see the men tumbling down several rows of seats, but how else would you explain the fight ending up where it did?)

Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez

Manchester United fans have grown accustomed to seeing Chicharito display a brilliant finishing touch around the net, and the Mexican fans have been treated to much of the same throughout this tournament.  Hernandez entered the match with five goals in his last two games, and he scored his sixth of the tournament with a lovely backheel that sent Guatemala home and set up a semi-final date with Honduras on Wednesday night.

Here’s another look at the goal.

Hat Tip – [Dirty Tackle]

Jozy Altidore got them off to a great start with a screamer from outside the box that found the top corner of the net only eight minutes into the game.  As for the rest of the American team, they seemed to think that Altidore’s goal was enough insurance for the remaining 82 minutes, as none of them appeared to be interested in adding a second goal.  Not Landon Donovan.  Not Chris Wondolowski. And certainly not Clint Dempsey, who found himself with the ball at his feet and nothing standing between hims and the goal only 2 meters in front of him, but opted to wait long enough to allow a Guadeloupe defender to make a goal-saving tackle from behind.

Against decent competition, errors like that will often lose you the game.  Thankfully for Dempsey and the U.S., this is the Gold Cup and their competition was Guadeloupe.  So that single goal in the eighth-minute proved to be more than enough to advance to the quarter-finals on this occasion.

Hat Tip – [Dirty Tackle]

Is this commentator f*cking kidding me?

If having to sit through a Gold Cup soccer match between North American rivals Canada and the United States wasn’t painful enough, some were forced to listen to the brutal commentary from this patriotic moron, who can’t seem to get enough of the cheesy metaphors or the five-year-old Borat references.

It is instances like this where I can’t help but thank the man who was responsible for creating the mute button.

Only three minutes into the match, Celso Borges of Costa Rica came out to the top of the box to receive a volley, but rather than taking the ball down, he attempted the bicycle kick and succeeded in rather stunning fashion.  It was the first of many beautiful goals Costa Rica would manufacture as they went on to win the game easily by a score of 5-1.  The only thing missing was a backdoor celebration.  I guess that’s more of a Norwegian thing.

Costa Rica will now go on to face Mexico in the semifinals.  Both team have been impressive, but they will look to do whatever it takes to slow each other down.  Even if that means getting their coaches involved.  Mexican bench-boss Javier Aguirre is no stranger to that of course.  Until then, Borges and his teammates can celebrate their victory, hopefully without the involvement of transvestite porn stars.

Here are the highlights from the game.

There was a bit of rough stuff throughout the game, but things really heated up around the 80th minute when Panama’s Ricardo Phillips took the ball down the sideline and received a kick from Mexican coach Javier Aguirre.  Phillips retaliated with a push and both teams got into a giant shoving match.  Aguirre was ejected by referee Joel Aguilar, and Phillips was given a red card, but that was not the end of it.

The incident sparked fans to throw beer and other objects onto the field and at Phillips as he ran off to the dressing rooms.  Fights also broke out in the stands between supporters of the two sides, and cops were forced to intervene and handcuff several individuals.

Later, in the 90th minute, Blas Perez of Panama was injured and the medical staff brought the stretcher out for him.  As he was taken off the pitch, fans continued to throw cups and beer bottles in his direction, causing Perez to fall off the stretcher.

The game was finally called five minuted later, but the Panama players were forced to remain on the field until fans could be cleared out in order to avoid having more objects thrown their way.  Below is a clip of Aguirre kicking Phillips.  As for the rowdiness of the crowd?  Well lets just say it was a little short of this.

Oh, and in case you care, the game ended 1-1.