Some players deserve the red card they get during a match while some others do not deserve it whether it later gets chalked off by the referee during the game or by the football federation after the game. But then, there are some red cards which are given that leave players and football fans totally baffled by it – as witnessed in Argentina where a plater was sent off, wait for it, for scoring a goal.
Boca Juniors right back Julio Buffarini was booked after performing a ‘rabona’ late in his team’s Argentine championship win over San Lorenzo. The Argentina league giants were 3-0 ahead with only a few minutes to play when the 30-year-old infuriated the opposition by using the ‘rabona’, where the kicking foot is wrapped behind the standing leg, to cross the ball into the San Lorenzo area. Seconds later Buffarini was pushed to the ground and surrounded by irate San Lorenzo players.
Buffarini’s team mates came to his defence, leading to a scuffle on the goal line. The protests continued as Buffarini got to his feet and he was then shown a yellow card. Buffarini, who spent four seasons at San Lorenzo, later apologised. “I got overconfident, I apologise one thousand times to the players of San Lorenzo and their fans,” he said. “It wasn’t the moment for a ‘rabona’, I realised that afterwards.”
Boca won 3-0, a result which extended San Lorenzo’s winless run to 15 matches in all competitions. His red card comes just days after Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the first half of the Gunners’ Europa League match at Rennes. The Greek defender was sent off while Unai Emery’s side led 1-0 thanks to Alex Iwobi’s goal in the third minute, but the night went downhill from there for Arsenal who ended up losing 3-1 to the Ligue 1 side.
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