The man of the match in the Copa Libertadores final has delivered one of the most ridiculous dives football has seen in some time.
The biggest trophy in South American football has been decided after a farcical act of diving in the Copa Libertadores final.
Palmeiras became champion of South American football for the second straight year — the first team in 20 years to achieve the feat — in an all-Brazilian final, downing Flamengo 2-1 in an extra-time thriller.
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And while super sub Deyverson scored the winning goal in the 95th minute of the match after he pounced on a defenders mistake, he also delivered the lowest moment of the match when he fell to the turf late in the match after referee Nestor Pitana patted him on the back.
Deyverson had brought the ball in but smartly tried to wind the clock down rather than turn to ball over.
But after getting the ball taken off him, he gave away a foul after a messy challenge.
The umpire pulled the Brazilian away, before tapping him on the back — and Deyverson went down like his back had been broken.
“And now Deyverson’s been fouled by the referee,” Phil Schoen said in commentary. “We’ve seen everything.”
There was less than a minute left in injury time at the end of the extra period and it was clearly a ploy to try and waste the final moment of the game.
Deyverson rolled around on the ground as Pitana came to his aid but the 30-year-old Brazilian quickly got to his feet.
But his co-commentator thought it was a crazy thing to do.
“My goodness, this game has had it all,” Eric Krakauer added. “That is just pathetic. You don’t want to see that. Seriously, that is so embarrassing, you are the man who is going to be hoisted on your teammates shoulders and you do that at the end of the game?”
Deyverson, who was only subbed into the match in the 91st minute, also won the man of the match award.
But while his goal decided the game, fans were stuck on the awful dive.
Football journalist Alex Truica tweeted: “He’s the biggest s***houser I’ve ever seen. Nobody in world football comes even close to Deyverson. Even for his ridiculous standards this is embarrassing.”
Only the fifth final to contain two teams from the same country in the tournament’s 61-year history, it was the first ever Libertadores showpiece to feature the winners of the previous two editions.
Sao Paulo-based Palmeiras, who beat Santos to lift the 2020 trophy in January, took the lead at the Estadio Centenario when Veiga rifled in a cutback from Mayke after a superb pass out of defence by Gomez.
Diego Alves kept Flamengo in the game with a flying stop to tip over from Rony early in the second half, with former Chelsea and Arsenal defender David Luiz denied by another good save from Weverton.
Flamengo forward Bruno Henrique headed narrowly wide at a corner, but the Rio de Janeiro club drew level as Barbosa beat Weverton at his near post on 72 minutes.
Two late goals from Barbosa won Flamengo the 2019 final against River Plate of Argentina, and they missed a golden chance to snatch victory when Michael drilled wide with just Weverton to beat.
It proved costly when Deyverson, brought on at the start of extra time, caught Pereira in possession and burst free to slot home the winner as Palmeiras became the first club to win back-to-back titles since Boca Juniors in 2000-01.
“Our team was very good and very focused today. We literally left our lives on the field. We had to play like this, it was a Libertadores final,” said Palmeiras captain Gustavo Gomez.
Palmeiras, also Libertadores winners in 1999, will return to the FIFA Club World Cup next year in the United Arab Emirates, joining European champions Chelsea and African giants Al Ahly in the competition.
— with AFP
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