Dirty TackleBrazil-Argentina friendly to be played in Beijing smog that's 'like standing next to a bonfire'
Brazil and Argentina will play a friendly in Beijing on Saturday despite dangerous smog levels that make it difficult for the players to breathe.
From the Guardian:
An orange pollution alert – the second highest level – has been issued by officials after pollution levels rose 20 times the maximum daily exposure recommended by the World Health Organisation, with Brazil’s players confined to their hotel for much of the week.
The air quality, which is roughly equivalent to Brazil's performance against Germany in the last World Cup, has Brazil manager Dunga planning to make a large number of substitutions "so that the players will not be affected by it." But after enduring a 60-minute training session at the Bird's Nest Stadium, it seems it's already too late for that.
“The air is a bit strange, sometimes you think it’s the middle of the night. It’s very dusty,” [Coutinho] said.
Those sentiments were backed up by the former Manchester City forward Robinho: “It’s difficult to breathe. My throat is dry, it’s like we’re standing next to a bonfire, like hot smoke.”
And that's how they felt after a simple training session...in which they apparently tried to rip each other apart just to make their lungs stop burning (and no, that's not an Instagram sepia filter on the photo above — that's smog).
With both Lionel Messi and Neymar set to be subjected to these conditions, Barcelona will likely claim this to be an elaborate plot perpetrated by Real Madrid to ruin their star players for the rest of the season.
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is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter! Follow @BrooksDT
