Dirty TackleDTotD: Brazilian striker kicked in the head during mass brawl
With a little over two weeks until the World Cup begins in Brazil, some unpleasant scenes have unfolded in the final of the Amazonense (the Amazon state championships.)
In a repeat of last season's final, Nacional AM beat Princesa Solimões on Saturday. But five minutes before full time, a mass brawl broke out.
According to Globo, the trouble started when Nacional striker Leonardo retaliated to a punch thrown by one of the Princesa players. It very quickly escalated to involve riot police and fans, and during the melee Leonardo was left unconscious after being kicked in the head.
He received a cardiac massage as he lay on the field, but when he could not be revived he was taken by ambulance to a Manaus hospital. Globo claim that he was released later that evening.
Despite the fracas and serious injury, the referee decided to play the final five minutes of the game once things had calmed down. Nacional scored again to win 5-3 on aggregate, even though they lost the first leg 2-0.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
H/T: The Mirror
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is a writer for Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter! Follow @RyanJayBailey
