Real Madrid pulled off one of the more dramatic comebacks in recent memory on Tuesday, overcoming a late one-goal deficit, and the complete meltdown of one of its own players, to record a victory that keeps Madrid in the La Liga title race.
Gonzalo Higuain's stunning game-winner capped a purely crazy sequence of events in its match vs. Getafe. Pushing desperately for a much-needed victory, Real Madrid looked in danger of losing when Pepe was whistled for a penalty in the 88th minuteafter pushing Getafe striker Francisco Casquero. Pepe responded to the call by pulling a double Ricardo Clark, kicking Casquero twice as he laid on the ground (and for good measure Pepe appeared to knee Casquero in the back as Casquero rolled around). Pepe then apparently punched another Getafe player before cursing out the fourth official.
Yes, we told you he lost his mind.
Real Madrid looked finished, but Iker Casillas saved the subsequent penalty (a soft attempt down the middle) and Higuain delivered a beautiful blast to win the game and keep Real Madrid's title hopes alive.
Here are the full highlights:
Here is a close-up of Pepe's double kick
Now, I'm sure defenders all over the world have wanted to kick some attacking player for going to ground too easily, but Pepe clearly lost it and is now probably done for the season, leaving Real Madrid without its best defender as it tries to catch Barcelona in the La Liga title race.
What did you think of Real Madrid's comeback? Is Higuain one of Europe's best strikers? Think Pepe should be suspended for the rest of the season (or are you buying the Roger Clemens-like 'he meant to kick air' defense)?
Share your thoughts below.
When Guti hit the free kick, you could feel it. My Guti shirt and I couldn’t sit down the rest of the game. What Pepe did was simply despicable, and however long the suspension is it it well deserved.
When Higuain hit the last one, I was doing laps around my house. Simply amazing. And watching Iker come running down to join in on the celebration was fun for me too.
And let me add, this game was the reason God made Ray Hudson
Ives!
I’m feeling a “You write the caption” contest with that pic of Higuain.
Pepe is a meathead. He should be suspended for the rest of the season and fined 5 years salary.
umm this isn’t the EPL, why are you posting a story of a Liga game?
two notes from the guardian article linked above:
Europeans suck at cursing:
“The said player (he’s talking about Pepe) then directed the following phrase at the fourth official as he was leaving the pitch: ‘You are all sons of whores’,” he wrote.
And I’d like to see this guy in a jersey running around the pitch just to hear commentators say his name:
(… editing by N.Ananthanarayanan; …)
Classic. Thank God for slow work days.
didn’t see him tweak on the official but that wasn’t nearly as bad as ricardo clark. on his first swing pepe was still trying to play the ball.
Raise your hand if you think all divers should be kicked in the back a couple times. Might cut that crap out of the game at some point. (This coming from someone who is NOT a Real Madrid fan at all.)
I only saw a gif of the Pepe incident- did they give a penalty for the “push” on the striker? It looked like he barely touched him and the striker flopped to the ground. I would have been pissed off too, but he really went crazy.
btw, before anyone tells me to just watch the videos, I’m blocked from seeing any videos at work so I can’t see the ones above.
Pepe was a disgrace to the game
Higuain and Guti stole the show at the end
Ray Hudson with an all-star caliber commentary:
“That was schoolboy finishing there”
“Cata- Diaz, you’re a LIAR!”
I’m gonna have to agree. Those kicks were deserved by that blatant dive, and it’s not like he connected with them.
Pepe should and will be suspended though.
Homey – I agree. I think defenders should kick all cheaters. It reminds me of the time the Italian dived in the world cup against Australia to win a game they did not deserve. Give Pepe an award. If FIFA doesn’t ban or punish divers after the game than defenders should punish them for FIFA.
stop defending pepe for that idiotic push. obvious fouls like that deserve to be punished. that was no shoulder bump, it was a lazy push because he was well-beaten. thus, a just PK. and ban pepe for the rest of the season.
Things just keep getting better for Portugal this year…
Pepe was a complete idiot. But that does not take away from the fact that Higuain has basically saved this team for three years now and should be considered one of the best in Europe. He is constantly overshadowed with Argentina because of Messi, Aguero and Tevez but he is basically playing out of position with Madrid (who put him out on the wing) yet he is still scoring goals in bunches. He deserves some more coverage and respect.
I read an article in which Pepe stated he wanted to kick in the air because he was frustrated…
He has way to much aggression. He should get suspended for the rest of the season, if you’d ask me. The club should also have a serious talk with Pepe.
im just glad to see news other than mls or the epl. don’t get me wrong, i love both, but there are other leagues in the world and its refreshing to see them covered on this site.
I’d rate that whole sequence a C. Minimal initial contact, horrible acting on the flop, and feeble contact by Pepe. If it weren’t for Pepe’s lame attack, that would just go down as another ridiculous penalty.
I recommend Pepe use his time off to take a trip to Houston for some pointers from Ricardo Clark.
Well, it’s been a shock here in Spain, no one can understand Pepe’s reaction. There are 6 games left to finish the league and he’ll probably come back next season (Liga’s fine will be anounced later this week, and none it’s said about an internal club fine). After the game Juande Ramos said it wasn’t Pepe’s intention to kick Casquero, because if he really wanted to, then he would have done it! Absolutely demential (maybe just like the entire match)
I agree with Dakota, Higuaín is really good but is not as mediatic as others argentinians. And it’s said that he has not caps yet because he decided not to go to the World Youth Championships in Canada and people in Argentina don’t understand it
The problem with making a comparison to Ricardo Clark is that in Clark’s case, 98% of his fellow players and 100% of MLS fans whose teams didn’t include Carlos Ruiz were glad Clark kicked Ruiz and only wished he’d continued the job.
Pepe went insane. He needs to be suspended for some games into next season as well. Utterly disgraceful.
I UNDERSTAND Pepe’s reaction, I don’t approve of it, but I COMPLETELY understand it. First, the adrenaline was rushing thru him (I know they are professionals, but they are also human beings…) Personally, I blame the STUPID and UNFAIR referee. The game was never under control, and that is only his fault. Also, there was a play where Pepe and Albin were running for the ball and Pepe got tripped by Albin (he didn’t mean to trip him, but he did, and that was a foul.) But there was no call, Albin couldn’t score, but he almost did. This began to infuriate Pepe. Then, he gets a yellow card for a common foul; there have been other fouls worse than that and no cards for the players (referee is not controlling the game and not being fair). Finally, Higuain gets a YELLOW card for “Diving”, when everyone saw he didn’t, it was a clear PK, but no call, and no PK, in fact Madrid’s player gets a card… STUPID REF. There was a similar play for Getafe where the player DID DIVE, and he was not carded. ALL OF THIS had to have an effect of Pepe, plus with all the Adrenaline going. Now, let’s talk about the PK play: Casquero clearly stops and waits for Pepe to touch him (a little push) and then he goes down as if he had been run over by a car, and the REFEREE calls a PK, plus he was going to give Pepe the second Yellow, so he knew he was out. He then LOST IT!! Personally, I think he wanted to kick the Ref, but obviously couldn’t do it. Then, he also didn’t like the acting from the player on the ground… he wasn’t hurt, in fact he got up like nothing and took the pk shot… Again, I am not excusing Pepe, because I know Violence is always bad, but I think the Referee is ultimately responsible for this. In the end, the best team won, but both teams played their hearts out. Not the best soccer ever, but one of the most dramatic games I’ve seen in my life.
what is it with these crazy-ass Portugese players playing so dirty? first Bosingwa kicked Benayoun in the back, now this. Tiago red carded against Balotelli too. reminds me of the Mexican team!
I gotta say I feel for Pepe. As a former defender I can’t count the number of free kicks I conceded or times I was booked when I hardly touched the guy. I always made sure to take their numbers and make sure I really hit them hard later in the match. Diving is a big problem in our sport. It’s cheating, just like doping is in baseball, football and track & field.
I’m not saying Pepe should have reacted the way he did, but if the officials aren’t going to catch it, the players need to police themselves. Pepe deserves to be suspended, but so does Casquero for obvious simulation. Call it the Drogba rule.
I think the more reasonable explanation for his demential action is that he thought the Liga was completely lost with that play, a PK near the 90th minute that probably could mean a definitive loss. After all, he told the press that the foul was clear and he was angry with the situation, not the referee (in that mad moment), then tried to apologize but didn’t sound quite affected
I’m with Homey on this one, what Pepe did was completely unnecessary but to say what he did is somehow a disgrace to the game is absurd. DIVING is a disgrace to the game and in my opinion the Getafe striker should be suspended, too, for such a ridiculous fall. Either that, or all divers should be kicked a few times by opposing teams. A yellow card really fails to drive the point home, especially since in many cases a yellow card has no effect whatsoever (for example, Drogba going shirtless after his goal in the FA CUP Semi-final). Time to start handing out suspensions and fines for divers, whether they get the call or not.
As for Pepe, the first kick was clearly trying to play the ball. If the player wasn’t STILL in the process of diving he would have made contact with the ball and not have needed to make a second swing. Given that he did kick a player on the ground Pepe probably should have some extra games tacked onto the normal red card suspension but I don’t think it should go anywhere beyond the end of the season.
i agree that diving is horrible. i had a coworker go off on how diving is rewarded at the youngest and highest level, and it is everywhere.
i don’t think it’s everywhere, but he has a point. i’m a defender, and therefore i think the game should continue on instead of calling an unsure foul.
as with most sports, esp during playoffs, when in doubt, officials won’t call the foul.
there should be a FIFA campaign against diving
As the Special One would say….. “Shut up, Tony!”
LOL….I find it hilarious you guys are trying to defend somebody who went Kimbo Slice X2 on somebody. Dive or no dive, you dont kick somebody as hard as you can.
I guess its that time of the month…
I know some people are always going to play devil’s advocate, but this is ridiculous.
a) It was a foul on Pepe, in the box, a justified penalty. He was beaten badly and extended his arm with a push. The attacker fell easily, but the fact remains it was a foul that he purposefully committed. Tangled feet or a running bump, I could see his point, but he was only frustrated because he was caught.
b) There was no attempt to kick the ball. His eyes were on the player the whole time during each kick. To whoever said the kick was not intentional because he didn’t make good contact, it is pretty tough to make solid contact when someone is laying on their stomach. He still appeared to get a good rake with his spikes.
Watched the video a couple times. I’ve been in that situation before, and it looks like he was running at full speed, got a little push, and it messed up his footing and he fell down. Easy to do if you’re sprinting. However, as he was falling he looked back towards the ref so maybe he embellished it as he was falling. Just my view. Regardless, Pepe is way too hotheaded and deserves whatever he gets. To continue with what others said (although not sure how much of a dive this one was) how is FIFA not doing more to retroactively punish divers? It’s a scurge and must be dealt with…and it could be fairly easily