No snitching?: Abidal rats himself out
By: Jack | May 7th, 2009Now, this one? This one I didn’t see coming.
French and Barcelona defender Eric Abidal was given a straight red card for apparently tripping Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka, who was through on goal, midway through the second half of Wednesday’s Champions League second leg at Stamford Bridge. Abidal was asked by Setanta reporters after the match about the call. Here’s what he had to say:
I was defending against Nico [Anelka], but as I was the last defender and the referee thought I fouled him, dismissing me is normal.
If I let Nico run towards goal then he scores the second one and it is over, so we can say it is a good foul. I sacrificed myself. It is always disappointing to reach the final without being able to feature.
Wow. I didn’t even think he caught him. However, if the man himself fesses up to the crime, it must have been committed.
This makes the case against Ovebro all the more interesting. Wonder what the Barca fanboys have to say about this now that they’re main case against the penalties is out the door?
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Comments
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Although the ref gave the red card, it was the Assistant who flagged for the foul (or Anelka tripping up on his own feet) smirk
Posted from
United Kingdom
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Abidal is like Essien, a lil daft!!
I remember Essien saying last year after winning the semi-final clash, ”I am glad we won the three points”….lolPosted from
United States -
“Wonder what the Barca fanboys have to say about this now that they’re main case against the penalties is out the door?”
Good luck in the FA Cup!
Posted from
United States -
ooooOllaaallaaa, wasn’t that Wayne Bridge in the Carling cup?
Posted from
United States -
“Wonder what the Barca fanboys have to say about this now that they’re main case against the penalties is out the door?”
LOL…..still a bit bitter are we? Suck it up, take it like men and get over it. The referee was awful, both refs, in both legs. All Abidal says here is that the ref THOUGHT he fouled Anleka and since he was the last man then he had to be sent off, which is fair enough. The ref THOUGHT that Abidal fouled Anelka, he did not foul Anelka, replay after replay proves it. He tripped over himself, it is as plain as the Pique hand ball and it is as awful a decision. These things happen. Get over it and concentrate on winning something instead of whinging about the refs. You only have yourselves to blame for not taking your chances and not playing with a little more adventure in your game. Jesus, and Chelsea fans were calling us sore losers last week. You lot take it to a whole new level. Threatening the ref? Wow. Well done, you guys should be proud of the way you are repsresenting the EPL and the English.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Hilal,
Oh yeah, this is the very first time threats have been made after a football match. And surely no one has ever actually been killed by football-related fan mania. It even happens at youth level: http://hackneypost.co.uk/?p=2227.
Your myopia is incredible. People are crazy and passionate and make stupid moves in the heat of the moment and after a keg of beer. I don’t condone it, but this is NOTHING compared to some cases. But I forgot that you’re such a model human being and never made any mistakes in your life. Now Pull your head out of your ass before you do irreparable damage to your colon.
Posted from
United States -
Dave, I might suggest that incendiary language such as “Barca fanboys” precipitated Hilal’s (admittedly) antagonistic response. But let’s keep things calm.
I do want to note Abidal’s language, because I think it’s important:
“but as I was the last defender and the referee thought I fouled him, dismissing me is normal.”
“thought I fouled him.” The following is just Abidal admitting that he, like everyone else, knows the rules of being the last man.
Now, let’s look at the second part, the supposed smoking gun:
“If I let Nico run towards goal then he scores the second
one and it is over, so we can say it is a good foul. I sacrificed myself.”I think Abidal is referring to the more minor hand foul that he gave Anelka on his way to goal. Did that hand check make Anelka trip over his feet? Possibly, which could have been what Abidal was referring to.
But I think we can all agree that refereeing over both legs left quite a lot to be desired. Heck, it was pretty crappy in the Bayern legs as well. In replay after replay, the foul on Anelka is difficult to discern. You can see Abidal kind of reach out for him, if I recall correctly. I’ll watch again tonight, but I just didn’t see anything that might have caused Anelka to go tumbling down like that.
Posted from
United States -
Barca fanboys? I have to agree with Kxevin here, when you say something like that, you must expect such responses from said “fan boys”. Ref decisions even out over time, I am sure you have had some questionable calls go your way at some point.
Posted from
United States -
lol….Dave….ur funny. ur the same guy who was calling Barca cheats yeah? This with Drogba on your team right? Probably one of the most notorious cheats in football and yet I am the one who needs to pull my head out of my ass? lol.
Also citing other cases of referees being threatened doesnt justify it mate. I never said this sort of thing doesnt happen, nor did i claim to be a model human being, far from it. However if you look at the two biggest cases of referees being threatened in the last few years they both involve Chelsea, hardly coincidence and you would think that rational ppl would learn from their mistakes. Violence, aggression and threats have no place in football and the fact that you are trying to justify it or make it a lesser evil by showing that it has happened before pretty much says it all. Also it doesnt help your case when the other incident you cited also happened in England….lol
Posted from
United Kingdom -
You are pathetic, this blog is an embarrassment to the Offside.
Posted from
United States -
Here you go Kxevin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsPgvdEGGsQ
No way in the world that is a foul. He literally trips himself up. Their feet dont even get tangled up. He is actually nowhere near him when he does down.
Posted from
United States -
You Barca fans are a joke. You come in here, totally criticize Chelsea for it’s “anti-football,” refer to us as everything that’s wrong with the game and then cry when you’re referred to as fanboys.
You really think we, as Chelsea fans, are simply going to roll over and forget all that? Please.Posted from
United States -
Guess if ‘Chelsea fans’ weren’t acting like complete dickheads, nobody would care to post here. You mentioned that you’re happy about boosting pageviews, so here you go.
Posted from
Poland -
THANKS!
Posted from
United States -
Jack, sorry but I don’t see any anti-football references. And I don’t know if you know my posting history, but I would never do such things. Would some Barca fans? Sure. But we aren’t all the same, just as all Chelsea fans aren’t the same.
Oh, and more evidence that the ref was universal shite:
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr106/coolestcule/1.gif
Posted from
United States -
Kxevin, perhaps not in this post, but that sentiment certainly has made the rounds here. And, as for my comment, it was a general statement about Barcelona fans who have posted on this blog. You have been civil — something I can’t even say about myself — and I appreciate it.
Posted from
United States -
my first post acknowledged that Anelka tripped himself up….. obviously nobody read cos it has all ‘kicked off’
Chelsea havent got a problem with Barca fans… but the Barca fanboys think we have… the problem we have got is with the referee and with snail face Michel Platini the UEFA President who has publicly stated that he didnt want another ALL ENGLISH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL because he abhors the Premierships domination of Europe and therefore UEFA appointed a ‘dispensable’ referee from Norway who will disappear just like Anders Frisk did a few years ago…. and what was Frisk’s last game in charge, oh yeah Barcelona v Chelsea, the night he sent off Didier Drogba for a nothing challenge.SIMPLES
KTBFFH
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Won’t argue with that one for a second, Jack. For the record, I’ve said in many places that “anti-football” claims are nonsense. The game is football. The rest is tactics.
Good luck in the FA Cup final (it still staggers me that Portsmouth is defending champ).
Posted from
United States -
Jack- The fanboys are the one’s that dont write the pages. Never get mad at fellow bloggers on the site, we all have our heads screwed on straight
. Tried telling that to the Man U guy, but he really was not to receptive. Oh well.Posted from
United States -
Finally a player with integrity owns up for a foul that he committed. The ref got it right, people run up and down the pitch all the time without their legs suddenly running into eachother and just tripping themselves. The defender tripped and owned up to it, nothing further needs to be said and I’m very proud of Abidal right now.
@Kxevin: This is what is known as incidental ball to hand contact. It should never be called as a handling foul.
Posted from
United States -
Oh come on. That quote was probably horribly translated from French or Spanish. And even in the english version, i don’t see him admitting to fouling him.
And how many times do you need to see a replay to see that Abidal didn’t even foul him?
Argue that Chelsea dominated that game. That argument could be entertained.
Argue that you should have had a penalty awarded. You’d be wrong, but you can argue it.
But to argue that Abidal’s red was even a legitimate foul? common, now your just kidding yourself.Posted from
United States -
At this point I’m waiting for Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts to show up at UEFA headquarters…
“A good conspiracy is unprovable. I mean, if you can prove it, it means they screwed up somewhere along the line.”
Posted from
United States -
Jason: So you’re relying on your knowledge of French…or Spanish to prove your point? It was a foul, it was seen by the referee and admitted to by the offender. I’m sorry sir but the leg warehouse just ran out of things for you to stand on.
Posted from
United States -
@Dustin. If we can agree that the Ballack incident wasn’t a penalty offense, can we not agree that neither the Eto’o or Pique incidents were? In all three instances, the ball played the hand. I watched the match again last night, in the process of compiling a Barcelona highlights reel.
Also, I don’t think that we know what language the interview was conducted in, but if it’s by Setanta, it was almost certainly English. I won’t presume any knowledge of Abidal’s command of the language. I do know this: Barca fans will say that his “admission” of the “foul” was negated by the “he thought I fouled him” of the first part. Chelsea fans will say that the second part is the critical part.
But the match is done. The finals are looming, and your lads have a big match tomorrow, and an FA Cup final. Best of luck in those competitions.
Posted from
United States -
fanboys is spot on. barcelona sold their souls.
Posted from
United States
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