The Advent of Yellow and Red CardsThough ubiquitous in 2010, yellow and red cards are relatively recent phenomenon in football (soccer) history. Believe it or not, a high-profile international sport once relied upon an honor system.
British referee Ken Aston officiated two notoriously brutal matches at consecutive World Cup tournaments. The first, between Chile and Italy in 1962, known as the Battle of Santiago (pictured at right, with two men down and an argument in process), required the intervention of armed police officers on three occasion.
The second game, between bitter rivals England and Argentina (see World Cup Trivia I below for another interesting tidbit on this match), required police once again, to carry off Argentinian captain Rattín, who had spent twenty minutes arguing with Aston.
On his way home from the match, stopped at a red light, Aston had a eureka moment. To quote the man himself, "I thought, 'Yellow, take it easy. Red, you're off.'"
Of course, Aston is far from perfect. When asked how he had known what Rattín was saying to him when he sent him off, given that he didn't speak any Spanish, Aston replied "I didn't like the way he looked at me."
1 comment:
Hi Will. Bravo on the trivia. I'll be sharing these with facebook friends, tweeting 'em, the general social networking support. Not because we knew each other back when with dogs, but because they're actually damn good. Hope all is well!
- Brie
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