You remember the entry of Nigel "Kung FU" De Jong on Spanish Xabi ALonso in the WW final Holland vs. Spain (I know, the Dutch claim Alonso was just faking being touched and see the yellow card vs. De Jong as proof for the referee having been paid by the Spanish Federation ...
)? His excuse then was: "The ball blocked my sight, I did not see there was a Spanish player near"...
It was not the first time, actually, he before deliberately broke (shin bone broken, even if the player walked off by himself) the leg of Stuart Holden in a (Friendly!) match Holland vs. USA ("I did not see there was an US player close to the ball"):
A long time now many people asked to ban this obviously psychotic player from soccer (the problem being that you cannot sue for deliberate lesion yet in FIFA or UEFA events, they are above the law - though this is changing soon), looks like it is finally going to happen after
this weekend he did it again:
Just 3 minutes on the pitch (for Manchester), without any hassle with the opposing player (from Newcastle), lying on the ground without any involvment with the ball (which had long passed) he slowly and deliberately, aimed and intentionally, kicked French national player Ben Arfa´s standing leg on the knee, causing such severe a leg/knee break that Ben Arfa will be out for at least a year (he even entered in a short cardiorespiratory stop and needed to be re-animated and supplied with oxygen) if he ever can play soccer again, and De Jong did not even see a yellow card...:
Still, despite the blind ref finally someone of weight took notice, Dutch national coach Bert van Marwijk (under pressure by the Dutch Federation: "I got advised there was no other option") fulminated De Jong from the Dutch National Soccer Team for "excessive violence" (at least, for now, for the qualification matches to the EC 2012).
From my POV, after having seen this last episode, he should be banned from playing professional soccer foreever, from my experience players with such recurring violent episodes never change.
FWIW,
Rattler