Folks, I've covered sports for 20 years, and I've never seen anything like this. Not in hockey. Not in basketball. Not anywhere.
The Cruzeiro vs. Atletico Mineiro derby in Brazil descended into absolute chaos with a massive brawl that resulted in 23 total expulsions according to the official match report. Twenty-three! That might be a record.
Video footage shows players throwing punches, including a clear shot from Hulk — yes, that Hulk, the veteran Brazilian striker — connecting on Cruzeiro's Lucas Romero. It's ugly. It's embarrassing. And it's completely unacceptable.
Look, I get it. South American soccer rivalries are intense. The Belo Horizonte derby between these two clubs is one of the fiercest in Brazilian football. Passion runs deep. Emotions run high. This is a rivalry that goes back generations.
But this? This crossed every line.
When you have 23 players expelled from a match, that's not passion. That's not intensity. That's a complete breakdown of discipline and sportsmanship. That's players deciding that punching their opponents matters more than the game itself.
Officials had to sort through the chaos and issue red cards to nearly half of all players who participated in the match. Think about that. Nearly half. Players who started on the bench got involved. Coaches got involved. It was complete pandemonium.
The Brazilian Football Confederation is going to come down hard on both clubs, and they should. This isn't what the sport is about. This isn't what rivalries should look like.
I love passion. I love intensity. I love when players care so much about winning that they leave everything on the field. But there's a line between competing hard and throwing punches at opponents. And that line was obliterated on Saturday.
Both clubs will face massive fines. Players will face lengthy suspensions. And the derby — one of the most storied rivalries in Brazilian football — will have a black mark that's going to take years to wash off.
