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TFC in precarious position following halftime brawl

Kljestan_Altidore_11052017

One week ago, Jozy Altidore was in the headlines for off the field incidents with New York Red Bull fans, calling them “classless” following leg 1 of the Eastern Confernce semi-finals. A week later, Altidore is in the headlines again.

During the second leg of the playoff series between the Red Bulls and TFC, Altidore played a part in two incidents, earning a red card during the halftime break.

First, Altidore took exception to a kick out from Tyler Adams on TFC’s Sebastian Giovinco following a hard challenge from behind that was whistled for a foul. Altidore approached the teenage Adams and grappled him, walking him around the field. The Red Bull’s captain, Sacha Kljestan, approached Altidore to break up the incident.

“Jozy went to stand over Adams, intimidate him. I came in, asked him to stop,” said Sacha Kljestan after the game. “Then he got in my face. I pushed him back … he fell down fairly easily in my opinion.”

As the match continued, the physicality continued to escalate drawing to a head at the halftime whistle. Tensions ran visibly high between the two sides as they retreated into the tunnel to head to the locker rooms.

That’s when things took a turn. With no official word on how the incident started, a brawl erupted in the tunnel between the two teams. Videos of the incident offered little explanation of what caused the brawl, but highlight the chaos of the incident.

Jesse Marsch and Greg Vanney can be seen at the end of the video screaming at each other and being separated by security. Marsch, a fiery personality on the field and the sidelines, can also be seen screaming in the face of TFC captain Michael Bradley.

However the incident started, both teams paid for it. Both Altidore and Kljestan were dismissed from the match. With Giovinco picking up his second yellow card of the playoffs in the match, he will be suspended for the first leg of the Conference final, along with the aforementioned Altidore.

Missing two of their most important players could spell doom for TFC, and it would be tragic for the Canadian side if it cost them the playoff series against the Columbus Crew.

After the match, tensions had still not cooled. Kljestan offered his explanation of the inciting incident.

“At halftime Jozy shoved me into the wall,” Kljestan said. “I have a clear conscience. I don’t feel like I deserved a red card. It’s a pretty helpless feeling, to not be able to play in the second half because of that.”

Altidore took to Twitter to respond before deleting the tweet.

The nature of the incident lends itself to further punishment by the MLS Disciplinary Committee, and could keep Altidore out of action for additional playoff matches.

However, Vanney believes Altidore could be vindicated after additional evidence emerges.

“We’ve lost him as of now,” he said. “There is video footage, I think, of what happened in the tunnel. From my estimation and what I’ve heard, Jozy basically got ambushed in the tunnel and we’ll see where that goes.

“Jozy was followed in, basically confronted, he turned around and the next thing that happened, from my understanding, is that there were four, five, six Red Bull players rushing at him and towards him at the same time. The refs, we’ll see.”

Kljestan will serve his suspension to start the 2018 season.

Comments

  1. LOL at someone (Bradley?) shrieking: “WHY ARE YOU HERE???”
    So ridiculous. But not as ridiculous as the TFC fans applauding afterwords. Tools.

    Reply
    • Pretty sure it was Vanney. Sometimes I think Bradley doesn’t even say anything when he tries to intervene with his captain speak and just points his finger in the person’s face while mouth breathing.

      Reply
  2. Jozy is a big bully/baby. The way he rushed up to Adams after he and Giovinco tangled was overdone and childish. Good for Sacha for standing up to that moron. Then to top it off Jozy falls down like a rock at the slightest touch.

    Jozy I am glad we will never see you play for the USMNT again. Keep earning your millions in Canada, maybe you can get citizenship there. You too Bradley.

    Reply
    • Jozy will definitely dress for the USMNT again (he’ll still only be 32 two WC’s from now). Also, outside of his flop, he was quite effective the first half, and he drew a very obvious foul that went uncalled at the top of the box right before half.

      I’ve only watched 2 TFC games this year (this past one and the season finale at Atl), and Jozy played really well both games.

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  3. I’m indifferent as to which team advanced in the playoffs, and I will put aside my feelings about lackluster performance in a USMNT shirt. Just a few comments/questions:

    (1) it appears that the NYRB were not in the space they were supposed to occupy, which is why they were being told to move away and they, in fact, moved away. Should they bear more blame for infringing on TFC’s space? IDK;

    (2) when were the red cards issued by the ref? Did he witness the altercation? Was he part of the melee? Or did he just focus on the guys who started the whole thing out on the field?

    (3) I don’t know if I’m more annoyed with Jesse Marsch for yelling like he’s on Jerry Springer or Bradley for acting like it’s possible to reason with anyone in that tunnel…

    Reply

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