A tense Copa Libertadores group game on Thursday night between Atletico Nacional and Barcelona SC became more of a TV soap than a serious game of football when the Barcelona SC goalkeeper appeared to ‘play dead’ to avoid a late red card.
The Ecuadorian Maximo Banguera, who has represented his country 27 times, seemingly got a massive rush of blood to the head in the final stages of the match as Atletico forward Jonathan Copete ran through on goal. With the fixture poised at 1-1 and in the 91st minute, Banguera clearly felt he had to act and ran out towards Copete, tripping the forward up.
Knowing his mistake instantly, the keeper ‘plays dead’ as the referee sprints over brandishing a red card – seemingly hoping he can just stay there and the ref won’t notice! It almost became laughable as he lay there motionless on the turf for over a minute, before making a miraculous recovery and getting to his feet.
Amazingly, the referee didn’t fall for the Ecuadorian’s dramatics. After eventually receiving his red card and leaving the pitch Atletico took full advantage of their extra man, and went on to score a late winner in the 94th.