Emerson Acuña is a Colombian striker who plays for Atlético Junior in the land of his birth. His nickname is El Piojo - “The Louse”. Not a sobriquet which speaks of a player adored by the masses. This video goes some way to explain his unpopularity.
That’s easily the most shameless, dishonest dive I’ve ever seen. I mean, rightly or wrongly, we all expect players to flop to the turf when there’s a bit of clumsy contact in the box. But you can’t have any contact when the opposition aren’t within touching distance!
The resultant penalty allowed Atlético to open the scoring after only 19 minutes of play. They held their 1-0 lead over América de Cali until the second half, by which point the visitors were playing against ten men: Acuña was sent off in the 34th minute.
When the full-time whistle blew, it was still honours even at 1-1. The combination of Acuña’s cheating and myopic refereeing from José Niño robbed América of all three points.
While we’re on the subject of Martin Palermo spot-kick misses, the Argentinian striker’s claim to fame in world football is wasting three penalties in one game.
Colombia beat Argentina 3-0 in the 1999 Copa América match.
So, what’s the answer to the burning question posed in the last exciting but widely unread episode of Garrincha’s Dog? Surprisingly, it’s yes - it is possible to score from greater range than Scouse superhero Xabi Alonso - just not deliberately. This clip comes from an international friendly between Poland and Colombia in May this year.
Luis Enrique Martínez’s 64th-minute goal sealed a 2-1 win for the South Americans and ended Tomasz Kuszczak’s chances of playing in the World Cup. If you don’t feel even a wee bit sorry for the Polish keeper, may I suggest that you put on your wooliest jumper, don your favourite balaclava, turn up the central heating, and prepare for an eternity in hell.