Pitbull laps up praise after starring in Superclasico
Reuters - Friday 26 March 2010, 21:40
BUENOS AIRES - Chile's Gary "Pitbull"
Medel was nursing a bitten finger but also lapping up the praise after his match-winning performance for Boca Juniors
against River Plate in Argentina's "Superclasico."
Medel, a dogged midfield terrier, scored both goals to give
Boca a 2-0 victory and earn idol status from the Boca faithful
at their packed Bombonera ground last Thursday.
He also had a finger bitten in an incident with River
captain Marcelo "Babyface" Gallardo and was sent off when his
overzealous tackling earned him a second yellow card in the 75th
minute.
"A bite on the right index finger," was the Boca Juniors
doctor's report.
When the two players squared up to each other on the pitch
during the second half, Medel pointed his finger at Gallardo,
who reacted with a quick bite that left a small gash.
"Now he scratches and he bites" the club said on their
website.
There is no love lost between the two rivals and Gallardo
was involved in a previous incident when he slapped former Boca
goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri, leaving scratch marks on his
cheek, during a Libertadores Cup match in 2004.
Medel, who refused to talk about the incident as he left the
Bombonera with the finger bandaged, was quoted by Boca as saying
"I'm not a grass."
Gallardo, a 34-year-old former Monaco and Argentina
midfielder who had scored with free-kicks in the previous two
Superclasicos, had a poor 300th game for River with reports
saying it could have been his last clash with Boca.
Medel was praised on both sides of the Andes and Chilean
media recalled his two-goal performance for his former club
Universidad Catolica against arch-rivals Universidad de Chile in
a 2007 Santiago derby.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona, who watched the match from
his box at the Bombonera, said: "If Medel was Argentine I'd be
picking him for the national team."
Medel is a key player in Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa's World
Cup team. Chile meet favourites Spain, Switzerland and Honduras
in Group H at the finals in South Africa starting on June 11.
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