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You're out!
Ortega receives three game suspension for headbutting
Posted: Sunday July 05, 1998 11:11 PM
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Chin music: Ortega was red carded for headbutting Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in Saturday's quarterfinal match (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- Ariel Ortega, expelled from a World Cup quarterfinal for
headbutting Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, will miss the first three
games of the 1999 Copa America.
The talented midfielder, who impressed with his play while wearing the No.
10 shirt made famous by the volatile Diego Maradona, was shown the red card
for an off-the-ball incident in the 87th minute of Argentina's
quarterfinal Saturday against the Dutch in Marseille.
Ortega was convinced he had been tripped inside the area and protested for
a penalty, but Mexican referee Arturo Brizio disagreed and signaled for
play to continue. Van der Sar, convinced Ortega had taken a dive, ran from
his goal to confront him and stood over the grounded Argentine forward.
As Ortega rose to his feet, he struck the goalkeeper on the chin with his
head and van der Sar fell to the ground. Brizio ran over and showed Ortega
the red card for violent conduct.
Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp scored the winner for his team in the final
minute to eliminate Argentina 2-1.
The next major competition for Argentina will be the Copa America, meaning
Ortega will miss the entire first round of next year's tournament.
Brazil's
Cafu and Dutch defender Arthur Numan will miss Tuesday's semifinal
confrontation at Marseille because of automatic suspensions.
Cafu received his second yellow card of the championship during Brazil's
quarterfinal against Denmark for
time-wasting. His first was against Chile in the
second round a week earlier.
Numan was expelled against Argentina for his second yellow card of the
game.
Whichever team gets through the semifinal will get back the services of
its suspended player for the final.
Christian Woerns, expelled just before halftime in the 3-0 loss to Croatia, will
miss Germany's first
two qualifying games for the 2000 European Championship.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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