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20th Jul 2017

Twisted nipples, bitten shoulders and jealous girlfriends after dirty Concacaf clash

The dark arts of defending

Darragh Murphy

And you thought Luis Suarez was bad.

El Salvador knew they were underdogs against the United States on Wednesday night so pulled out all the stops in an attempt to upset the odds in their Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final.

But despite their opponents’ dirtiest efforts, the US ultimately came out on top, thanks to goals from Eric Lichaj and Omar Gonzalez just before half-time.

El Salvador defender Darwin Ceren simply wasn’t prepared to allow the latter to add to his tally as he got up close and personal with Gonzalez in the form of a disgusting bite to the American’s right shoulder in the box late on in proceedings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQqobHfOGfA

“I was a bit shocked,” Gonzalez said of the incident.

But it wasn’t the only example of El Salvador’s players digging their teeth into their opponents’ flesh.

In fact, the worst of it was reserved for US forward Jozy Altidore, who was bitten and had his nipples twisted by marker (and likely weirdo) Henry Romero, who clearly wanted to provoke a reaction from the former Sunderland man.

https://twitter.com/JogaBonitoUSA/status/887863071217033216

“It’s never happened before, but in Concacaf, it never ceases to amaze me,” Altidore said of being singled out in the above fashion. “You’ve got to keep your cool. I shouldn’t be saying these things happen, but they do.”

The striker doesn’t seem all that bothered by the incident but the same can’t be said for Altidore’s girlfriend.

“My girl’s mad at me,” Altidore added. “She’s mad at me. She’s mad at Romero because she’s like: ‘Only I can bite you, only I can grab your nipples.’”