Rafael Tolói slips up and loses the plot

The Guardian

19-02-2025

In a quickfire Q&A conducted with Uefa TV last year, Rafael Tolói was asked to describe the final thing he'd like to achieve in football, replying: 'I'd like to get Atalanta to [Bigger Cup] or win a trophy.' As luck would have it, the veteran defender who has represented the side from Bergamo with no little distinction for almost a decade wasn't forced to choose between his two ambitions. He and his teammates would subsequently hoist Big Vase towards the sky over Dublin, rubber stamping a place in Bigger Cup they had already secured anyway by dint of their fourth-placed finish in the Italian league. Having seen his two big dreams come true, all that was left for the 34-year-old Italian international to leave an indelible mark on this season's competition while representing the club he loves before his contract expires later this season. And how …
While Atalanta may have exited Bigger Cup on Tuesday night, running out a distant second-best to a Club Brugge side who had grasped the 24th and final qualification spot in the group stage, it would be fair to say the Belgians' thunder was rather stolen by Tolói, whose generational meltdown upon being prevented from taking an 88th- minute throw-in long after the tie was beyond rescue ensured his name will forever be part of Bigger Cup folklore. Having been given a second yellow for a preposterous swallow dive in the Feyenoord penalty area some hours previously, Milan's Théo Hernandez might have been forgiven for thinking his would be the most embarrassing red card this week, or at the very least in Bigger Cup matches featuring out-of-sorts Italian sides hosting teams from the Low Countries. But not a bit of it.
In an act of recklessness for which the phrase 'hold my beer' might well have been coined, Tolói lost the plot when Maxim De Cuyper jostled him in the chest, prompting Atalanta's captain to try and fling the ball at the Brugge defender in a fit of rage that was only exacerbated when he lost his grip on the ball and slipped to the floor. With his head completely gone and the rest of him enveloped in a mist so red it's actually prefaced by the adjective 'volcanic' on the Dulux colour chart, Tolói went into raging bull mode, pawing the ground for purchase, before charging past the referee to blindside De Cuyper with a shoulder charge that knocked the impertinent Belgian to the ground. As he was pulled away by teammates and members of the opposition, the incensed Tolói formally received his marching orders from referee Felix Zwayer. 'He threw the ball and slipped, and he was so annoyed at himself for that,' honked Lucy Ward, who was on co-comms for TNT. 'What made it worse was the embarrassment of slipping. That just adds to the anger and he completely lost it.'
One player who might have been pleased by Tolói's tantrum was Ademola Lookman, who probably hoped the sending-off would help his manager forget about the spot-kick he'd missed when the tie was still vaguely salvageable. Again, not a bit of it. 'Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I've ever seen,' fumed Gian Piero Gasperini, studiously avoiding the Uefa-designated word-mincer left at the top table for his post-match press conference. The Atalanta boss's withering criticism prompted Lookman to fire off a riposte, bemoaning the manner in which he had been 'singled out' for 'deeply disrespectful' blame in the form of a statement; one that weighed in at 183 words, not one of which happened to mention, or even allude to, just how poor his penalty was.
Join Will Unwin from 7.30pm GMT for hot Premier League minute-by-minute coverage of Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool, while Michael Butler will be on deck for Real Madrid 2-2 Manchester City (agg: 5-4) in the second leg of their Bigger Cup playoff.
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Imagine my surprise having a letter about Bristol Rovers' Bert Tann published in your esteemed journal (yesterday's letters), only to be trumped by a Bristol City fan writing on the same subject. Insult compounded by them being nominated as letter o' the day as well. Keep up the work, though' – Andy Smith.
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