Smart thinking or blatant cheating? Barcelona Under 16s score controversial goal with one of their players ‘injured’ and opponents Crystal Palace off the pitch in youth tournament semi-final
- A Barcelona player was treated and Crystal Palace left the field
- The injured player quickly got back to his feet and the Spanish side took advantage
- The Catalan side went on to claim a 4-0 victory and win the youth tournament
Barcelona’s Under-16s have come under fire after scoring a controversial goal in a youth league semi-final against Crystal Palace.
The Catalan youths were leading 2-0 in the 24th minute as they took advantage of a stoppage to overtake their opponents to score a third.
While a Barca player was being treated for an apparent injury, Crystal Palace players went off for a water break and a meeting with their manager.
However, the injured player quickly got back to his feet and ran backwards to the touchline before play resumed – despite no Palace players on the pitch.
The Barca goalkeeper saw a great opportunity and passed to No. 11 Patrick Kluivert’s son Shane.
Barcelona are under fire after scoring a controversial goal at a youth tournament
A Barca player was injured, forcing him to retire before play quickly resumed
Realizing what was happening, Palace tried to sprint back onto the pitch, but it proved too late as Kluivert sent the ball into an empty goal.
Barcelona then scored another goal in a 4-0 win to win the tournament, according to reports in Spain.
The Palace players were said to have been enraged by the incident in the match, which was allowed by the referee.
Other sides who have felt unfairly treated by similar incidents in games have often been allowed to score unchallenged by their opponents as a show of sportsmanship.
The actions of Barca’s young players, some of whom could progress to the top flight of the Spanish giants, did not go unnoticed as fans took to social media to score the controversial goal.
One tweeted: “Barca really are on a mission to be hated by all. If it weren’t for the little magician, I don’t think anyone would respect the club.”
A second fan added: “What a shameless club… Seems like they’ve learned ‘how to get shameless’ even in their academy!”
Another said: ‘They keep saying their club has values… Mes que in club and all that rubbish… how can you be proud of this… they are already taught to cheat at academy level.’