Thiago Silva, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham

Ok, so I said this would be an MLS blog, but how can I talk about the MLS without at least mentioning the World Cup? Let's be reasonable. So Germany destroyed Brazil in Tuesday's semifinal by a score of 7-1, a more-or-less unprecedented drubbing against the South American powerhouse. Now there's been a lot of talk about Neymar's absence due to his broken vertebra, but very little about Thiago Silva's yellow card that led to his suspension. If you missed it, Silva received his second yellow card of the tournament (an automatic one-game suspension) for trying to interfere with Colombian goalie David Ospina's punt. It was a completely unnecessary foul, especially given that he already had a card to his name. It was selfish, stupid, and offered zero tactical advantage to his team. As a result, Brazil was forced to take on the force that is Germany without him. Would his presence have spelled victory for Brazil? Probably not, the addition of one player probably wouldn't have prevented 7 goals. That said, Brazil completely crumbled without their two best players, and had Silva been there, he at least could've given them some fight with his on-field leadership. Instead we watched an utter meltdown of arguably one of the top teams in the world. So what does this have to do with Wayne Rooney and David Beckham? In 1998, David Beckham senselessly retaliated against Argentine Diego Simeone which led to his ejection in England's Round of 16 match against Argentina. The match ended in a 2-2 draw and England went on to lose in penalties.

 

In 2006, Wayne Rooney was involved in a similar play where he stomped on the groin of Ricardo Carvalho in a quarterfinal match against Portugal. The match ended in a 0-0 draw with England again losing in penalties.



Both Beckham and Rooney were vilified for their actions, isn't it only fair that Silva get similar treatment? In all three cases, senseless acts by these stars put their teams at a disadvantage. At least Beckham and Rooney were young and hot-headed (not that that's an excuse). Silva's 29 years old and the team captain. You expect better from a player of that caliber. Just my thoughts.