A broken leg for American-born Red Bull Salzburg GK Eddie Gustafsson: The incident which occurred on the 43rd minute of the first half saw Red Bull Salzburg goalkeeper, Eddie Gustafsson clear the ball from just outside the area when Linz striker Lukas Kragl flew into the legs of the 33-year-old breaking his left leg. The American goalkeeper was seen in excruciating pain after the centre of his tibia bone and his knee were almost in a 90 degree angle. http://www.nationalturk.com/en/red-bull-salzburg-goalkeeper-horrendous-leg-break-85675396 There is a video there which I have elected not to watch.
Not only is that a red card, but the player should be banned for multiple games. No attempt to play the ball, and studs intentionally slammed high up into the leg. That is damn near assault. If I'm the defender, my fist is going right into the throat of the attacker. There's no excuse for that. It could be a career ending injury. I'm serious when I say that jail time should not be out of the question. The only intent was to injure, as the ball was long gone.
Ban that ****** from professional soccer. Gustafsson got to the ball way before the other guy and while he was off balance this POS steps on the worst part of his leg to step on. He was not playing the ball at all and that is clear because he was no where near the ball. I would make this POS sit out just as long as it takes Gustafsson to come back from injury if he ever does and if he doesn't come back from injury then ban this Mofo from the game. The referee should be tried for match fixing also. In what world is that not a red card and multiple game suspension?
How is that not a red card? I am in utter disgust at how that is not a red card. And the dude who did it didn't even flinch or for that matter look back after he did it. I hope he gets a really long ban.
http://www.salzburg.com/online/spor...wgVvZZBO3ozpeve67EcOtgeHkuv&img=&text=&mode=& Post-injury interview with Eddie (in German) Summary: Doctors have said he needs to take six months off, but he is an optimist and says he'll be back stronger than before. He feels pretty good and didn't even take painkillers the second night in the hospital. The reporter asked him if he was thinking about legal action against Kragl, but Eddie says he isn't, as it wouldn't un-break his leg, so what's the point? He does think it was ridiculous that Kragl didn't receive a red card and that he deserves a suspension, and says that he saw Kragl go flying in toward Schiemer, Eddie's replacement, with the same exact motion, so apparently he didn't learn anything from getting a yellow. He also says that he has seen too much of this sort of play allowed in Austria and this kind of thing would never be handled so leniently back in Sweden. Anyway, Gustafsson should be able to go home in about a week. Seems like a nice guy who is taking it about as well as you possibly could. Here is a Facebook page where you can send him your wishes (already well over 12,000 members). http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alles-Gute-Eddie-Gustafsson-/112100702157582?ref=ts There is some asshole LASK ultra on the page actually advertising for a group he has created to SUPPORT KRAGL. That isn't so surprising, as there were apparently LASK fans singing some sort of gloating songs at him as he was being stretchered off. Lastly, here's a commentary on the whole incident: http://mein.salzburg.com/blog/standpunkt/2010/04/das-war-korperverletzung.html This guy says it's a case of assault and that Kragl definitely deserves some sort of additional punishment. Kragl's youth doesn't excuse what he did, which was clearly an attempt to foul Gustafsson. Many teams attempt to play Salzburg very physically in the Austrian Bundesliga, where they are the big dogs, but this incident clearly goes far beyond mere physicality. Not only was the ref's decision to only give Kragl a yellow obviously ridiculous, but Salzburg midfielder Leitgeb was given a yellow for protesting what Kragl had just done on the play, and is now suspended for Salzburg's next match as a result! All in all, pretty damn FUBAR.
btw, this horrendous injury may mean he doesn't add more caps to the 10 he has with Sweden. So he's a pretty good goalkeeper.
I noticed that Gustafsson was playing in goal today. Apparently this is his 3rd start since that terrible leg injury. The previous 2 matches were shutout victories, so it looks like he is playing well.
Eddie is one of two goalkeepers in the squad that travelled to Latvia for RB Salzburg's 2nd round Europa League qualifying match. I don't know if he's been starting in preseason. http://redbulls.com/soccer/salzburg/en/rbsb-news-detail_7579.html
Here's a recent interview: http://kurier.at/sport/fussball/4318481.php And a penpic: http://kurier.at/sport/fussball/4318486.php
He had interest from Djurgårdens IF and IFK Norrköping but will likely remain in Salzburg now that the manager has left.
Was curious about Eddie so I checked in today. He got back on the field after his 2010 injury, but doesn't seem to have been able to reclaim a starting spot anywhere, and retired after spending the 2013/14 season as a backup at RB Salzburg. Wikipedia lists his full name as Douglas Edward Alexander Gustafsson McIntosh, and the photo on his page there is terrific.