This type of behavior is why Brazil is such a basketcase.
Winning ugly is different from winning illegally. The first you can get away with, while the second should not be allowed at all.
England’s Football Association did the logical thing to Chelsea’s Diego Costa after his sneaky aggression against Arsenal over the weekend: It charged him with violent conduct. Costa, a Brazilian-born center forward, could face a three-game suspension if he is found guilty, and it would not be the first, or probably last, punishment of a player who revels in his from-the-streets background and whose game reflects a win-at-all-costs attitude.
…“Everyone knows Diego,” Zouma said on beIN Sports TV. “And this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponents out of his game, and that happened in the game. He’s a real nice guy in the life, and we are very proud to have him.”
…Apparently unseen by the referee Mike Dean, Costa first went after Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny, pushing hands into the nose and mouth of the French defender. Then Costa, with his back to Koscielny, raked his left hand across the Arsenal player’s forehead.
In close-ups, the aggression looks even worse, with Costa appearing to gouge Koscielny’s face. After the two players squared off and Costa bumped his chest into Koscielny’s, Arsenal’s other central defender, Gabriel, became involved.
