Costa Rica Coach Paulo Wanchope Exchanges Blows With Man At U-23 Match

Costa Rica and Panama’s U-23 teams met in Panama City Tuesday night as part of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The match ended in a scoreless draw, and the real fireworks came after the final whistle blew. As recorded by Panamanian journalist Jhony Mosquera, that’s Costa Rican head coach Paulo Wanchope getting into a fight with an unknown individual. It seems that Wanchope was angry at what he perceived as poor calls, and planned to go onto the field to yell at the referee before getting pushed by and ultimately taking his anger out on the unknown individual.

Update (1:35 a.m.): The English-language Tico Times reports, according to Panamanian media, that the man Wanchope fought is actually a security guard:

According to Panamanian media, a stadium security guard told Wanchope that he could not enter the field towards the end of Costa Rica’s 0-0 tie with Panama, prompting Wanchope to become visibly upset. What followed is shown in the video above, as Wanchope is pushed into a child protecting the field. He then turns around and slaps a short, bald security guy.

h/t Mitch

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