Great Britain defender, Ryan Bertrand revealed that he was relieved not to pick up any major injury during his country’s Olympic Games opening match against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Senegal-c3001 on Thursday.
Stuart Pearce’s unit were held on to a 1-1 draw by the Lions of Teranga in a match which saw the African team come out with a physical approach.
During the game, the Senegalese defender, Saliou Ciss committed a rash tackle against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Craig-Bellamy-c9471 who, even though survived any major injury scare, limped off the field in the second half.
The incident triggered a violent brawl between the two teams. The GB defender Neil Taylor, who himself was at the receiving end of a rough challenge early on in the game, was seen in a heated argument with scores of Senegalese players, as he was clearly
frustrated with his opponents’ physical approach.
However, despite all the drama, only four players received a yellow card in the entire game.
Even though the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 left-back managed to come out without any noticeable injury after the match, he revealed that he suffered multiple bruises on his back and feared for his safety.
While talking to reporters, he said: “There were some horrific challenges. I was fearing for my safety. I have cuts on my shoulder and I am sure [Craig] Bellamy is feeling down.”
The 22-year old also expressed his relief to see his team-mate, Taylor not get hampered by any major injury, pointing out that luckily for the Swansea City player, he made a timey jump during a tackle to keep himself out of the harm’s way.
He added, “It was lucky Taylor jumped for one tackle — if he hadn’t he could have been really hurt.”
During the post-match interview, the GB skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manu-c23375, who committed a handful of tackles during
the game, would have been sent off ‘three times’ had it been a Premier League fixture.
However, the Senegal manager, Aliou Cisse defended his team’s tactics, insisting that they played perfectly within the rules.
He said, “I can’t say I saw a bad tackle on the pitch. I am surprised at what people are saying, given this is Great Britain, where they talk so much about fighting spirit.”
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