
City Tueart, Owen
S Korea ???
There was uproar around us as the crowd exploded with rage. I was still prostrate on the ground as the referee showed him the red card, but I had to be stretchered off. My mood wasn’t helped when Asa Hartford, who helped take me off the pitch, proceeded to drop me off the stretcher. There really did seem to be the threat of a riot in the stadium, and eventually two American GIs, who were there to keep order, came and escorted us to hospital in their jeep. The wound, although deep and bleeding badly, actually only required two stitches, so I was fit and ready for the next match.
I was delighted to see my old foe was in the South Korean lineup for the re-match, and within a few minutes there was a 50-50 ball, and I went over the top on him. As he rolled around in agony, their bench emptied onto the pitch and the Korean coaches urged the referee to dismiss me. I stayed on’ but it demonstrated to me one of the perils of close season tours. You’ll often come up against a player who will do anything to get his name in lights, for good or bad reasons.