The Offside Guide to Tackling The Seal

By: Daryl | September 29th, 2007

Kerlon controversy Coelho’s brutal clubbing of Cruzeiro’s Kerlon for his seal dribble has landed the Atletico Mineiro defender a four month ban and sparked a huge debate in Brazil. For those unfamiliar (and where have you been?) Kerlon’s trick involves balancing the ball on his head while running, which some, including Brazil national coach Dunga, feel is taunting opponents and thus (possibly) justifying Coelho’s decision to knock the youngster to the floor.

Dunga apparently described Coelho’s foul as a “normal tackle” and said he’d like to see Kerlon try the move when his team were losing.

The BBC’s Brazilian football expert Tim Vickery argues that the Kerlon debate highlights the differences in national football cultures.

The game is indeed a universal language, but one which is spoken with different accents.

Different cultures find different things objectionable.

British players are liable to be angered by diving or by attempts to get an opponent sent off.

These practices are more widely accepted in Brazil as part of the game.

But if you want to start a war on a Brazilian pitch, a touch of ball juggling in the closing stages of a game your team is winning will quickly light the touch paper.

The debate in Brazil has basically opened up a question of national identity. Is the summary execution of showboaters like Kerlon justifiable? Or does condoning such behaviour risk strangling the flair that has made Brazil synonymous with beautiful football?

But taking into account the specific culture of Brazilian football and the dangers of “taunting,” Coelho’s foul is still unacceptable. Cruzeiro were only winning the derby game 4-3 when Kerlon flicked the ball onto his head, not 4-0, so Kerlon really had no time for messing about. Further, if you watch the video, Kerlon heads straight for the Mineiro goal, not doing circus tricks in the corner to ridicule Coelho and friends. He’s not taunting, he’s trying to score and using one of the tricks in his arsenal.

Just as important, the massive brawl that followed the incident was caused more by Coelho’s actions than Kerlon’s, highlighting the fact that showboating is always a more pleasant activity than assault, whatever the circumstances. Coelho’s four month ban sends the message that hacking players down is not cool, kids.

But more importantly, why not just tackle Kerlon? Defending is as much an art as attacking is. Kerlon has come up with something innovative, so defenders need to innovate in response. And not with a forearm to the face. It’s not like the seal dribble is all that effective. It’s a nice enough looking trick, but it also restricts Kerlon’s options. He can’t pass or shoot or do anything but run around with the ball on his head, until he drops it to his feet. And though it seems difficult to defend against because the ball’s in the air, the trick only presents a problem to opposition defenders because they’re thinking they can’t get their foot up there to tackle.

They should literally use their heads. There’s no reason defenders can’t tackle Kerlon by making an aerial challenge for the ball. If they genuinely go for the ball and not the man then they’ll either 1) win the ball, or 2) at least knock Kerlon off balance. There’s no need to hack him down, get yourself sent off and get a four month ban.

Any refs out there have any insight or opinion on whether an aerial challenge on a seal-dribbling Kerlon would be legal?