Nicolas Otamendi’s bizarre “swimming hat” in the Champions League this morning masked football’s serious concussion problem, according to Max Rushden.
The Ajax defender wore the strange look after copping a head knock in the round of 16 first leg clash against Benfica, as medical staff allowed him to play on.
“Nicolas Otamendi got a head injury and normally you see the Terry Butcher bandage,” Stan Sport football host Rushden said, referring to the iconic England defender.
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“But they’ve gone with the swimming hat option for Otamendi.
“No-one ever goes off when they get a head injury, concussion substitutions or whatever, they don’t take them seriously in football and they really should.
“But they strapped him up, they just found a swimming hat.”
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“Where do you find a swimming hat from? Has anyone got one?” asked former Socceroos captain Craig Foster.
“That is a classic isn’t it,” laughed former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich.
The match finished 2-2 at Estadio da Luz.
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Ajax striker Sebastien Haller scored a goal at either end as Bosnich pondered whether his own goal should also count towards his end of season tally.
“I think Cristiano Ronaldo would, wouldn’t he, so why not Haller as well?” European football expert Mark Langdon quipped.
Dusan Tadic and Roman Yaremchuk were the other goalscorers as Benfica came from behind twice.
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Tadic put Ajax ahead in the 18th minute, placing a volley past Odisseas Vlachodimos in the Benfica goal after a cross from the right by Noussair Mazraoui, who had started the move by winning the ball from Alejandro Grimaldo.
Haller deflected a hard, low cross by former Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen into his own net to bring the scores level in the 26th minute but made amends just three minutes later when he tapped home a rebound to continue his scoring streak.
He could have given Ajax a comfortable two goal cushion shortly before halftime but only managed to steer the ball wide from close range after Edson Alvarez hit the post.
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In the group phase, Haller became the first man to score 10 goals in his first six games in Europe’s top tier competition as Ajax won all of its matches.
But the Amsterdam club struggled in Lisbon as Benfica threatened throughout the second half with its quick breaks.
A deflected shot by Everton went wide in the 55th minute and Darwin Nunez just failed to get on the end of a cross by Rafa Silva five minutes later.
It was a rare failure by Nunez, who has scored 23 times across all competitions this season.
The pressure finally paid off when Remko Pasveer saved a powerful shot by Goncalo Ramos and substitute Yaremchuk beat Steven Berghuis to the ball to head home Benfica’s second equaliser of the night in the 72nd minute.
Benfica was playing its first Champions League game under Nelson Veríssimo, who took over after Jorge Jesus was fired despite leading the Lisbon club into the knockout stage from a group that included Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
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