It’s not often than eight seconds of fruit-eating can be characterized as a moment of genius but, as our friends at Soccerly can attest, Dani Alves is not exactly your normal guy.
The Brazilian wizard was preparing to take a corner kick for Barcelona in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Villarreal when an idiot tossed a banana at his feet.
In one smooth motion, Alves grabs the bananas, peels it -- most of us know this can be tricky on occasion, and Alves was likely sweat -- and jams it in his mouth before a quick hand-wipe and sent in ball. Brilliant.
From Soccerly.com:Alves has been a regular target of racist abuse during his 12 years in Spain with both Sevilla and Barcelona.
“Utterly brilliant reaction from Alves. Treat the racist berk with complete disdain!,” tweeted former England international Gary Lineker who once played for Barcelona.
“I don’t know who it was, but thanks to whoever threw the banana, the potassium gave me the energy for the two crosses which led to a goal,” he told reporters after the match.
“I’ve been living in Spain for 11 years, and for 11 years I’ve been laughing at these morons.”
Since the incident, several major stars have come out in support of Alves and in opposition to racism, and they showed it by eating a banana. Here’s Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero with Brazil’s Marta, as well as Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli and Mousa Dembélé:
With my colleague Marta from Brazil we say #NoToRacism. We are all equal. pic.twitter.com/0kWLsaAgwP
— Sergio Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) April 28, 2014
Those two - Chadli and Dembele -also jump on the bananawagon against racism. #SayNoToRacism #THFC pic.twitter.com/pinrTrNkiW (RT:@sdesloovere)
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) April 28, 2014