An amateur soccer team in Germany may have taken social distancing a little too far this week when it fielded seven players for a game out of coronavirus concerns, and was handed a 37-0 loss in the process.
Socially distancing soccer team loses 37-0 in bizarre blowout
Alrighty then ...
Photo by Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The team, SG Ripdorf/Molzen II couldn’t afford the $236 fine that would have come from not playing, instead asking for volunteers to come forward and take to the pitch for the team’s scheduled game against their local rivals SV Holdenstedt II. Thankfully a few brave souls were ready to take the challenge.
“We are thankful those seven players volunteered, otherwise the club would have faced a 200 euros ($235.88) fine for abandoning the match,” Ripdorf co-chair Patrick Ristow told ESPN. “That’s a lot of money for us, especially amid the pandemic.”
There’s no footage of the game, which can be expected from a small, provincial game in Germany — but it sounds incredible. Basically SG Ripdorf/Molzen II kicked off, passed the ball to their opponents, then stood around. Their rivals showed no mercy, scoring 37 goals, basically a goal every two minutes.
While there were no immediate Covid-19 concerns, and players had all tested negative — there was a belief the game shouldn’t have been taking place at all. This led to the socially distanced conditions which caused one of the worst defeats of the year in any sport.
SG Ripdorf/Molzen II might have gotten destroyed, but when it comes to weirdness, 2020 remains undefeated.
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