Game against Eintracht Frankfurt
West Ham United manager shoots at ball boy and apologizes
David Moyes wasn’t in control of his emotions throughout the game
© Glyn Kirk / AFP
In the heat of the game against Eintracht Frankfurt, the West Ham United coach lost control and shot at a ball boy. The apology followed promptly.
The scene happened in the closing stages of the game. The West Ham United coach was obviously annoyed that a Frankfurt ball boy released the game device with a delay. As a result, Moyes did something that wasn’t supposed to happen. Out of sheer anger, he grabbed the ball and tried to shoot the boy at close range, like goalkeepers do on a tee. Luckily for Moyes and the ball boy, he just missed his target. On the video clip of a Twitter user, it also gives the impression that the Scottish coach is not kicking the ball particularly hard. Nevertheless: He saw the red card and took a seat in the stands.
Moyes was tense with his side trailing 1-0 in the Europa League semi-final second leg. The Londoners would have had to score at least two goals to even save themselves in extra time. However, the chances of that were slim. West Ham were down to ten after being sent off in the 19th minute, while Frankfurt controlled the game.
David Moyes regrets wrongdoing
After the game, Moyes regretted his freak out: “I apologize for that,” said the 59-year-old. At the same time he criticized his colleagues from Eintracht. He was “very disappointed with the reaction of the bank”. Sportingly, the coach of the Premier League club congratulated the rival, who will now face Glasgow Rangers in the Europa League final on May 18. “Kudos to Frankfurt, they did great,” said Moyes.
Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner showed the winner’s composure and took Moyes’ attempted shooting down of the ball boy with humor: “You can see that David Moyes isn’t quite as technically adept as I am. Maybe that’s because he’s a few years older.” , Glasner said. “That was an unnecessary action, he knows that himself. But I don’t want to comment on a colleague now.”
Source: DPA