Two Esporte Clube Bahia soccer players were injured this Thursday, after the team bus was hit by an explosive device while they were on their way to the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, for a Northeast Cup match.
The device reached the bus of the team upon his arrival at Fonte Nova, broke the glass of some windows and injured two players of the Tricolor de Acero, according to the club.
The most worrying case is that of goalkeeper Danilo Fernandes, whose face was damaged by shrapnel and was transferred to a hospital. The other victim was left back Matheus Bahia, aged 22, who suffered superficial cuts on his arms.
Also seen affected a private car that was circulating next to the Bahía bus, which shared some photos of the incident in which the hole that the explosive object opened and the blood stains on some of the seats can be seen.
For the time being, it is unknown who could have perpetrated the attack. The cast considered not playing their commitment against Sampaio Correa, for the first day of the Northeast Cup, but finally took to the pitch “out of dignity, professionalism and to honor the colors of Bahia,” said coach Guto Ferreira.
“Danilo’s was not serious, but he was one finger away from losing his vision. He cut himself very close to the eye. Due to the size of the firecracker and the noise, if he got inside the bus, he would surely have caused a death inside, ”said the coach.
Ferreira invited to reflect on the state of education in Brazil. In this sense, he complained about “those who sell all the time what bad professionals” they would be.
“It is always that the coach is bad, that the player is bad or that it is a performance problem. You can never measure the size and timing of the work”, stressed the Bahía coach, where Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega plays.
Several Brazilian clubs, such as Botafogo, Santos, Fluminense and Internacional de Porto Alegre, showed their solidarity with Bahía. In addition, they called for a thorough investigation of what happened.