A football match in Uruguay has gained worldwide attention after a play on the pitch resulted in off-the-pitch consequences.
Club teams Uruguay Montevideo and Paysandu faced off in a Segunda Division Profesional league match at the minuscule Estadio Parque ANCAP on Saturday.
After a poor corner from Uruguay Montevideo, Paysandu won the ball in their own half and began pushing up the pitch.
As the Paysandu players raced up field in an attempt at a counter-attack, Montevideo’s Richard Nunez raced over and cleared the ball.
His clearance sent the ball out of play, out of the stadium and onto a nearby road.
Cars driving on the road slowed down as the ball flew in front of them, causing a pile up of vehicles to form as they crashed into the back of each other.
Cars crashed after a soccer ball from a professional match was kicked on the road in Uruguay
The ball was cleared high and onto the nearby road, causing cars to rear-end each other
The moment was captured on a live broadcast as the wreck caused traffic to stop for 20 minutes.
Video of the incident went viral and led to multiple comments mocking the situation.
‘A car slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting it and got rear-ended. Pure South American football,’ wrote one user on X.
Another said: ‘One of the most crazy things I’ve ever seen.’
‘What will they tell the insurance company?’ one user wondered.
One joking comment read: ‘Go explain to your boss that a wild clearance from the Uruguay Montevideo defender made you crash and that’s why you were late.’
Uruguay Montevideo managed to pull out a 1-0 win for the home crowd, moving them up to eighth place in the league.
