Andre Santos attacked by his own fans after former Arsenal defender is mobbed by angry supporters following Flamengo's 4-0 defeat to Internacional
Brazilian was 'punched and kicked' as angry fans looked to take out their frustrations on the ex-Gunner
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Poor old Andre Santos. His time in the Premier League with Arsenal won’t be remembered fondly, he returned to Brazil only to be dropped from the national team and miss out on a home World Cup, and now his own fans have turned on him.
Following Flamengo’s 4-0 mauling at the hands of Internacional on Sunday, fans of the Rio de Janeiro club felt the need to take out their frustrations and unfortunately for Santos, he was in their firing line.
With Flamengo on a disastrous run of one win in 11 matches, fans headed towards the players’ exit and it was the former Arsenal defender that emerged to the angry mob baying for blood.
The 31-year-old admitted he was hit by those lying in wait before police could get to him and safely transport him from the Estádio Beira-Rio to the team coach.
“I was kicked and punched,” Santos told Brazilian newspaper Globo. “I was on my own save for a security guard. The police arrived straight away and helped me a lot but I received a lot of blows before I could get into the coach.”
The club were quick to condemn the action of their fans, but it comes as the latest in a long line of crowd trouble after Corinthians supporters stormed the Sao Paulo club’s training complex in anger after losing to bitter rivals Santos.
“There have been various such cases in our country but we have to take them seriously. Yesterday it happened to me – but it could happen to anybody,” added Santos.
Santos left the Gunners in 2013 after a poor two-year spell in North London. Signed as part of the panic buys Arsene Wenger made following the 8-2 defeat to Manchester United in 2011, Santos appeared to show some promise going forward early on in his career, but it quickly turned out that his brash attacking style left Arsenal horribly exposed at the back.
He incurred the wrath of the Gunners’ faithful when he asked to swap shirts with Robin van Persie at half-time during the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, just months after the former Arsenal captain had forced through a move to their rivals up north.
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