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FOOTBALL

Grasshopper clinches Swiss Cup football title

In a surprise result, Zurich-based football club Grasshopper beat defending champions FC Basel on penalty kicks on Monday to gain the 19th Swiss Cup victory in its history.

Grasshopper clinches Swiss Cup football title
Grasshoppers celebrate winning the cup for 19th time. Photo: Grasshopper Club Zürich

The two sides battled to a 1-1 tie in regular time and overtime at the Stade de Suisse in Bern. 

Basel opened the scoring in the 71st minute when Markus Steinhöfer put the team ahead.

Izet Hajrovic answered back for Grasshopper just four minutes later.

After 120 minutes of play, the game was decided in dramatic fashion on penalty kicks, with Grasshopper scoring four goals to Basel’s three.

In recent history, Basel has dominated the Swiss Cup, winning six times in the last 12 years.

And it looked to be Basel’s year again after the team beats Spurs in the Europa Cup before being knocked out by Chelsea in the semifinals earlier this month.

But Grasshopper prevailed on Monday, extending the Zurich team’s record for the most Swiss Cup wins in history.

The club won the first two titles back in 1926 and 1927, when the competition first started.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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