Tolina (ColombiA) - Corinthians (Brazil) - Copa Libertadores - 03/02/2011
Source : ITN
Fans smash players' cars
Corinthians fans, disgusted by the team's preliminary round exit in the Libertadores Cup, have painted insulting slogans on the club's walls.
The graffiti is mainly aimed at captain Ronaldo but fans have also thrown stones at players' cars, smashing windows.
As the team returned from Wednesday's 2-0 defeat by Deportes Tolima in Colombia, angry fans turned up at Sao Paulo airport to protest against the players who boarded a bus directly from their plane and left under police escort.
The Colombia match was the second leg of their tie - they drew the first 0-0 at home.
It is the first time a Brazilian team has failed to qualify from the preliminary round.
Fans painted graffiti on the walls of the club's headquarters, calling former Brazil striker Ronaldo, who is in the last season of his career, a "shameless fatty."
The only one of Sao Paulo's big clubs never to have won the Libertadores Cup, South America's elite club competition, Corinthians had already disappointed their fans in their centenary year in 2010. They were eliminated by fellow Brazilian side Flamengo in the quarter-finals having signed Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos for a shot at the title.
The tension at Corinthians is unlikely to abate with the derby against arch-rivals Palmeiras in the Paulista (Sao Paulo) state championship this weekend.
