LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva broke his left leg in the 2-2 Premier League draw with Birmingham City on Saturday, bringing a furious reaction from
his coach Arsene Wenger.
The match was stopped for nearly eight minutes as the
Brazilian-born Croatia international was treated on the field
before being carried off on a stretcher.
Birmingham defender Martin Taylor was given a straight red
card for his challenge on Eduardo in the third minute.
'The tackle was horrendous and this guy (Taylor) should
never play football again,' Wenger said.
'I've seen some bad ones before but you are not always
punished with a broken leg.
'The minimum is that the season is over and we're scared it
is much longer.'
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said Taylor was very upset
about the injury.
'He's absolutely distraught, he's not that type of player,'
he said. 'He didn't feel he made that much
contact with Eduardo.'
Wenger said there was a school of thought that Arsenal could
only be stopped by using rough play.
'It goes along with the idea... that to stop Arsenal, you
have to kick Arsenal,' he said.
'That kind of thing was waiting to happen. It's not
acceptable. If that is football, it's better to stop it.
Arsenal's players wandered around the pitch looking
distraught and Sky television said they would not replay the
incident because the pictures were too horrific.
Eduardo was taken to hospital and medical staff at the
ground were also reported to be shocked at the seriousness of
the injury.
'He is a fantastic guy and to see him in such pain and the
shape of his leg was very difficult to take for our players,'
added Wenger, who said Eduardo had broken his leg and ankle.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, 24-year-old Eduardo moved to Croatia
aged 15 to join Dinamo Zagreb as an apprentice although he later
returned home to play on loan for two seasons at Bangu, a minor
club in Rio's sprawling western suburbs.
After obtaining Croatian nationality, he made his full
international debut against Ireland in 2004 and is one of a
number of Brazilians playing for other national sides.
Eduardo, who joined Arsenal in July, was looking forward to
playing for Croatia at this year's European championships.
Television commentators drew a comparison with the injury to
Coventry City defender Dave Busst, whose career ended after he
suffered a compound fracture of his right leg against Manchester
United in 1996.
Play was interrupted for 10 minutes before Busst was carried
off and blood from his wounds was washed off the pitch.
