BERLIN // German club Mainz are ready to offload Gonzalo Jara after the Chile international whipped up a storm at the Copa America by prodding his finger in the rear an opponent before falling to the floor theatrically when the player retaliated.
Television images showed the 29-year-old defender, who has a contract until 2016, poking Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani during Chile’s 1-0 victory at Santiago on Wednesday.
Read more: Players and coaches line up to slam 'shameful' Gonzalo Jara over Edinson Cavani red card
Cavani reacted by pushing Jara away with the back of his hand, but the Chilean fell to the ground as if he had been punched. The Brazilian referee showed Cavani his second yellow card of the game and sent him off.
“He knows that if an offer comes, he can go,” Mainz sports director Christian Heidel told Germany’s Bild newspaper yesterday.
“We do not tolerate that.
“More than the prod, however, it is what comes afterwards that makes me angry.
“I hate theatrics more than anything.”
Images of the incident were all over social media and it was the main talking point from the match, which sent Chile into the last four of the competition for the first time in 16 years.
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