We've seen some pretty terrible tackles in our time, believe us.
There have been swinging hacks, outright leg chops, studs-up stingers and, of course, the old-fashioned two footer . Sometimes they happen as a result of poor technique, sometimes they're down to deliberate nastiness.
We'd never condone them, but we do at least understand how they come about. That's more than we can say for this weird tackle, however.
In a recent Colombian cup match between Once Caldas and Deportes Tolima , one player put in a leaping, two-footed lunge the likes of which we've never seen before - mainly because there wasn't an opponent on the end of it. The guy attempted to tackle thin air, empty nothingness. It was as if he'd completely lost all depth perception before the match but decided to play on in his role as team hardman anyway. Bizarre.
We have several theories about how this tackle came about, though none of them seem too likely. The first is that Once Caldas' players are controlled via a giant PlayStation controller and somebody pressed the square button by accident. The second is that the pitch was haunted and this player is trying to tackle the ghostly phantom of an opponent. The third is that he's mistimed a block in the most enthusiastic way possible. It's probably the third option. Probably.
We'll never know for sure, unfortunately. Why did this tackle take place? WHY?!