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An amateur football team has been branded 'the most violent in the world' after a series of YouTube videos revealed an excessive use of late tackles, karate kicks and threats against referees during games.
The fourth-tier Canelas 2010, based in Porto, Portugal, went an unprecedented ten matches without dropping a single point because opponents are too afraid to play them.
Every other team in the league has said it would rather pay a 750 euro fine than face Canelas because of its players reported violent and intimidating behaviour towards opponents and referees.
Players are also said to be members of the notorious Super Dragons, the largest and most feared of F.C. Porto’s ultra groups.
Chilling testimony from former opponents claims Canelas players warned rivals that they 'knew where their families lived' and were unnecessarily violent during matches.
Fernando Madureira, the Canelas captain, argued that team's reputation is unfair.
He told the New York Times: 'There is a lot of money in this league. Some clubs pay their players a lot; they have a much higher budget than us to try to win promotion. Canelas happened without money.
'They decided to stop when we were first. We do not have many cards.'
However, a selection of YouTube videos appear to show a huge amount of shockingly violent moments on the pitch.
In one, a Canelas player kicked a rival hard in the chest. In another a burly footballer knocks a referee to the ground by kneeing him in the head during a vicious assault after being red-carded.
Well-built Canelas number 10 Marco Goncalves was reportedly given his marching orders for punching an opponent in the face.
He reacted by attacking ref Jose Rodrigues appearing to grab him by the neck before smashing his knee into his face.
Mr Madureira dismissed the videos on, claiming they are all 'from two years ago'.
He added: 'They repeat it all. The media is only interested because of me, the Super Dragons and F.C. Porto.
'If we were not here, and the same things happened, nothing would be mentioned.'