As the name entails, rivalries are intense by nature.
When two, historically competitive sides, arrive at a crossroads, matters are bound to get feisty, and there’s no better example of this than the Old Firm Derby.
Contested between Rangers and Celtic, Old Firm is Scotland’s Premier matchup, and it is certainly no stranger to a bit of friction between players.
Unfortunately, the rivalry can get far too ugly for its own good on certain occasions, veering towards poor sportsmanship.
The most recent encounter between the two sides provided an apt example of this, through a baffling moment featuring Reo Hatate and his Rangers counterpart Todd Cantwell.
It all occurred during Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final tie against The Gers.
With The Celts blowing Rangers out of the water in the Scottish Premiership, the cup tie provided a sole opportunity for The Sky Blues to salvage their season.
In the end, their attempts were thwarted by a close-range header from Jota in the 42nd minute, which sealed a cup final between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The match provided numerous talking points aside from the result, including the aforementioned incident between Hatate and Cantwell.
It happened during a break in play, with the physios tending to Rangers’ midfielder Malik Tillman.
As he received treatment, The Sky Blues helped themselves to the bottles of water brought along by the medical staff, including Todd Cantwell.
Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate also attempted to fetch a bottle to quench his thirst – a perfectly normal practice accepted throughout the realm of Football.
But unfortunately for Hatate, Cantwell was not in the mood for sharing.
The midfielder moved the bag from out of Hatate’s reach, who had barely crouched down to get the bottle.
The brazen antics left him visibly bemused, and the Japan International moved away from the scene.
He returned a few seconds later and looked at Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier to check if it was okay. Morelos appeared to give his nod of approval, allowing the midfielder to finally get some water.
Clips of the incident have since gone viral, primarily due to the shocking nature of Cantwell’s antics.
Getting some water on a Football pitch is normally a trivial task, one that was made unnecessarily complicated out of spite.
In response to his antics, the Celtic faithful unleashed a barrage of criticism, and Cantwell was panned from essentially all directions.
The 25-year-old’s antics were labelled as ‘unsportsmanlike and disrespectful’ by many, and the midfielder appears to have turned himself into a villain within the Celtic fanbase.
Given the response to the incident, it won’t be surprising to see Cantwell receive a cold, cold welcome during his next visit to Hampden Park.
