By Jack Elsom For Mailonline
Published: 01:49 BST, 17 June 2019 | Updated: 14:11 BST, 17 June 2019
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Caked in mud and with blood streaming from their noses, teams of Italian tough guys yesterday squared up in the annual Calcio tournament - a sport so violent it allows headbutting, punching, elbowing and choking.
Scores of fans flocked to Florence's Piazza Santa Croce to watch the 450-year-old brutal version of football which combines soccer, rugby and wrestling.
Created by Giovanni de Bardi in 1580, Calcio Storico Fiorentino - which translates as Historic Florentine football - sees two 27-man teams jostle in a sandpit arena and try to get a ball in the opponent's net by virtually any means necessary.
Yesterday's semi-final clash made for extraordinary viewing as chiseled men threw each other into the dirt while a baying crowd of cheering spectators lapped up every explosive second.
Clenched fists clattered into jaws and sprinting players were chopped down with flying spear tackles crashing into their legs.
But as the players left the pitch spitting dust and nursing their injuries, there were smiles among both winners and losers as they capped off a historic festival of the nation's most shocking sport.
Clenched fists clattered into jaws and sprinting players were chopped down with flying spear tackles to their legs in Florence's Piazza Santa Croce yesterday for a game of calcio
