What does footballer do with banana attack? He eats it

MADRID - Barcelona fullback Dani Alves produced the perfect riposte to a racist taunt when taking a corner kick during his team's 3-2 win at Villareal on Sunday.

The Brazil international casually picked up a banana thrown from the terraces onto the pitch, peeled it and shoved it in his mouth in one fluid motion before tossing away the peel and completing the kick.

Alves has previously taken a stand against racism at stadia in Spain.

The 30-year-old complained of racial abuse last year after being taunted by monkey chants from sections of the crowd during a King's Cup semi-final at Real Madrid and labelled Spain's efforts to tackle the problem a "lost war".

European football has long been blighted by racist incidents by fans and their leagues criticised for not doing enough to stamp them out.

By AsiaOne

Earlier in March 2014, former Brazil midfielder Arouca was abused by a spectator who taunted him with monkey calls while he was playing in a football match for Brazilian football club Santos.

The verbal abuse was captured on reporters' microphones.

According to a Reuters article, a referee in Brazil also had had bananas thrown on his car after a game in the same week of Arouca's abuse, highlighting the problem of racism in Brazilian football.

Brazil will be hosting this year's FIFA World Cup.

In light of the latest abuse face by Alvez, his Brazilian teammate Neymar later posted a series of photos on his instagram account in support of Alvez.

Alves' girlfriend Thaissa Carvalho also posted a photo on her Instagram account, posing with bananas.