Moment bullfighter dubbed ‘Messi of Matadors’ slammed and gored by beast

A bullfighter dubbed the ‘Messi of Matadors’ has been hospitalised with multiple injuries after being gored by a marauding 1,000lb bull. Footage taken at the Santiago de Santander Fair on Tuesday shows Andreas Roca Rey, 26, being tossed in the air like a ragdoll by his bovine opponent. The Peruvian bullfighter was rushed to hospital with multiple injuries following his tussle with the bull named Viruta. Roca Rey, who has been bullfighting since he was 18, suffered injuries to his neck, face, right thigh and left knee. It’s reported despite what looked like a horrific incident, Roca Rey plans to return to the ring in August and is now recovering at home in Seville, Spain. Roca Rey being attacked by a bull at another incident in 2018 (Image: Getty) Spanish publication Levante reports he will undergo new tests to rule out internal injuries and wants to reappear in Huelva, Andalucía, on August 3. However, appearances in Peru and another in Spain in July have both been cancelled. In a video of the moment he was gored, Roca Rey flaps his cape before taking a few steps towards the bull. Roca Rey falls to the ground in a previous bullfight (Image: Getty) But in an instant the large angry animal is hurtling towards him and slams him against a barrier as other men in the arena rush over to help. Fellow bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordoñez was also injured in the melee. The bull attacked after the second of his kind had been killed in the stadium, in total six bulls were killed on the day. Roca Rey is understood to have been slammed by another bull just weeks before this latest bruising encounter. In 2022 a 72-year-old man has been gored to death during a traditional bull-running festival in Spain. He was the ninth fatality of the “bous al carrer” in the Valencian community. The man was still alive when he was taken to hospital but died of his injuries shortly afterwards. In 2016 matador Victor Barrio was killed during a bullfight when a bull, called Lorenzo, speared the him through the chest, puncturing his lung and severing his aorta.