As if having Mathieu Flamini score a brace to beat you 2-1 in the Capital One Cup (FLAMINI! A BRACE!) and getting Wayne Gretzky’s name wrong wasn’t bad enough, Spurs had the added displeasure of having the signage around White Hart Lane torn down by the visiting supporters.
Brazilian goalkeeper lets ball roll under his foot for an own goal
Macae goalkeeper Rafael Silva discovered what happens when playing it cool goes wrong in the 10th minute of his side’s Brazilian Serie B match against Botafogo. He tried to casually stop a simple backpass with his foot, but the ball rolled right under his bare minimum effort for an own goal that even seemed to embarrass the other team.
Botafogo went on to win 2-1, so, yeah, this was pretty bad.
Thanks to Ryan Lloyd for the tip!
Letters from Bojan: A triumphant return
The earnest question of whether Lionel Messi could do it on a cold, wet night in Stoke has persisted as a cliched joke for a few years now. So when Barcelona surprisingly sold Bojan, a 24-year-old once hyped as the next Messi, to Stoke City, the only explanation was that Messi personally asked him to go there on an expedition to see if the conditions in this mythical place are as challenging as the fables suggest. This is Bojan’s sixth letter back to his friend.
Spurs gave Wayne Gretzky a shirt with his name spelled wrong on it
Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was at White Hart Lane for Spurs’ Capital One Cup match against Arsenal, so the club rolled out the red carpet for him. Ledley King even presented him with a personalized No. 99 Spurs shirt with his name on it in front of the cameras. The only problem was that the shirt spelled Gretzky’s name with an “s” instead of a “z.”
Robert Lewandowski scores five goals in nine minutes, renders Pep Guardiola goal drunk
Losing 1-0 to Wolfsburg at home after 45 minutes, Pep Guardiola decided to make a double switch, replacing Juan Bernat and Thiago with Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski, respectively. The Polish striker then proceeded to scored five goals between the 51st and 60th minutes, putting Bayern up 5-1.
That’s not five goals in nine games, nine weeks, or even nine months. He did that in nine minutes. Needless to say, this is absurd and destroys everything we thought we knew about space and time. When Lewandowski scored his fifth, you could actually see the exact moment that Pep Guardiola’s brain melted.
Mario Balotelli scores tremendous free kick in first start since his Milan return
Building on an impressive showing off the bench in the Milan derby, Mario Balotelli has scored his first goal since returning to Milan in style with an absolutely perfect free kick into the top corner against Udinese. The goal came in just the fifth minute. Balo was sporting a Doc Brown from Back to the Future style mohawk as he did it.
And just like that, Mario has matched his Premier League goal total with Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp is just a Mainz fan now
Jurgen Klopp is enjoying some time off after parting ways with Borussia Dortmund, and while speculation of him going to Liverpool increases, Klopp himself seems to have settled into life as a fan.
Kloppo and his wife went to watch Mainz, the club where he spent his entire playing career and began his life as a manager, play Hoffenheim last Friday. And he seemed to enjoy their come from behind 3-1 win.
On this evidence, if he had to choose between managing Liverpool and cheering for Mainz, he’d probably choose Mainz.
Marseille fans hang effigy of “traitor” Mathieu Valbuena for his return with rivals
An effigy of a Mathieu Valbuena was gruesomely “hanged” in one of the stands tonight… (C+) pic.twitter.com/iDtG0Hkze1
— Get French Football (@GFN_France) September 20, 2015
In 2014, Mathieu Valbuena left Marseille after eight seasons for Dynamo Moscow, a move seen by Marseille supporters as a disappointing and blatant cash grab. Marseille retired Valbuena’s number, though, cementing his place as a highly regarded club legend. Which made it that much more infuriating for Marseille fans when Valbuena joined rival club Lyon after just one season in Russia. Read more
Roma produce photomosaic of all 300 Francesco Totti goals
Francesco Totti scored his 300th career goal for Roma (and first of the new season) in their 2-2 draw against Sassuolo. To mark the occasion, Roma put together a photomosaic of Totti featuring images of all 300 goals. Have a look…
Napoli owner saved from burning yacht
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis was rescued from his flame engulfed yacht by helicopter off the coast of Naples. The rescue took place shortly before Napoli’s 5-0 win against Lazio. So the day wasn’t all bad for De Laurentiis.