DTotD: Marseille’s Mario Lemina sent off for punching opponent in the balls

In the 84th minute of Marseille’s 1-1 draw at Rennes, midfielder Mario Lemina decided to punish Ola Toivonen for forming a human canopy above him by punching the Rennes goal scorer square in the balls. Lemina was shown a red card for this and Toivonen was also booked.

Don’t punch people in the balls.

This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events. 

BBC reporter asks man on the street about 1967 Merseyside derby, gets a big surprise

Post by BBC North West Tonight.

Ahead of Liverpool’s visit to Goodison Park on Saturday, BBC North West Tonight reporter Stuart Flinders was talking to people in town about the derby. But when he asked one older gentleman about the 1967 edition that occurred in the fifth round of the FA Cup, the man’s eyes lit up.

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Portrait of crying Gerard Pique, other Barca art to be auctioned off for charity

Have you ever dreamed of hanging a portrait of a crying Gerard Pique in your home? Of course you have. And now’s your chance to make that strange dream a reality. On February 12, Sotheby’s in London will auction off 18 works — some related to Barcelona and others not — to support the FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF. One of those works is the portrait of Pique as Apollo Belvedere by Francesco Vezzoli pictured above.

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Dimitar Berbatov lectures Jack Wilshere about smoking

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Well hello there, Jack Wilshere.

I see you’ve been caught smoking again. I’ve been caught smoking, too. But there is one very important difference between you and I in these situations. I look suave and debonair while doing it (as I do whenever I do anything), whereas you look like a truant schoolboy who tells his parents to shut up whenever they say hello to his friends. This is part of the reason why you get in trouble for these things and I do not.

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Ghana’s goalkeeper brought his lucky Spider-Man figure onto the pitch for AFCON semifinal

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The African Cup of Nations semifinal between host nation Equatorial Guinea and Ghana was marred by crowd violence that forced an extended stoppage of play late in the second half and put Ghana’s players and fans in danger. But Ghana still won 3-0 to advance to the final, where they will face the Ivory Coast, thanks in part to goalkeeper Brimah Razak’s good luck charm.

Razak brought his favorite Spider-Man action figure onto the pitch with him and placed it next to his goal. And with that comforting presence at his side, he kept a clean sheet to help his team reach the final.

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