Three of CONCACAF’s last four presidents currently face criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice (the fourth was merely banned from all football activities for trying to overstep his authority), so the North and Central American governing body’s new president, Victor Montagliani, thinks it’s time to sweep all of their dirt back under the rug with a rebrand.
Bruce Arena thinks MLS teams flying commercial damages the league’s reputation
As a young, rapidly growing league that seeks to position itself among the world’s best, MLS often struggles reconciling its caviar dreams with its Big Mac realities. While world famous players like David Villa and Kaka make millions, the league’s minimum salary for players under 25 years old is still just $36,500.
Given the more “average Joe” wages of the lower end of the league’s talent and the minuscule salary cap of $3.49 million per team, it might make sense that MLS clubs fly commercial — something that LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena finds embarrassing. So embarrassing that he tells his players not to wear team apparel in airports so as not to draw attention to their commoner status.
Sparta Prague players to train with women’s team after making sexist comments
Sexist comments about a lineswoman have resulted in two Sparta Prague players spending a few days training with the club’s women’s team.
Pep Guardiola is turning Man City into North Korea
First Pep Guardiola took away his players’ pizza privileges, which was heartless but perhaps necessary. Now he has entered Kim Jong-un levels of tyranny, though, as Pablo Zabaleta reveals that Guardiola has disconnected the WiFi at Man City’s training base.
Arturo Vidal proves that there is not a wall tall enough to prevent him from scoring
Normally footballers are only tasked with scoring over human sized walls, but during a Bayern Munich training session, Arturo Vidal proved that he can score over extra tall metal ones too. It’s hard to say when this skill would come in handy during an actual match, but if Bayern ever face a team of Godzillas, they’ll want Vidal taking the free kicks.
The Goalmouth returns! Now in audio form!
After a brief hiatus, The Goalmouth, our daily email newsletter in partnership with Howler Magazine, has returned. And now DT and Howler have teamed up with Total Soccer Show to give it a brand new podcast companion. Each day, hosting duties will rotate between Daryl Grove, myself, George Quraishi, Taylor Rockwell, and Ryan Bailey for a brief rundown of top stories.
You can find The Goalmouth podcast on iTunes and the Google Play store and you can subscribe to the email newsletter here.
This is just the first a few big announcements DT has coming up in the near future, so stay tuned!
FIFA 17’s The Journey isn’t perfect, but it’s promising and addictive
For general thoughts on FIFA 17 and first impressions of The Journey, see this post from August.
Upon completing FIFA 17’s new single-player, story driven game mode, The Journey, my first thought was about how EA Sports could build on it. Though addicting (it was the first thing I tried upon receiving the game and it remained the only game mode I played until completion), it definitely feels like it’s just a starting point. Like EA wanted to gauge the level of interest in it before building it out to the degree that it could be built out to.
Carlo Ancelotti and his eyebrow bring Oktoberfest to new heights
A day after only managing a 1-1 draw against Cologne, Bayern held their annual Oktoberfest celebration. Though new manager Carlo Ancelotti didn’t appear to match former manager Pep Guardiola’s level of drunkenness, he did bring his own eyebrow-arching flair to the event. And now I think I’m drunk off the sight of Ancelotti looking like a Bavarian farmer.
Arsenal beat Burnley with last-second, offside handball goal
With mere seconds left to play against Burnley, it looked like Arsenal fans were going to get to celebrate Arsene Wenger’s 20th anniversary with the club by continuing their calls for him to be sacked. But Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Laurent Koscielny and the match officials all did what they could to ensure that Wenger didn’t suffer embarrassment by getting him a 1-0 win with an offside, handball goal at the death.
This is the craziest penalty save I’ve ever seen
Supeeer Jeeeff Bédéniiiik ! #TeamVOC #SuperJeff #TéléfootOuPas ? pic.twitter.com/tErBOxlK5j
— Vannes OC – Officiel (@VocfootOfficiel) October 1, 2016
There have been many penalties saved through luck and many others through skill, but few have combined the two in such extremes as this moment from the French fifth division.
Vannes OC goalkeeper Jean-Francois “Jeff” Bedenik dove the wrong way on a penalty that went off the bar and bounced off his back as he spun around to see where it went. The penalty taker then tried to capitalize on Bedenik’s confusion by heading in the rebound, but the keeper made an incredible kick save from point-blank range, directing the ball to another opponent, who chested the ball right back at him, forcing a second save before a clearance was finally made.
And that’s what happens when luck and skill combine with sheer panic.