Over the last four months, Cristiano Ronaldo has inadvertently tormented Antoine Griezmann. First, Cristiano’s Real Madrid beat Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final for the second time in three years. Griezmann missed a penalty in the second half that could have changed the outcome. Then, Cristiano’s Portugal beat Griezmann’s France in the Euro 2016 final even though Cristiano got hurt during the first half. Finally, Griezmann and Cristiano, alongside Gareth Bale, were finalists for the Best Player in Europe award. This is where the previous daggers to the Frenchman’s heart were pushed in a bit further.
2016/17 Champions League ball features odd phrases from Mesut Özil, Gareth Bale, and more
Ahead of the Champions League group-stage draw, Adidas unveiled the new match ball and it looks like they pulled it off the roof of a primary school.
Adding a strange twist to this year’s design: word scribbles.
USSF tries to silence Hope Solo with six-month suspension, terminated contract
Twelve days after Hope Solo called Sweden “cowards” after they beat the U.S. in the Olympic quarterfinals, the U.S. federation has punished her with the combination of a six-month suspension and a terminated contract.
Crazypants Palermo owner floats the idea of being a “father figure” to Mario Balotelli
Liverpool have offered Mario Balotelli to just about every club in Europe, and the responses have been one hard pass after another. But one of the few cold calls they haven’t made is to Palermo. And it turns out they’re actually interested.
Bayer Leverkusen sell out Chicharito for falling down stairs and breaking his hand
Injuries are a common occurrence in football, but some are more embarrassing than others. When those embarrassing injuries happen, the player involved would likely prefer if their club didn’t call attention to the details of how they got hurt, but Bayer Leverkusen doesn’t care about that.
Will Ferrell operates heavy machinery at LAFC stadium ground breaking
LAFC, who will join MLS in 2018, broke ground on the newly named Banc of California Stadium on Tuesday and they entrusted part-owner Will Ferrell to operate an excavator. Thankfully, no one was killed.
Roma deny Francesco Totti a final appearance in the Champions League, Totti not amused
Francesco Totti’s final season is off to a less than ideal start. Porto beat Roma 4-1 on aggregate in Champions League qualifying and Totti didn’t make it off the bench in either leg of the tie. During the final minutes of the second leg, with Roma down to nine men after red cards to Daniele De Rossi and Emerson in the first hour of play, Totti’s displeasure with his status as an unused substitute was evident as he stopped warming up and leaned on corner flag, staring daggers at the pitch.
Why does Aaron Ramsey’s barber hate him?
Silver Lining pic.twitter.com/6heolZvV4G
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) August 22, 2016
In the midst of yet another injury layoff, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey tweeted the above photo, providing further evidence that his barber absolutely hates him with every fiber of their being.
This abomination follows his skunk ‘do during the Euros earlier this summer…
DTotD: Gervinho is stomping on people in the Chinese Super League
Gervinho now plays for Hebei China Fortune and he’s making his mark there — namely on the crotches of his opponents. With his side down 1-0 in the 82nd minute, Gervinho had the ball taken off him and then tried to get it back by stomping on the genitals of his downed opponent. His tactic worked, but it also get him sent off. His team went on to lose.
But hey, now he knows you can’t do that in the Chinese Super League, either.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
German player apologizes for reminding Brazil of the “7-1” after Olympic final
In the immediate aftermath of Neymar/Brazil beating Germany on penalties in the men’s Olympic final, Robert Bauer held up seven fingers as he walked off the pitch in reference to Germany’s 7-1 win against Brazil at the 2014 World Cup. Naturally, the Brazilian crowd did not appreciate this reminder of the national shame that their first ever Olympic gold in football can’t make up for, but it wasn’t Germany’s only reference to it, either.