Sport Club do Recife and advertising firm Ogilvy came up with a unique method of ensuring things went smoothly at Sunday’s “Classico dos Classicos.” By hiring the mothers of fans — dubbed “Security Moms” — to act as stewards for what is traditionally one of Brazil’s most violent rivalries.
The Ivory Coast have won the African Cup of Nations title 23 years after winning it for the first time with a penalty from goalkeeper Boubacar Barry (a.k.a. Copa Barry) serving as the shootout decider. A shootout that Gervinho, who was subbed off just before it began, couldn’t bring himself to watch.
Michael Bradley opened the scoring in the U.S.’s friendly against Panama in spectacular fashion by scoring an Olimpico in the 27th minute. The Toronto FC midfielder placed a perfect ball into the far corner of the net, in between the Panama keeper, a defender and teammate Jozy Altidore.
German second division club Union Berlin have rallied around 34-year-old midfielder Benjamin Kohler, who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when doctors found a malignant tumor in his stomach. The club quickly acted by extending his contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season, until 2016.
But with Kohler in the stands for Union’s 2. Bundesliga match against Bochum, his teammates organized another show of support by getting their opponents to agree to halt the match in the eighth minute (they were shooting for the seventh minute, since that’s Kohler’s shirt number, but couldn’t quite get the timing down) and leading everyone in the stadium in applauding him.
droite aux couilles, notre nouvelle devise pic.twitter.com/9qSLEOUyO8
— Philippe (@philousports) February 7, 2015
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.
Aston Villa’s long running goal drought reached the point where a group of fans brought arrow signs to Saturday’s match against Chelsea in order to point out the goal. And it seemed to work since Villa ended their 659-minute dry spell when Jores Okore equalized early in the second half.
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.
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.
Bizarre scenes unfolded in Fluminense’s 4-1 win at Nova Iguaçu on Wednesday when the club physio needed to be stretchered off the field after attempting to treat one of his players. Read more
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.