One of the most bizarre sending offs occurred in the Turkish Super Lig on Monday after a player pulled out his phone and tried to show the referee an incorrect decision was made. The player red carded for showing the phone was Hakan Arslan, the captain of Sivasspor.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the “Player of the Century 2001-2020” at the Globe Soccer awards gala in Dubai. Although the decision might seem controversial given the fact that Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or six times over that period compared to five for Ronaldo, (1) the decision is totally in line with the 10-year history of the award show and (2) who cares — we all know they’re both really good.
Over the years, I have found that there is an inverse relationship between a club's place in the footballing pyramid and the likelihood of something absurd happening at a match. Only in non-league football can you have a goalkeeper having a beer with fans while in full uniform or a player threatening a supporter with a knife.
The frantic finish to the 2019-20 season, the rejiggered smorgasbord of the new campaign and nine months of quarantine have combined to create an unceasing storm of football on our televisions. In many ways it’s been a godsend; in many ways it’s been an obscene bit of servility to broadcast dollars. What are these absurdly sterile performances — played out in soulless grounds across the world — if not momentary benediction for the promise of better times ahead?
Jorge Pulido received two yellow cards on Friday, including a second that conceded a decisive penalty kick as his Huesca lost 2-0 to Athletic Bilbao. But the weirdest moment of the match was when the Spanish center back found a cell phone — yes, a cell phone — on the pitch in the middle of the game.
Tottenham had a predictable 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday that was so akin to previous Spurs games that The18 made a match report that can be filled out like a Mad Libs book.
As soon as the Liga MX final (Dec. 10 and 13) and MLS Cup (Dec. 12) finish, we’ll roll straight into the completion of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League, which went on hiatus back in March at the quarterfinal stage because of the pandemic.