Criticism surrounding Arsene Wenger has reached fever pitch with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry citing the angry mood of Arsenal supporters as evidence of a forthcoming mutiny at the Emirates. When the visible swelling of rage becomes the grounds for criticism in and of itself, the dsenfranchisement of those who once genuinely cared proof of systematic failure, you've approached something akin to the current presidential electoral process.
Greek fans have to go down as the most intense fans in world football, and we don't mean that in a good way. In the Greek Cup semi-final that featured PAOK vs Olympiakos, PAOK midfielder Robert Mak was denied a penalty in the dying minutes of the game after being brought down by the goalkeeper. Then, all hell broke loose.
Former footballer Adam Johnson was found guilty of one charge of sexual touching involving a child, a 15-year-old Sunderland supporter. Johnson is tentatively looking at four to 10 years of jail time (with a maximum of 14 years).
A statement from the victim read:
“From the very beginning of all of this I always doubted that people would believe me.
Chelsea FC are no strangers to controversy and accusations of foul play, whether it's kicking ball boys, wasting time, anything Diego Costa does, racist fans...we could go on forever. Yet in their game against Norwich, Gary Cahill played a back pass to Courtois who picked it up so blatantly, it defies belief.
I wouldn’t want anything to do with Canales 2010. Have you heard of “winning the game in the pre-game tunnel?” Well, check out how to win a game without even having to lace up:
Who knew such controversy could come from a UEFA Youth League Match? So, here's what happened. On Wednesday, several media outlets (including us) published footage of David Ruiz Pascual with what looked like one of the dives of the century in a game between Celtic and Valencia. It turns out that the young lad injured his cruciate ligament while running for the ball, and that's why he fell over so dramatically. Take a look at it here:
Most owners are controversial in their own right. Nobody likes to see their club taken over by people who probably just see it as another item for their financial portfolio.
But next time you start to complain, pause for a second, and be glad your club doesn't have these terrible owners.
5. Maurizio Zamparini - Palermo
So, a match in an Argentinian tournament called the Copa Ciudad de Plata made it to the 93rd minute without incident. And then there was an incident. A flying karate kick incident.
The kicker is Alvaro Pereira, who has played a not-unimportant role for the Uruguayan National Team over the years and had an excellent 2014 World Cup. Here, though, he shows us that he's adept at kicking things other than soccer balls.
Have you ever heard the one about the fan who shot a ball mid-air – with a gun – in order to stop if from going into the net? No? Because neither had we until we strolled onto The Guardian’s soccer page.
The story is absolutely ridiculous, and apparently the quest to find it started off with a vague memory, some drinking, and a search on the Internet. Which is as good a way to start something as there is today.
Well this isn’t going to help stop any rumor mills.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have been painted as rival teammates who don’t get along ever since Bale arrived at Madrid in the summer of 2013.
It makes sense, considering they are superstars in a team defined by its image that has been shaped around Ronaldo for the past 5 years. Gareth Bale is younger than Ronaldo, incredibly talented, and a British star. All of which make Bale a threat to knock Ronaldo off his perch as the alpha of Madrid.