Soccer teams mostly do soccer drills, but sometimes they do drills that don't involve soccer. And sometimes these non-soccer training methods are weird. Here are five such instances.
The FC Porto vs Sporting Lisbon match finished 2-1 in favor of the host Dragons, who won despite a howler from Iker Casillas. But more so than the three goals that were scored, the highlight of the match came from Porto’s medical staff in the 60th minute.
Porto scored an important win over Sporting thanks to goals from Iván Marcano and Yacine Brahimi. The Dragons are now eight points clear of Sporting and Benfica atop the Liga Nos standings, though Benfica has a game in hand.
Marcano opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a header following a corner kick.
Melbourne Victory midfielder James Troisi had an open goal. He then committed perhaps the worst A-League miss of the century in the Melbourne Derby.
Remember those drills you had as a child, where you had to pass the ball through some cones at varying distances? Troisi apparently never mastered that skill.
Remember taking shots at an open goal to improve accuracy? Troisi apparently struggles with that too.
You know how passing to a stationary target is easier than hitting a moving target? Yeah, Troisi never figured that one out either.
Fernandão is a Brazilian striker for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. We’re not sure if he watches American television, but my guess is if he’s seen Key & Peele he’ll be arguing his case like a young Hingle McCringleberry. The Fernandão celebration during a match against Beşiktaş on Sunday resulted in a two-match suspension and $15,900 fine, handed down on Thursday.
Let’s just get this out of the way. I like donuts. Also doughnuts. Even donut holes. So when I heard about the Leyton Orient donut, I immediately became a fan.
There are many reasons to attend a football match: the camaraderie of the fans, feeling the roar of the crowd, the thrill of seeing top athletes in person and, of course, watching your team lose. But to me one of the key draws is having an excuse to eat food that’s really bad for you.
Even though Lazio obliterated Steaua Bucharest on Thursday on their way to the Europa League round of 16, no person in his or her right mind would contend that Lazio defender Patric had a good time.
Patric, a product of La Masia in his first season with Lazio, is probably wishing he was back in Spain. If he can even remember being back in Spain.
Dutch goalie Mark Flekken is really into hydration. How else do you explain perhaps the worst goalkeeping error we’ve ever seen here at The18?
Flekken, who plays for MSV Duisburg in the Bundesliga 2, was caught in his own net grabbing a water bottle while FC Ingolstadt scored an equalizer. A teammate attempted to head the ball back to him to pick up, but Flekken was nowhere to be found.
It wasn't that Arsenal lost to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. That was to be expected. It was how they lost. At least, that's what the folks who get paid lots of money to unleash Hot Soccer Takes are saying. No word on what their Hot Soccer Takes would be if Arsenal had gamely hung in there and lost a close one.
Aquí tenemos un período de cinco días tan Luis Suárez que incluso Luis Suárez lo llamaría un cliché. El martes pasado, el delantero uruguayo entró en el minuto 76 del empate 1-1 del Barcelona con el Chelsea. Suárez recibió la amarilla después de que Lionel Messi se enfrentara al juez de línea.
El jugador de 31 años estaba girando en el suelo, gritando por un penal cuando Messi convirtió el ingenioso pase de Andrés Iniesta en un gol vital para el Barca. Suárez se levantó como si nada, se burló del juez de línea y se fue corriendo para celebrar. Luego lo amonestaron.