Funny

Farcical Scrum Only Five Seconds You Need To See From Saturday’s Old Firm Derby

It’s hard to get too excited about Scottish football these days. Sure, Rangers are back giving some sort of challenge to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, but neither side has done anything interesting in Europe in recent years and the national team still can’t qualify for a major tournament (though at least it got promoted from UEFA Nations League C). In a perfect encapsulation of Scottish football these days is a five-second clip from the Old Firm Derby highlights on Saturday.

100 Footballers In The World 2018 (Nos. 10-1)

To coincide with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 225 experts from 69 nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last couple years. There are no experts involved, there’s no rhyme or reason for anything, but we do hope you’ll join us on this adventure into the bowels of the beautiful game.

Supporters Belt Out A Fantastic Version Of “Last Christmas” Over In The Bundesliga

Yesterday, Hoffenheim hosted Mainz in the final Bundesliga match before the winter break (the league doesn’t recommence play until the weekend of Jan. 18-20). Hoffenheim took the lead through Kerem Demirbay in the 11th minute, but Mainz equalized five minutes later via Jean-Philippe Mateta. 

In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, the match ended in a draw and the spoils were shared. However, the game's true highlight was the visiting Mainz supporters serenading the Rhein-Neckar-Arena with this lovely rendition of “Last Christmas” by English pop duo Wham!. 

Indian Super League’s Youngest-Ever Goal Scorer Claimed He Was 16 — Turns Out He’s 28

Back in October, Jamshedpur FC forward Gourav Mukhi bagged the equalizer in his side’s 2-2 draw with Bengaluru and was on top of the world.

With the tally, Mukhi, just 16, became the Indian Super League’s youngest-ever goal scorer.

If that wasn’t a proud enough moment for the young Indian, he was intimately congratulated by teammate Tim Cahill. The Australian legend went so far as to touch his ungodly, golden noggin to Mukhi’s forehead in a moment of respect. Presumably, he also transferred some wisdom and striker spells via the skull-to-skull contact.

Agustín Marchesín Collapsing After Being Touched By The Ref Is Too Much

Nursing a 1-0 lead in the Liga MX final, Club América goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín knew what he had to do. After a sensational run by 20-year-old Cruz Azul midfielder Roberto Alvarado, the ball ended at the feet of Édgar Méndez.

Marchesín rushed out and took the ball off the feet of Méndez before he could get a shot off and potentially equalize in the 59th minute, and then the 30-year-old Argentine goalkeeper let Méndez have an earful. Referee Cesar Ramos rushed forward to separate the two, but in doing so, he gently touched the arm of Marchesín.

Watch: Partizan Belgrade Fans Get Into Christmas Spirit By Pelting Assistant Referee With Snowballs

It’s quite cold and snowy in Serbia right now, a fact that hasn’t kept those in Belgrade from going outside. 

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Serbia’s capital on Saturday night despite immense snowfall and freezing temperatures.

Mesut Özil Surprises Young Fan, Ends Up Creeping Us Out More Than The New Sonic

As human beings with hearts, we here at The18 love it when famous footballers do cool things for young fans. One of the best ways to watch this play out is having a footballer surprise a youngster by showing up unexpectedly. 

Mesut Özil was involved in just such a moment when he surprised young Kyan by popping up right behind him at Highbury Quadrant Primary School on Friday. 

Stop What You’re Doing Right Now And Check Out Léon’s Adorable New Mascot

The internet is full of cats. Cat videos, cat pics, cat GIFs, cat emojis. Personally, I don’t believe you can have too many cats. Case in point: this ridiculously adorable new Club Léon mascot.

While most Liga MX fans may have been gearing up for the first leg of the 2018 Apertura final on Thursday, which finished in a 0-0 draw between Cruz Azul and Club América, Club Léon unveiled its latest signing, perhaps the best offseason move of the year (in my opinion, at least). 

We present to you Sambu, who is a baby lion, for obvious reasons.

Christian Pulisic Is Too Nice For No-Rules FIFA

How can the U.S. ever expect to win a World Cup when its star player can’t even grasp Concacaf-rules football? 

Christian Pulisic, the 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund who is already perhaps the USMNT’s best player, was a part of the FIFA 19 World Tour with a new video that dropped this week. Pulisic faced off against BVB teammate and FIFA 17 cover boy Marco Reus in a no-rules match of FIFA 19.

No rules means just what you’d think: no offside, no fouls, no bookings. 

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