In a scene reminiscent of U.S. women's gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi carrying Kerri Strug to
collect her Olympic goal medal in 1996, Herve Renard, Zambia's 43-year-old French manager, carried
injured defender Joseph Musonda to celebrate Zambia's historic first-ever African Cup of Nations
title after beating the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout.
Real Madrid beat Levante 4-2, capitalizing on Barcelona's 3-2 loss to Osasuna on Saturday and
putting themselves a comfy 10 points clear at the top of the table. Cristiano Ronaldo scored Real's
first three goals -- all within 12 minutes of each other -- but his third was the perfectly arched
effort from outside the box you see above.
In their first meeting since Liverpool's Luis Suarez returned from his eight-match ban for
racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra, Suarez continued the already tedious matter and
proved he's not above lying to his own manager all during the nonsensical pre-match handshakes.
As the Liverpool players shook hands with their counterparts, Suarez tried to skip over Evra and
shake David De Gea's hand, but Evra tried to force a gesture of peace by grabbing Suarez's arm.
The Greater Manchester Police reportedly confiscated all copies of a Manchester United fanzine
called Red Issue outside of Old Trafford ahead of the big handshake showdown (and football match)
between Man United and Liverpool. The unofficial magazine was deemed "incitement to racial hatred"
for including a cut-out of a KKK mask with the words "LFC" at the top and "Suarez is innocent" at
the bottom in reference to Liverpool's steadfast defense of Luis Suarez even after he was found
guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra and banned for eight matches.
AAAAHHHHHHHH I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS IS A LIST OF THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY THIS WEEK:
1. GET OUT OF MY WAY -- WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME???!??!?!?!? WHY!?!?!?!?!
2. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC SLAPPING PEOPLE -- IS IT STILL THE YEAR 1992 WHEN MEN WOULD SETTLE THEIR
DIFFERENCES WITH A SLAP AND A DUEL WHILE MC HAMMER'S "2 LEGIT 2 QUIT" PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND?
Following U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo's naked lawn watering in ESPN The Magazine's body issue,
Alex Morgan -- Hope's U.S national teammate and fellow recipient of an impressive number of
Facebook marriage proposals during last summer's Women's World Cup -- will be one of three female
athletes to pose in bodypaint for the upcoming Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
Turkish Super Lig club Samsunspor were driving home from an away match late Tuesday night when
their bus driver pulled in front of a slowing train. According to Today's Zaman, many players were
sleeping when the train collided with the rear of the bus, which will ensure night terrors for
while.
With just £50 and a bit of luck, you could rename Blue Square Premier League side Bath City's
ground anything you want for a whole season. The 2012/13 naming rights to Twerton Park -- built in
1909 and home to non-league Bath City since 1932 -- will be put up for grabs in a drawing open to
pretty much anyone.
In the immediate aftermath of Fabio Capello's resignation on Wednesday night, a number of
England players shared their views on the matter via Twitter. "Gutted Capello has quit. Good guy
and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me," said Wayne Rooney. These
comments were relayed to his former teammate and current ITV pundit Roy Keane, who promptly
eviscerated him.
Man City's official YouTube channel has provided a lot of unexpected entertainment over its
relatively short existence and has already become a model for other clubs to follow. It does,
however, go off the rails from time to time (City kitman Les Chapman's "nature watch" segment where
he tracks down a ginger kid in his underpants).
To: The Football Association (or as I call you, The F*** All, because that's what you know)
I'm Bert Tiddle and you've never heard of me. When I played for Sheffield United, Dave Bassett
told me I would make a great manager one day. I found out later that he meant it in a sarcastic
sort of way because he just saw me berate a reserve team player until the lad vomited pasta on
himself.
As we showed on Sunday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made the transition from kicking teammates to
slapping opponents. And to prove his new hobby, Zlatan has allegedly done it again already. After
the final whistle in Juventus' 2-1 win over Milan in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal,
Ibra argued with Juve keeper Marco Storari and, according to Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini, Ibra
also gave him a slap.
All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty
Tackle...
Sheffield Wednesday mascots Barney and Ozzy shamelessly assault FA Cup mascot Buddy.
[YouTube]
Man City's 88-year-old mascot. [Kickette]
Classic goalkeeper shirts as art.
It's been 17 years since Rene Higuita executed his audacious scorpion kick to block a weak shot
from Jamie Redknapp in a friendly between England and Colombia at Wembley. Since then, it's become
one of the most iconic in the sport's history and has been attempted by goalkeepers and attackers
alike, some more successful than others.
After the FA decided to strip John Terry of the England captaincy for the second time in two
years over a charge for which he has not yet been tried, Fabio Capello has decided that he's had
enough of being disrespected and undermined and resigned from his position. With Euro 2012 mere
months away, FA chairman David Bernstein must find a suitable replacement to lead England out of
the current cycles of scandals and disappointment.
