Sam Allardyce won his first match as England manager, beating Slovakia 1-0 on a late goal from Adam Lallana. Every word of that sentence is true, I swear. Clearly, Big Sam already has the poisoned chalice that is the England job all figured out and his methods are pure genius. Get out a pen, Pep Guardiola, because you’ll want to take notes.
Author: Brooks Peck
DTotD: Neymar gets tackled by pitch invaders during Brazil training session
Almost single-handedly winning Brazil’s first ever Olympic gold in football is apparently a good way to get yourself lovingly mauled by pitch invaders, as Neymar found out during a training session in Manaus. Amidst a sustained chorus of joyful shrieks, several pitch invaders evaded security to hug Neymar to the ground.
Neymar couldn’t help but smile during the hug attack and urged security to go easy on his assailants.
Of course, if he wins a World Cup for his country next, he’ll have a couple hundred million people trying to hug him at once.
One of the poorest countries in the world becomes Ligue 1 club’s shirt sponsor
According to the World Food Programme, Chad ranks 73rd out of 78 countries on the Global Hunger Index. And yet, the country is now the shirt sponsor for Ligue 1 club Metz.
Keeper scores from inside his own box during FA Cup qualifying match
Spennymoor Town beat Radcliffe Borough 5-2 in an FA Cup first round qualifying match thanks in part to an unintended 80-yard goal from keeper Dan Lowson. He caught out his counterpart on the bounce and now he’ll probably try and do this every single time.
The sadness and the joy of Bastian Schweinsteiger’s final international match
Bastian “The Ghost of Old Trafford” Schweinsteiger played his final match for Germany in a 2-0 friendly win against Finland and the evening featured a full range of emotions.
Jack Wilshere excited to be injured for Bournemouth
Frequently injured Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has joined Bournemouth on a season-long loan and he is eager to not play for his new club.
“I’m thrilled to join Bournemouth,” Wilshere said upon arrival. “I had several options, but this is definitely where I’d like to be injured for the majority of the season. The benches here are first class and the physios are wonderful people. I know I’ll enjoy hanging out with them while my new teammates actually play football.”
The 24-year-old England international has only made 101 league appearances for Arsenal over the last six seasons, including just three last year after breaking his fibula during preseason. Now healthy, Wilshere knows it’s just a matter of time until his next injury.
“Maybe I’ll play a few games for Bournemouth before I get back into the real work of rehabbing whatever I break or tear next,” Wilshere said. “But I know why I’m here and what the fans expect of me: to constantly be injured and maybe be questioned by police about a late-night altercation of some sort. I’m confident I can deliver.”
Denmark wear impossible to read all-white kit symbolizing a “new beginning”
After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, Denmark kitmaker hummel decided to wipe the slate clean a little too literally for their friendly against Lichtenstein.
High school player flips over goalkeeper to score disallowed goal
A player for Columbine High School couldn’t go through the opposing goalkeeper, so he did an incredible front flip over him to then score a goal. Unfortunately, the referee disallowed it, presumably because it was simply too awesome and would make even Lionel Messi feel inferior.
Tim Howard makes incredible penalty save against Real Salt Lake
Since Tim Howard returned to MLS with the Colorado Rapids, he’s kept four clean sheets in nine starts (and conceded five goals to NYCFC), but the clearest reminder of his brilliance thus far came against Real Salt Lake on Friday. With Colorado down 2-1 in the 83rd minute, Salt Lake had a chance to finish off the game with a penalty. Howard came up with a fantastic save at full stretch, though, keeping his side in the game until the final whistle.
Salt Lake still won 2-1, but Howard stole the show with his save.
Andy King’s expert analysis of the Champions League group stage draw
Hi. I’m Andy King. I’ve played for Leicester City since 2006 and I’ve won League One, the Championship, and now the Premier League with the club. It’s been a crazy ride and it’s about to get crazier as we prepare to play in the Champions League — a thing I was pretty sure Claudio Ranieri made up, like that “dilly-ding dilly-dong” stuff. Anyway, here’s my expert analysis of this amazingly real competition.