Just when you thought that Steven Gerrard’s 38-second appearance against Manchester United was the strangest sending off of 2015, Internacional defender Fabricio provides one that’s even more surreal.
Both Internacional and visiting Ypiranga were reduced to 10 men late in the first half, but the 28 year old put his side down to nine in the 63rd minute when he apparently couldn’t take the verbal abuse of his own club’s fans any longer and gave them not one middle finger, but two.
Brazil beat Chile 1-0 in a London friendly on Sunday, but Chile midfielder Gary Medel made the most of his opportunity to use Neymar’s leg as a step stool. After the pair went down in a tangle, Medel stood on Neymar as he got up. The referee didn’t see it, however, allowing the Chilean to escape punishment.
Normally when a footballer demonstrates their ability to score from “behind the goal,” they’re doing it just a step or two away from the endline and with plenty of room to curl he ball into the net. Neymar, however, is not most footballers.
While his teammates sat around during a training session before Brazil’s friendly at France, Neymar casually spun the ball in the net from directly behind the goal.
His teammates did not seem terribly impressed.
And against France, he managed to score from a slightly less difficult angle.
Sao Bernardo lost 1-0 to Palmeiras in the Campeonato Paulista, almost certainly because they suffered the devastating blow of having their mascot sent off. The match altering decision came before the start of the second half, when the tiger mascot antagonized visiting Palmeiras supporters by “imitating a pig” in front of them. The referee did not appreciate his brand of humor and sent him off.
With Ponte Preta’s Fabio Santos barreling towards him and the ball bouncing up towards his head, Vilhera goalkeeper Jamilton knew he had to act. So, he charged off his line fist first in the hopes of making contact with the ball before his opponent could. But it didn’t work out that way. Fabio Santos headed the ball a split second before Jamilton’s fist could connect. And since a fist must connect with something, Jamilton’s decided to smash itself into Fabio Santos’ face instead.
Over the past few seasons, Anderson’s role at Manchester United was inversely proportional to his waistline: it got a lot smaller. In January, the Brazilian midfielder ended a seven-and-a-half year spell at Old Trafford with a free transfer to Internacional, but he hasn’t exactly impressed with his new club yet. Read more
Sport Club do Recife and advertising firm Ogilvy came up with a unique method of ensuring things went smoothly at Sunday’s “Classico dos Classicos.” By hiring the mothers of fans — dubbed “Security Moms” — to act as stewards for what is traditionally one of Brazil’s most violent rivalries.
Bizarre scenes unfolded in Fluminense’s 4-1 win at Nova Iguaçu on Wednesday when the club physio needed to be stretchered off the field after attempting to treat one of his players. Read more
Brazil and Uruguay played a Sul-Americano U-20 match to a scoreless draw that ended with one of the Brazilian players proving that you can still cynically waste time even after getting sent off. But before the opening kick off brought all of that nonsense, the match was won by Uruguay’s mascot with the bold and ridiculous act of trying to sneak into Brazil’s team photo.
In the final minutes of Brazil’s Sul-Americano U-20 match against Uruguay, Brazilian defender Wallace proved he is a terrible actor but excellent time waster.
The Braga center back, who is currently on loan at Monaco, was sent off after a late challenge. As he casually strolled off the pitch, he realized that Uruguay would have an advantage in the remaining seconds of the game and decided it was his duty to delay that inevitability as long as he possibly could. So, he stopped walking and laid down.
