Lionel Messi posted on Instagram to thank teammate Luis Suarez for sending him a gift, which apparently was a pair of pajamas that read “I hate mornings” and feature Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We can’t be sure why Suarez did this (even Messi himself writes that he doesn’t quite understand), other than the fact that it’s perfect and wonderful.
This almost makes the international break worthwhile. OK, no it doesn’t.
The Netherlands’ disastrous Euro qualifying campaign ended with a 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic, which included an own goal from Robin van Persie. But to illustrate that they truly couldn’t do anything right, Memphis Depay wasn’t even wearing the right shirt for the match.
His top was customized for the Netherlands’ loss to Iceland last month, featuring the date (September 3) and Iceland’s flag just below the crest.
When your kitman can’t even recognize a shirt with the wrong date and flag on it, you know things are going terribly wrong and major top to bottom changes are necessary.
The United States lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in a friendly, giving them three consecutive home losses in the run up to the start of 2018 World Cup qualifying next month. This is obviously concerning for anyone who cares about the team, but the main issue is a simple one: they’re just not very good right now.
A 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic sealed the Netherlands’ failure to qualify for Euro 2016. One of those three goals for the Czechs was an impressively terrible own goal from Robin van Persie.
Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded his fourth Golden Shoe on Tuesday and he had his family sitting in the front row to witness the occasion. At one point during Cristiano’s acceptance speech, the camera cut to his son, Cristiano Jr., who appeared to give his father the finger before the man sitting next to him could cover his hand.
Famous people sometimes get extorted when their private materials fall into the wrong hands, but rarely do those extortion plots involve their former international teammates. That’s what has allegedly happened in France, however, as former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse is one of four people who were arrested in relation to a plot to blackmail Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.
French media, including Le Parisien, report that the arrests were made early Tuesday morning and that the alleged plan was to demand that Valbuena pay them or see the video (which has not been confirmed to exist) get released to the public.
From The Local:
According to L’Express news site, Cissé, a former French international striker and household name in the UK after spells with Liverpool, Sunderland and QPR, may soon be released without charge once he is ruled out any wrongdoing.
The other three men were arrested in the Bouches-du-Rhône and Oise départements, and are suspected of masterminding a blackmail plot against Valbuena.
This story will serve as the basis for a film that I really can’t wait to see.
Spain beat Ukraine 1-0 to wrap up Euro 2016 qualifying in a match that happened to mark Cesc Fabregas’ 100th cap. Cesc had the opportunity to make the evening a bit more special with a penalty in the ninth minute, but his underwhelming effort was saved.
One possible explanation for Fabregas’ unsuccessful penalty was the fact that Jose Mourinho, his manager at Chelsea, was in the stands dressed as a Sith Lord/assassin from Assassin’s Creed. Looking up and spotting that as you’re about to take a penalty would unnerve anyone, let alone a player who was underperformed this season, contributing to arguably the darkest period of Mourinho’s career.
And if you’re now imagining Jose Mourinho dressed like this and standing in the shadows outside Cesc’s house, so is Cesc.
As if you needed anymore proof that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the true king of Sweden, on the same day he scored the opening goal in their Euro qualifier against Moldova, he was awarded a gold record for a version of Sweden’s national anthem he recorded as part of a Volvo commercial.
Zlatan’s rendition of the anthem has been streamed more than three million times in Sweden, earning him the award, and, according to Zlatan, the record for the most streamed national anthem ever.
Here’s the original ad…
A U-20 match in Brazil between Sertaozinho and Flamengo de Guarulhos devolved into a giant kick fighting battle after the final whistle, resulting in 11 red cards (six for Sertaozinho and five for Flamengo).
According to Globo, the referee’s report stated that the fight began when Sertaozinho’s coach shoved a Flamengo player and Flamengo claimed that fans jumped the fence to attack their players, as did ball boys and opposing coaches. They also said that their bus was stoned as they embarked on their journey home.
If there’s one takeaway from this, it’s that these U-20 squads are definitely fighting at a senior team level.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
Mexico followed up their 2015 Gold Cup title by beating the 2013 Gold Cup winning USA in a playoff to decide which nation would represent CONCACAF in the 2017 Confederations Cup. And the goal that sealed the 3-2 extra-time win was probably more impressive than the rewards for it.
