18
Jun
USA v Honduras - World Cup Qualifier
USA v Honduras - World Cup Qualifier
Iran - 2014 World Cup bound
Australia - 2014 World Cup bound
No-one condones fighting between players but there is something extra silly when those involved are from the same team - and the incident takes place during a training session. Manchester City’s Abdul Razak and Mersin midfielder Jean-Jacques Gosso got involved in an unseemly brawl in the build-up to the Elephants’ World Cup qualifier against Tanzania this weekend. Just look at the disgust on Yaya Toure’s face in the top-left hand corner!
Unfortunately for these two this is the end of their participation with the Cote D’Ivoire squad. Both men have been sent home in disgrace. Nice work guys. We have to say we wouldn’t have fancied Razak’s chances judging by Gosso’s arms.
Hometown boys
USA vs. Panama
Javier “hot head” Mascherano is at it again. The Argentine midfielder found a pretty creative way to get sent off in their World Cup Qualifying match against Ecuador.
After going down with an injury, Mascherano was being stretchered off the field by a cart. But the midfielder wouldn’t let that stop him from causing a scene.
As the cart is driving off the pitch, Mascherano is splashed with water and it seemed to infuriate him. So, his next move was to give the medic driving him a kick in the back — logical.
This is certainly one of the most creative red cards in recent memory. After the match, the Barcelona midfielder apologized for kicking the driver of the stretcher buggy and offered this explanation for his actions:
“I feel ashamed. I don’t like to generate controversy. And I am big enough to admit my mistakes. This embarrasses me. Saddens me.”
Mascherano added: “The stretcher buggy was going too fast and I was about to fall. I warned him (the driver) and he ignored me, but what I did was not justified.”
Thanks for keeping us entertained, Javier. Watch Mascherano’s post-match interview in Spanish below:
Claudio Pizarro didn’t get much playing time this season for Bayern Munich, but when he did he usually scored, once even netting a hat-trick in the first half against Lille in the Champions League.
For the Peru national team, Pizarro has been indispensable for over a decade, and he proved so once again in Friday’s World Cup qualifier, scoring the only goal of the game in fantastic fashion.
The expression ‘taking one for the team’ could not be more apt in the case of Vincent Kompany who played for an hour of Belgium’s 2-1 win against Serbia with a concussion, a broken nose and a fractured eye socket. The Manchester City defender was clattered by Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic half an hour into the game and needed treatment on the sidelines before the Belgium skipper carried on. He tweeetd this picture of himself later and said: “What wouldn’t you do for your country, eh?”
Captain Fantastic or what?
Via @VincentKompany
