Many football fans will be highly anticipating the return of the English Premier League this weekend. And who can blame them? United's first season without Ferguson, Mourinho's return, a new look City...But at Football Circus we can't help but feel something is missing. A certain Mario Balotelli. Things haven't been quite as unhinged in the Premier League since his departure, despite the best efforts of Luis Suarez. But fear not. We won't let you forget Super Mario as this week's edition is particularly Balotelli-heavy. We also report on an arrested Celtic star, a foolish referee, Bundesliga fans reducing a player to tears and much more. So without further hesitation, read on to discover who has been acting the clown in the world of football...
Just Another Week on Planet Balotelli
If you're new to Football Circus you be not be aware, but we have a bit of a penchant for Mario Balotelli stories. This is mainly due to the fact that he seems to be off his rocker, thereby providing us with many an entertaining story for us to relay to you.
Last week Balo was trending on Twitter and as is commonplace, it was not for footballing reasons. Super Mario had taken to the Twittersphere to announce he had acquired a pet pig.
Clearly delighted with his little porker, Balotelli declared, "Finally my little pig arrived! She is only 2 month old! Is a she but i called her SUPER! ;-)".
He continued, "Actually can't find the willy so i think is a she ahahahaha but maybe a he! Ahahah". Ahahah indeed Mario...
The Italian striker also turned 23 on Monday and his side AC Milan decided to celebrate the occasion by releasing seventeen Balotelli-dedicated videos on their official Youtube channel. Balotelli has been quite prolific for the Rossoneri since joining from Man City in January and they will hope that he only improves with age.
While Milan were busy paying tribute to Mario, he was busy spending the wages they pay him on a birthday present to himself. What does a 23 year old superstar footballer who has millions in the bank buy himself for his birthday? An enormous water feature with his initials and shirt number emblazoned across it of course.
So a week filled with a pig, video tributes and the purchase of your own water feature, surely time for a rest...Nope. For Balotelli was to feature in Wednesday's international friendly between Italy and Argentina in Rome (though later had to pull out due to an injury picked up in training). Earlier in the week, he managed to squeeze in a meeting with Argentine-Born Pope Francis as players from both sides attended the Vatican. Perhaps Balotelli in particular will have taken note of the Pope's words: "Dear players, you are very popular. People follow you, and not just on the field but also off it. That’s a social responsibility".
Celtic Striker Arrested after Elvis Impersonator Left All Shook Up
Celtic and Republic of Ireland striker Anthony Stokes was in a spot of bother this week after he was arrested on suspicion of attacking a man outside a Dublin nightclub.
42 year old Anthony Bradley, an Elvis impersonator native to Dublin, was alleged to have suffered a broken nose and chipped teeth as a result of the assault which was said to have taken place a number of hours after the international friendly match between the Republic of Ireland the Faroe Islands.
Irish police questioned and showed CCTV footage of the incident to 25 year old Stokes before he was released from custody.
Celtic will be hoping that Mr Bradley won't be dedicating 'Jailhouse Rock' to Stokes at his next gig.
Another Level of Player Abuse as Dusseldorf Defender Reduced to Tears
The Bundesliga kicked off in earnest this past weekend and while it may be widely regarded as the the best league in Europe right now, the players are not adverse to error.
Dusseldorf defender Tobias Levels will certainly vouch for this as it was his mistake that led to Dusseldorf conceding a 75th minute goal in their home game against 1860 Munich last Friday.
The home fans were not particularly forgiving of the error, especially given the fact that Levels had previously captained local rivals Borussia Monchengladbach, and they broke into a chant of "Levels out". The defender had made a similar mistake the previous week in a cup game and the fans would not let him forget it.
Levels was substituted. Broken by the chants of the fans, he was observed on the bench crying.
His manager Mike Buskens said of the fans' chants, "It is a witch-hunt and it has to stop", while the club's sporting director Wolf Werner commented, "No one deserves to be treated like that by their own people".
The Dusseldorf fans were not completely heartless however. After realising Levels had broken into tears, they began to sing his name in an effort to show their support.
After the game, Levels himself stated "It hurts, of course it does. But I will grow from it".
Ligue 1 Referee Sends Off Wrong Player
35 year old Stephane Jochem made his Ligue 1 debut as a referee last weekend during the Valenciennes-Toulousse match.
Having worked his way up from refereeing lower league matches, it should have been a proud moment for the Frenchman.
Instead he managed to embarass himself as after just 37 minutes of play, he sent off the wrong player.
Toulousse defender Steeve Yago had pulled down Valenciennes striker Gregory Pujol in the Toulousse box, resulting in Jochem, rightly, awarding the home side a penalty.
However Jochem then stunned the crowd as he proceeded to show a red card, not to the offending player Yago, but his teammate Uros Spajic. Despite the farcical sending off, Jochem refused to listen to the prostestations of Toulousse players.
Toulousse went on to lose the match 3-0.
Jochem later placed the blame on his fourth official.
Pele, Zidane, Maradona to Play in English Non-League
Non-league English side Farnborough made the headlines this week as every member of their squad and management agreed to change their names by deed poll to that of a footballing legend.
The bizarre move was part of a marketing ploy by their sponsors Paddy Power. A Paddy Power stunt that may be a little too extreme you may think - However when you consider the Paddy Power sponsorship saved the team from administration it seems slightly less harsh.
When they kickoff on Saturday Farnborough can now list the likes of Pele, Maradona, Zidane and Messi in their lineup with manager Jose Mourinho looking on from the dugout.
Wikipedia has listed the team's full squad as follows:
GK Gordon Banks (previously Kevin Scriven)
DF Franz Beckenbauer (previously Thomas McGarry)
DF Cafu (previously Paul Massaquoi)
DF Roberto Carlos (previously Oliver Treacher)
DF Alan Hansen (previously Alan Inns)
DF Paolo Maldini (previously Adam Doyle)
DF Lothar Matthäus (previously Joshua Huggins)
DF Bobby Moore (previously Nathan Koo-Boothe)
DF John Terry (previously Djibril Fofana)
MF David Beckham (previously Scott Donnelly)
MF George Best (previously Reece Jones)
MF Johann Cruyff (previously Tyrone Berry)
MF Paul Gascoigne (previously Stephen Laidler)
MF Zinedine Zidane (previously Merrick James-Lewis)
FW Gary Lineker (previously Reece Connolly)
FW Diego Maradona (previously David Tarpey)
FW Lionel Messi (previously Daniel Bennett)
FW Pelé (previously Elvis Hammond)
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Lazio Fans and Fergie Exchange Letters
During his spell in charge of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson never seemed tempted to leave the Red Devils, bar a brief dalliance with Barcelona in 1991 when he was approached for the manager's position (nothing materialised, though Ferguson admitted in later years that his head was turned).
So United fans may be shocked to learn that subsequent to their team's thrashing of Roma in the 2007 Champions League, Fergie exchanged letters with fans of Lazio.
They need not worry however, as the letter received by Fergie from the Lazio fans was congratulatory and his response an expression of gratitude.
The letter from the Lazio faithful which was this week doing the rounds online, was sent to Ferguson along with bottles of Chianti wine as as their way of showing their appreciation for Roma's hammering at the hands of Ferguson's side.
Ferguson duly responded with a letter of thanks and confirmed the Chianti wine would be put to good use.
Magic 8 Ball Transfer Oracle
With Russian outfit Anzhi having a fire sale, the highest paid player in Europe is expected to be shipped out of the club. A link up with his former manager has been mooted this week...
Samuel Eto'o to Chelsea
(As reported here http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-transfers-samuel-etoo-wants-2158520 and here http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/229701.html)
Magic 8 Ball Says...
'LOOKING GOOD'
Football Recommendation
Play For Your Club - An addictive online football game to pass the hours until the new season kicks off.
Non-Football Recommendation
WhatsApp - Handy and cheap way to stay in contact with friends if you own a smartphone.
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