footballcircus: The One that begins with 'L' and ends with 'A'

Stupid football fans, responsible footballers and Emmanuel Frimpong. It's all here in this week's Football Circus...

Bosnia Fans Mix Up Latvia and Lithuania - Miss World Cup Qualifier

Bosnia last week qualified for the 2014 World Cup, a momentous achievement as the nation have never before been represented in the competition.

Naturally, the Bosnian media have gushed about their country's qualification in the days that followed. A related story though, has been doing the rounds as a footnote with many Bosnian media outlets - the tale of the fans who went to the wrong country for Bosnia's final qualifying match.

Bosnia defeated Lithuania 1-0 in their final game to earn qualification and the aforementioned group of fans had intended to be present at what is now, probably the biggest game in the nation's history to date. It didn't quite work out that way however for Haris Tresnjo and his friends.

Tresnjo and co, clearly overwhelmed by the occasion, failed to notice that their side were due to play in Lithuania. The group ended up travelling to Latvia instead and ended up rather bemused by their situation.

Tresnjo commented:

"Me and several of my buddies went to the game to cheer for Bosnia, but rather than arrive in Lithuania we ended up in Latvia.

"When we bought tickets for the trip and no-one noticed that we were going in the wrong country. When we arrived there, it was very quiet. There were no our fans anywhere. So we asked some people in English where everyone was and where should we go to watch the football game.

"We told them that we came from Bosnia to cheer our team, but they just laughed at us and said that we are very far away from the stadium. One younger guy eventually explained how we in the wrong country, how we were in Latvia and not Lithuania.

"We wandered around Riga a little more to be sure. This was my own stupidity. I’ll remember it all my life".

Kim Kallstrom, We Salute You

Football Circus often delights in the misdemeanours, wrong doings and crass behaviour so commonly displayed by footballers. It gives us something to write about. Every now and then though, we do like to recognise that not all footballers are foolish, money-grabbing, immature buffoons.

Take Kim Kallstrom for example. Kallstrom played in Sweden's World Cup qualifier against Germany last week. Prior to running out onto the pitch, Kallstrom took the responsibility of taking the hand of, and calming, a young mascot called Max. Max suffers from Williams Syndrome - a side effect of which causes the sufferer to struggle with unfamiliar situations. Given the magnitude of the occasion - a match in football stadium filled with 50,000 screaming fans - Max became a little unnerved, only for Kallstrom to step in and settle him down, taking time to reassure the young boy.

Max's father took the opportunity to thank Kallstrom for his kindness after the game, in the form of a letter, in which he wrote:

"Because of what you did, my son was able to experience the same emotions as a normal child: pride, feel special.

"I am writing to you because I'm not sure you understand what you did for us. On Tuesday I saw my son do something special, spent 15 minutes of concentration and nervousness, and met the Swedish national team".

Kallstrom then responded through a Swedish newspaper:

"Of course I'm glad that Max's father appreciated what I did, but the most rewarding thing for me was giving Max a positive experience, although I was very nervous in the tunnel changing rooms. In a situation like this I acted more as a neighbour and father than as a footballer. I realised I had to take the responsibility of the parents".

Frimpong's Latest Instagram Victims - Manchester United

While Kim Kallstrom might be a shining light of maturity and responsibility, Emmanuel Frimpong is one footballer who sets a decidedly less impressive example.

Frimpong has featured in numerous editions of Football Circus over the past few months, predominantly for his Instagram photos. This week is no different. His latest upload is another crudely constructed,

Photoshopped effort as he takes a pop at Manchester United's woeful start to their domestic league campaign. His photo depicts abseilers scaling the side of a cliff, each one representing a different team with the higher placed abseilers representing the league position of United's rivals. Falling off the cliff face are, you guessed it, United.

Frimpong's photoshopped offering is the latest in a long line of Instagram uploads - He previously has mocked former teammates Samir Nasri and Alex Song via the same medium.

Italian Football Story of the Week

- New Inter Owner Reveals Plans and All Time Favourite Player

Inter Milan's new owner Erick Thohir gave an interview to Sportsmediaset this week and confirmed he would be in Italy around mid-November to finalise the deal to take over the Nerazzurri. He also confirmed he would be keeping a low profile out of respect for Inter president Massimo Moratti. What was perhaps the most surprising revelation of the interview, though hardly ground-breaking, was Thohir's choice when asked who his all time favourite Inter player was.

Giuseppe Bergomi? Ronaldo? Roberto Baggio? Nope. Thohir plumped for Nicola Ventola, a man who played 37 teams for Inter between 1998 and 2005. What may have swayed his decision, is the fact that Ventola's mother is, like Thohir himself, Indonesian. Other than that, we at Football Circus are completely miffed as why Ventola would top anyone's list of all time favourite Inter players.

Thohir also made clear that while he plans to be involved in the running of the club, with four visits a year to Italy planned, he will not meddle in first team affairs - He confirmed he does not wish to speak about Inter's first team. He does however, hope to integrate more Italian players into the squad. With Inter already nine points behind Serie A leaders Roma and without European football this season, fans may hope that changes occur sooner rather than later.