Last week not only saw a break for internationals, it also saw Football Circus take a well earned break. Fret no further though, we have returned and we have quite an animal filled edition indeed this week. We take a look at Coco, Radamel Falcao's parrott; a dog intruding on a match in Argentina; and the curious case of the Egyptian international, the vacuum box and the monkey. You'll also get to read about a mass brawl, Adrian Mutu being framed for an act he didn't commit and you weekly dose of Mario Balotelli and Italian Football. We're sorry we disappeared, we hope this week's edition makes it all better...
Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week
"Some of their players are internationals; some play for their national team".
- Steve McClaren
Falcao's Parrot Celebrates his Goals
Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao's idea of fun off the pitch does not involve driving fast cars, fine dining or nightclubs. He is a man of simpler tastes it would seem. It has this month been revealed that the Colombian enjoys nothing more than winding down and, along with his wife Lorlei, training his pet parrot Coco.
Coco is not limited to the standard "Who's a pretty boy?" book of parrot phrases. In fact the Falcaos have managed to train their feathered friend to celebrate when Radamel scores. Lorlei has said that Coco can say: "Gol de Falca" and "Great goal".
Match Stopped for a Spot of Dog Petting
The match between Belgrano and Quilmes in the Argentine Premier Division last Saturday was stopped for a pitch invader of the canine variety. A far cry from the drone that led to the halting of the Serbia-Albania game in Belgrade, the black dog that appeared on the pitch in Cordoba was a far more welcome guest.
Though the dog's appearance on the field did lead to the referee stopping play in the 42nd minute, not everybody seemed too put out by the mutt. The Quilmes number 7, Sebastián Romero, was in fact so smitten with the dog that he stopped to give it a belly rub. A teammate then carried the dog like a baby to a match official who escorted it off the pitch, leaving onlookers to coo over what they had just witnessed.
Two Teams, One Goal, Twelve Sendings Off and One Mass Brawl
A far cry from the dog petting goings on in the Premier Division, a lower league game in Argentina last Wednesday was a far less placid affair. The third division encounter between Deportivo Roca and Cipolletti in Buenos Aires, was stopped by the referee with over twenty minutes left to play. By all accounts, he was left with little choice.
The chaos began when Deportivo midfielder Fernando Fernandez was shown red. Cipotelli defender Marcos Lamolla was booked for a foul on a Deportivo player. Fernandez protested at the card colour and was sent off. Lamolla, then was shown a second yellow for showing dissent. Lamolla ran the pitch to mkae his way to the dressing room, but his route was impeded by a Cipotelli substitute. The substitute was quickly knocked to the ground. Confused yet?
What followed thereafter was nothing short of mayhem. A brawl ensued between both sets of players (including substitutes) and the referee produced the red card on a further TEN occasions. By this point however, control had well and truly been lost by the referee and his cards had lost all meaning. Riot police were forced to get involved and the referee called a halt to proceedings.
Deportivo coach Diego Landeiro later produced the understatement of the year:
"Both teams’ players were disgraceful, they didn’t behave like professionals.
"It was a disgrace and it means lots of work down the drain. I’m very bitter".
El-Said Potentially Guilty of Monkey Business
Egyptian international Shawky El-Said could be in hot water as rumours circulate that he carried a monkey home in a vacuum cleaner box following his country's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Botswana.
The defender was photographed carrying what looked to be a vacuum cleaner box through Cairo airport, having arrived home from the match which Egypt won 2-0. Rumours have been circulating online however that it was not a vacuum cleaner in the box, but a monkey in fact, which El-Said allegedly received as a gift for swapping his jersey with a Botswana player. The Egpytian apparently had a friend look after the monkey as he trained for the reverse fixture last Wednesday. Smuggling animals back from away games? The cheeky monkey!
Mutu Denies being Drunk at Indian Embassy
Former Premier League and Serie A striker Adrian Mutu returned to the headlines last week as Gazzetta dello Sport reported that he had been refused a visa at the Indian embassy in Bucharest for being "visibly drunk". The humiliating blow came ahead of Mutu's proposed move to Indian Super League side FC Pune City.
Mutu, despite being his country's joint record goalscorer and having had successful spells in Serie A, is perhaps most famous for two failed drugs tests; once at Chelsea for cocaine use and once at Fiorentina. In spite of his past failings, Mutu may have hoped for a reserved end to his career. It may have been with that in mind that he took to Twitter after the rumours emerged, to pour scorn on the allegations. The striker tweeted:
"I do not understand why a newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport write a little lie like that without verifying the information".
He accompanied the message with a photo of his Indian visa and the Italian newspaper was firmly put back in its box.
What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?
Another woeful week for Mario Balotelli. Although Liverpool scraped a 3-2 victory over QPR at the weekend, Balo's personal performance was dire. Looking lazy and lackadaisical, Balotelli strolled around the pitch as if he was out for a stroll in the park on a Sunday afternoon. The Italian even managed to miss an open goal, much to the ire of teammates and fans alike.
His manager Brendan Rodgers however, has jumped to the defence of the £16 million summer signing from AC Milan, insisting that Super Mario will come good:
"It will drop for the boy. The most important thing for me is his work rate.
"The guy is doing his best and working really hard and it is not dropping for him.
"He is seen as the direct replacement for Luis Suarez. And as I said before, Luis is irreplaceable. A real world class talent and that is not what is being asked of Mario".
Balo went onto fare little better in Liverpool's Champions League 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday. Though he did not have particularly poor game, he was replaced at half time. Having being caught on camera swapping jerseys with Pepe just as the first half ended, the media speculated that it was this incident that led to his substitution.
Manager Brendan Rodgers clarified after the match however, that the substitution was purely for tactical reasons and nothing else, but the half time jersey swap was not to his liking either:
"It's something that doesn't happen here, it shouldn't happen here", said Rodgers.
"We had a case of a player doing that last season, which I dealt with, and if that's the case again then I'll deal with it again".
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Has Inter-Pirelli Relationship Gone Flat?
The twenty year long relationship between Inter Milan and their shirt sponsors Pirelli, may be reaching a conclusion. In a meeting with Inter shareholders in Milan this week, club CEO Michael Bolingbroke stated:
"In June we’ll celebrate 20 years with Pirelli as a partner and as far as I know it’s the longest partnership in football history.
"Not even the one between Liverpool and Carlsberg lasted as long as this.
"It seems impossible to imagine ourselves without Pirelli, but everything comes to an end.
"We are currently negotiating with them in order to understand what to do. In a commercial partnership both partiess must take advantage.
"We are not talking about money but rather advantages that we could bring to Pirelli through our project".
Artist's Impression of the Week
- 'Schrodinger's Monkey'; El-Said's mystery box may or may not contain a live monkey
Football Recommendation of the Week
- Timber Joey: America's Best Mascot? (VICE); "Most mascots are people hiding underneath a costume, but Timber Joey of the Portland Timbers is just himself. Inheriting a storied position as the lumberjack who slices a log after each Timbers goal, Timber Joey doesn't have to pretend to be anything, which might make him the best mascot of all".
Non-Football Recommendation of the Week
- Love/Hate; IFTA award-winning drama series set in Dublin's gangland.
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