"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do / I bless the rains down in Africa /Gonna take some time to do the things we never had". Quite what, do the lyrics of Toto's 'Africa' have to do with this week's edition of Football Circus? Well, two of stories emanate from the great continent and to be perfectly honest, we were stuck for an opener this week. The song also, according to lyricsfreak.com, mentions a flight and one of our two 'African' stories does involve a plane, so we're going with it. But what is going down in Africa? Well Adebeyor's mother is having a tough old time of it back in Togo after he kicked her out of the family home and Gervinho has had some airport related trouble in the Ivory Coast. Meanwhile over in Russia, footballers are hiring bears for their children's parties and in Ireland, well, they're busy getting John O'Shea tattoos...
Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week
"It's a wonderful Barcelona goal. They're like dolphins chattering to each other".
- beIN Sports' Ray Hudson this week.
'Ad a Boy - Or Not; Adebeyor's Mother Uses Witchcraft to Curse Son
Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebeyor is not having the greatest of season's...and it may all be down to his mother using 'juju' or witchcraft. The Togo international has apparently cut ties with his mother and sisters, going so far to even throw them out of his family house, having discovered they had attempted to sabotage his career through 'juju'.
In an interview with Ghanaian radio station, Peace FM, Adebeyor's sister Maggie claimed:
"As of now, our mother is selling polythene bags, padlocks and other things on the border.
"Our mother has not seen him for more than a year and he rejects her calls any time.
"Our mother is not calling him for his money, she just wants to see him because she loves him very much".
Despite the Spurs man's heartstrings being tugged at, he would appear unmoved, as he told the same radio station:
"How can I talk to a mother who together with my sisters have been plotting juju against me?".
Fair point.
Happy Bear-Day Son! Russian Footballer cum Nutjob Hires Bear for Two Year Old's Party
Animal rights activists aren't going to like this one. FC Torpedo Moscow midfielder Kirill Kombarov has caused uproar in his home country after hiring a bear out for his son's birthday party. The 27 year old saw the bear perform on television and decided to hire it from the Stepan Nikulin Circus to perform at the party, thinking he would make it party to remember.
Kombarov even went as far as letting his two year old sit on the back of the muzzled bear. How do we know? Because not only is Kirill Kombarov stupid enough to bring a bear into his house for his two year old son's birthday party, he also decided to post pictures of the party on the internet!
Kombarov has since, unsurprisingly, removed the pictures from his Instagram account.
Gervin-Oh No! Roma Star Gets Four Airport Staff Fired
Roma and Ivory Coast winger Gervinho is in trouble after getting four aiport workers in his native country fired, after attempting to smuggle a woman onto a private jet with him.
Gervinho played in his nation's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Cameroon last week and opted to take a private jet back to his club's home city of Rome. He had some more baggage with him however than he had going over, in the form of a female companion. According to IMatin.net, the former Arsenal man was accompanied at the airport by a blonde woman. The woman was not autorised to be on the flight, so Gervinho allegedly bribed four staff to let her join him on the plane.
The plan backfired though, when the pilot refused to be part of Gervinho's scheme and outright rejected pleas to let the player's lady friend onboard. The four staff who had agreed to keep quiet about the woman-smuggling, susbequently lost their jobs.
O' The Shea-me of It All - Fan Gets Tattoo of Sunderland Star
Sunderland captain John O'Shea had Republic of Ireland fans in raptures last month when he scored the equalising goal in his nation's European Championships qualifier against world champions Germany in Gelsenkirchen. Well most Republic of Ireland fans were delighted at least. One in particular however, by the name of Max Charles, was slightly less ecstatic. The man from Castlepollard in Co. Westmeath had lost a bet as a direct result of O'Shea scoring - which meant he had to get a tattoo of the ex-Man. United man's face.
Max had a bet going into the match with a friend called Vinny, whereby each of them had to pick an Irish goalscorer. Should the player the friend picked score, the loser would have to get a tattoo of the player the winning friend picked etched onto himself permanently. Unluckily for Max, Vinny picked O'Shea. Max must have thought he had nothing to fear given the player's goalscoring record for his country before the game - a mere two goals in 99 in appearances. However the Waterford man increased his tally by 33% in his 100th game, much to the dismay of Max.
What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?
A quiet week on the field for Mr. Balotelli as an injury sustained during training on international duty with Italy ruled him out both of Liverpool's 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday and their mid week Champions League encounter.
While he was not in action this week, he did find time to rate his performances for the Merseysiders in an interview with Fox Sports Australia. Super Mario has given himself a perhaps flattering seven out of ten! Having given himself a rating of 6.5 in a previous interview with the television channel for his time at Man. City, the interviewer asked Mario what he would give himself for his outings for the Koppites:
"Seven. Because I run more than before.
"Because goals, they will come. They're something that are just not coming at the moment, but it's not something that has gone.
"But run, like I'm running now, I've never run like this. So it's something I've got. So I give half a point more.
"I try to press more. For sure, I'm not pressing like Suarez because he is different. He runs a lot. I cannot run like this. But I'm trying to run more than what I normally do".
"I do not score? I think it is unlucky, that's it.
"There is nothing in my life that is wrong".
Balo, as humble as ever.
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Roma in Moscow Strip Club Visit
Roma took on CSKA Moscow in the Russian's home stadium on Tuesday in the Champions League and came away in a relatively commendable point in cold conditions. After the game, the players were allowed time away from team management before flying home on Wednesday morning. Their destination of choice for where to let their hair down (though we don't know if it was just their hair that they let down), has raised quite a few eyebrows.
The Russian media caught a number of the team exiting a strip club called 'Egoist Gold' in Red Square at around 2am on Wednesday. While it was specifically pointed out that Roma captain Francesco Totti did not attend the venue, teammates Daniele De Rossi and Marco Borriello (according to Sport.ru), did.
Unimpressed with the paparazzi snapping photos, a Roma employee is alleged to have told a female photographer:
"I’ll hit you regardless of the fact that you’re a girl!".
However Daniele De Rossi is said to have come to the photographer's defence and while doing so, convinced her and others to destroy the photographs due to the impact they may have on the players' families.
Artist's Impression of the Week
- 'Bear-ly Look a Day Over One'; Russian footballer spoils son as he turns two, by hiring bear.
Football Recommendation of the Week
- Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning (Guillem Balague); As biographical football books go, this ain't a bad effort from Sky Sports' favourite Spanish football correspondent. With Guardiola being lauded as one of the great managers of the modern game at just 43, this makes for a good read.
Non Football Recommendation of the Week
- Arrested Development; "It's the story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's the return of the award-winning “Arrested Development,” starring Emmy nominee Jason Bateman and one of the funniest ensembles in TV comedy, who taught viewers the meaning of “never nude,” spread a dangerous amount of misinformation about maritime law, and reminded everyone “that's why you always leave a note.”".
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