footballcircus: Move over Mario, it's all about Ibra this week

Burgers in Paris, prison vans in Bucharest and nameless jerseys in Spain. All covered in one Thursday published blog. It can only mean one thing. It's time for this week's Football Circus!

Zlatan's Got Beef

You've heard of the Big Mac, now it's time for the Big Zlat as PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had a burger named after him.

The Swedish forward has made quite an impact since arriving in the French capital, so much so that a Parisian cafe have created 'Le Zlatan' burger, a 600 gram burger that even Ibrahimovic himself would struggle to finish. The cafe in question, Doddy's, have said they wanted to create a burger '"in the image of Zlatan Ibrahimovic".

Like Ibrahimovic the burger won't come cheap either. A whopper pricetag of €29.90 has been put on the burger. Despite packing in mince beef, onion, cheese and bacon (we're not drooling, honestly) even the high paid stars of PSG would find it hard to justify forking out that kind of money on a burger.

But it's not all about overpriced burgers for Ibrahimovic. While he may come across as a just another overpaid money-driven footballer but the man clearly has a heart of gold. After PSG's 3-0 Champions League victory against Benfica this week, he got on a plane to Sarajevo in order to meet a dying eight year old boy whose dream was to meet the PSG star. The boy only has a month to live and he had made it clear that meeting Zlatan was his dying wish.

Steaua Owner Predicts Score from Prison Van

Steaua Bucharest owner Gigi Becali is currently serving a three year prison sentence for land corruption, a sentence which he began serving in May this year. He attended court on Tuesday and whilst being transported there from his prison cell by police van, he made clear that he remained up to date with his side's fixture list.

Steaua took on Chelsea in the Champion's League later that evening and Becali gestured from the small window of the van that Steaua would secure a 2-0 victory.

While happy to oblige journalists and photographers with his prediction for the match, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was not granted a visit with Becali. The Special One and Becali have a relationship dating back 16 years according to Mourinho and as Chelsea were in Bucharest, he wanted to visit a man he considers a friend. Mourinho told Romania's Dolce Sport:

"When I first came here, I think 16 years ago, I met Giovanni Becali, his family, his entourage. He always treated me very well and became one of my most important contacts in Romania from a football perspective.

"Giovanni Becali is part of my family. I hope everything goes well for Gigi and his family soon."

The Steaua owner however had no desire for Mourinho to see him in his current state. His agent, speaking to Digi24 website, said:

"I sent Gigi Mourinho's desire to visit him in prison but my cousin refused.

"He said he does not want to be seen in such a situation by a man like Mourinho.

"Jose thinks of Gigi as part of his family so this desire of his is not surprising."

Becali may not be as in touch with football as he thinks as his 2-0 prediction was well off the mark, with Chelsea running out 4-0 winners against Steaua.

Marica Wears A Football Shirt, Not a Big Girl's Blouse

Getafe have signed Romanian international Ciprian Marica on a free transfer this week after he was released from former club Schalke this past summer. A relatively modest signing, but not one that is likely to fall under the radar due to the player's name.

Marica when translated to Spanish means 'sissy' and the manly Romanian most certainly does not wish to be seen as or called a sissy.

He has therefore made the rather unorthodox decision to either display his first name on the back of his jersey, or possibly have no name on the jersey at all.

Will the commentators remain silent when Marica is in possession? Will the fans pipe down for lack of having a chant to associate with him? Time will tell, but Mr. Marica, we at Football Circus believe you are fooling nobody. You big sissy!

Italian Football Story of the Week

- Birthday Wishes Roll in for Roma Captain Totti

Francesco Totti turned 37 last weekend and the milestone did not go unrecognised by his club Roma. The club had a plane fly over their training ground, Trigoria, with a banner displaying "History speaks for you. Best wishes, Super Captain".

Roma Channel, the team's official television station, aired a special programme dedicated to Totti. Teammates, fans, staff members and even his father paid tribute to 'Super Captain'. Daniele De Rossi, Totti's teammate and Roma vice captain commented:

"It’s Capitan Futuro speaking here and giving my heartfelt best wishes. But this nickname feels more like a sentence, since you’ll never quit. I’ll make myself an armband that says ‘vice captain’. This year has started like the kind we always hope for, and maybe we can even end it in a special way. Remember that for your next contract we’ll both have to act as management again".

Roma manager Rudi Garcia also told Totti "You’re young at heart", while general director Mauro Baldissoni got in on the act, informing the striker, "You’re like Benjamin Button; every year you get younger".

Totti capped off the perfect birthday weekend as he played in Roma's 5-0 thrashing of Bologna, a result which saw Roma go top of Serie A.