It's been less than a week after many European domestic leagues returned to action and the World Cup is now a distant memory, but what a week it's been. Between some shocking scorelines and surprising transfers, the football world has once again provided plenty of entertainment. Here at Football Circus, we endeavour to bring you some of the most entertaining football stories of the week and with tales of pitch invaders who get a bit too close to the action, tattooed heads and mis-reported deaths, we think you'll be quite satisfied this week...
Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week
"And with four minutes gone, the score is already 0-0".
- Ian Darke
Pitch Invaders
Pitch invaders featured rather heavily in last weekend's football action. Two such pitch invaders appeared during Premier League matches, suggesting that security in the league may need to be revised. Luckily for all involved, the pitch invaders caused no trouble, merely raised a few smiles.
Our first pitch invader appeared during the West Ham-Tottenham match at Upton Park. As Spurs' Andros Townsend lined up a free kick, a fan ran onto the pitch and past Townsend. He proceeded to take Townsend's free kick, though his effort went straight into the hands of Hammers keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. Seconds later, he was being taken away by stewards and his flirtation with fame over.
One would have thought that given what had gone on at Upton Park on Saturday, security at Premier League stadiums would have been even more vigilant about pitch invaders on Sunday. However one Sergio Aguero-loving Man City fan managed to jump the barriers and make his way onto the pitch at St. James' Park. Aguero was approached by the fan who kissed him and asked for his jersey, only for the Argentine striker to remind him that it was not an appropriate time.
However the weekend's best pitch invader, in our view, was in Poland. Outdoing the aforementioned free kick-taker and player-kisser, a Real Madrid fan took to the field in Warsaw during Real Madrid's friendly with Fiorentina. This was no ordinary pitch invader though, as this fan donned a full Real kit (with Ronaldo 7 on his jersey) and boots. He attempted to con all in sundry that he was in fact a Real player. He even came close to controlling the ball while in the opposition box during a corner. Not long after this however, Real's Karim Benzema recognised that his new 'teammate' was a little more hefty than the others and pretty soon the game was up the dedicated imposter. Ten out of ten for effort though!
Man-U Nutter!
We've encountered many ridiculous football-related tattoos since our inception in spring 2013, but this week we think we've found the worst yet. Manchester United fan Manchester United (you did not read that wrong), formerly Zdravkov Levidzhov, has gotten a tattoo of the club's crest on his head.
The 50 year old Bulgarian, who owns a cat called David Beckham, had his name legally changed to Manchester Zdravkov Levidzhov United in 1999 following the team's Champions League final victory over Bayern munich.
Fifteen years on, and the United fanatic has taken things a step further, getting the club crest tattooed onto his forehead, which he believes is the ultimate name tag. The bachelor told the Sun newspaper:
"The tattoo's my ID card. People don't look at me in a funny way, they look in admiration."
"Now, whenever someone asks my name, I point to my forehead and smile. It makes me stand out and proves my loyalty to United.
The Sun published the picture below of the lunatic.
Fake Cruyff Story is Dead Stupid
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant got themselves into a spot of bother this week when they, while testing their new app, ran a story that Ajax and Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff had died. Seemingly, the story was used as a test for internal software but was accidentally let go live. Social media quickly had the story spreading like wildfire.
Editor of De Volkskrant, Philippe Remarque, has issued an apology for the error:
"On behalf of Volkskrant I offer my apologies to Johan Cruyff and anyone who has been upset by this. The app was tested this morning with fake stories, and a technician came up with this as a way of testing a major breaking news story. By mistake it appeared with this headline".
In a similarly veined fire-dousing exercise, the newspaper tweeted:
"Due to an error on our new test site, we accidentally published a message about the death of Johan Cruyff. We’re sorry".
League of Ireland Fixture is a Sham-bles
Shamrock Rovers and their fans travelled to fierce Dublin rivals Bohemians' Dalymount Park on Monday night, only to be told 45 minutes prior to kick off that the match would not take place. Why? Because the penalty spot was dodgy!
The Rovers-Bohs rivallry is perhaps the most tenacious in Ireland and the league match between the pair had been highly anticipated. While Irish pitches may not be ranked among the best in Europe, the referee decided that the travelling fans, players and staff would have to head home, simply because of a divot around the penalty spot.
The referee made the decision after consulting the managers of both teams. It has been suggested that this was in spite of influence from local Gardai (the Irish police force), who would have preferred the match to have gone ahead in order to avoid a coming together of rival fans outside the ground.
The FAI (Football Association of Ireland), later released a statement on the matter:
"The Football Association of Ireland today (August 18) confirmed that following a pitch inspection, this evening’s SSE Airtricity League Premier Division game between Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers has been postponed.
"The decision was made by Tomás Connolly, the referee in charge of the fixture, after he inspected the pitch and deemed it unplayable due to repair work that has been carried out inappropriately.
"A new date for the fixture will be announced in due course".
What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?
Countless footballers have been uploading their 'ice bucket' challenge videos this month. The premise being they must have a bucket of ice thrown over them, then nominate somebody else. Rocket science, it is not. We've seen everyone from Lionel Messi...
...to Steven Gerard...
...to Cristiano Ronaldo (careful with this one it's bordering on soft porn).
If it weren't for the fact that the videos are to raise awareness for ALS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis), quite frankly, we wouldn't care less about any of them...bar one.
Yes, Super Mario has uploaded his very own ice bucket challenge and he goes about it in typically brash Balotelli fashion.
In other social media related activity, Balo has uploaded an Instagram photo this week of Super Mario meeting Super Mario.
In less jovial news for Mad Mario, talk is rife following the appointment of Antonio Conte as Italy manager this week, that Balo's international career could be in trouble.
In a press conference, when asked specifically about Balotelli's international future, Conte responded:
"I can't talk about individuals".
When pressed further, Conte hinted that his assessment of Balotelli maybe based more on behaviour than performance:
"Between a good player who is an excellent guy and an excellent player who is a good sort I always choose the former".
While his international career may be stalling, there could be some massive movement for his club career as it appears Super Mario may finally be on his way out of Milan. Balo is reportedly on the brink of a move back to the Premier League with Liverpool being the destination. Milan are said to have accepted a £16 million from Liverpool. All that remains is for the player to agree personal terms with the Reds. This could be very interesting indeed. Stay tuned...
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Conte Named Italy Coach
Antonio Conte has this week been appointed as the new coach of the Italian national side. A mere 35 days after parting ways with club side Juventus, Conte now takes over the reigns of the Azzuri who are still reeling from the embarrassment of going out of the 2014 World Cup at the group stage.
Despite confidence perhaps being at a low, Conte believes he can turn around the fortunes of the Italian side. Said Conte:
"The players are the same that come from a disappointing experience but we have great players.
"I am very convinced we can rise up again because Italy has to be among the top teams in the world.
"I didn’t expect to be in this position 35 days after leaving (Juventus). In my head I was going to travel around Europe, improve my languages. I was expecting to wait for a top club in Europe, maybe during the season or at the end.
"I like tough challenges. I’m bringing my mentality here. I live for winning. The difference between victory and defeat is for me the same as between life and death".
Artist's Impression of the Week
- "Too Close for Comfort"; New techniques adopted by pitch invaders including kissing and wearing full replica kits, are leaving players feeling a little uneasy.
Football Recommendation of the Week
- Match of the Day; Match of the Day turns 50 this weekend and we can't think of any more deserving a recommendation this week than this institution of Saturday evenings.
Non-Football Recommendation of the Week
- The Inbetweeners Movie 2; Better than the first? Perhaps. Hilarious? Definitely.
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