There’s always going to be an emphasis on how Designated Players perform in MLS, that comes with the territory of earning 20 times more than your teammates. And there’s always going to be an extra emphasis on Mexico’s internationals in the league, especially when they’re just 29 and stepping away from three years in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt.
There are some things that are inexcusable on the pitch, like throwing a punch, spitting on an opponent or stomping on a player. Then there are those that are unimaginable, like what happened during the Amed SK vs Sakaryaspor match on Saturday.
Amed SK vs Sakaryaspor is one of the bigger rivalries in Turkey’s third division, but there’s no excuse for what it appears Mansur Calar did on Saturday before the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.
During a match between Altos and River in Brazil’s Campeonato Piauiense, the league of the state of Piauí, Altos’ Humberto was clocked by River’s Biro Biro with a high boot to the face.
Thankfully, medical tests ruled out a fracture, but Humberto did suffer a concussion and is still under observation following Sunday’s incident. The Brazilian midfielder says he has no recollection of the event itself, but he returned to the pitch after the match looking like Quasimodo.
Last Saturday, Sporting Cristal defeated Sport Huancayo 2-0 in the Peruvian Primera División, but the game was marred by some Stephen King tomfoolery in the 39th minute.
With Cristal already leading 1-0, the club’s striker, Emanuel Herrera, chased a long ball over the top while clashing with Huancayo defender Luis Maldonado. Luckily for us, we’re also simultaneously treated to a classic moment in South American football: there’s a good boy flying down the wing in hot pursuit of the action.
When you think about LaLiga records, you’re automatically drawn to things like Lionel Messi’s haul of 405 goals and counting, Cristiano Ronaldo’s 34 hat-tricks and personal ratio of 1.07 goals per game, and Messi’s single-season record of 50 goals. Those are records that rightly seem untouchable; these are spectacular times indeed.
But in the land of Spain, in the confines of the Santiago Bernabéu, there is another record that’ll likely never be touched: Sergio Ramos’ collection of 20 red cards in LaLiga. Ramos' 20th in domestic play is a record across Europe's top five leagues.
Up in Minnesota, the polar vortex came, dropped temperatures to minus-28 degrees and went. Up next was some overnight freezing rain that left everything caked in ice on Monday morning. Some people took the opportunity to play ice hockey in the streets, some went about attempting to fix the situation — I'm talking about that hero the salt truck driver.
But just as we can ask who watches the watchmen, who salts for the saltmen?
This is Giancarlo Favarin, manager of Serie C club Lucchese. You’re not going to see much of him anymore, because he’s been banned for five months for unloading his cranium straight into the face of an opposing team's assistant coach. During the 2-2 draw between his side and rival Alessandria, Favarin also instructed one of his players to break an opponent’s legs. That’s also a big no-no when it comes to touchline etiquette.
During Sunday’s Segunda División B match between the Barcelona B squad and SD Ejea, 20-year-old Barca right back Moussa Wagué was sent off for clashing with an Ejea supporter while attempting to take a throw-in.
The match was played at the tight confines of Ejea’s 2,900-capacity Nuevo Estadio Municipal, and after Wagué went to collect the ball for a throw, a supporter tossed it away from him, resulting in the physical altercation.
It was around this time last year that we introduced Bruno Zuculini to you, our weary audience, as the maddest lad of them all. The Argentine spent the first half of the 2017-18 season at Hellas Verona, collecting three red cards and four yellows in just 15 starts. He was promptly sold to River Plate before he could build on his phenomenal record over the following months.
If I were to tell you that I’ve got a new highlight from Ricardo Quaresma to share, your first guess, of course, should be a ridiculous trivela from outside the area. That’s not what this footage concerns, but here’s that trivela goal against Iran that sent Portugal to the Round of 16 last summer.