18-year-old referee Fahd Abbou El Mourabit was punched and knocked unconscious while refereeing a match in Zaragoza, Spain. According to Australian television network SBS, the match was between Miralbueno and San Juan in the regional first division.
After awarding a second penalty against Miralbueno in the game’s opening 28 minutes, El Mourabit was brutally attacked by a player and punched multiple times.
Given the way in which David Luiz was tackled by Sergio Aguero at the weekend and considering the short fuse on Luiz himself, many people were expecting an angry reaction from the Brazilian. As it turns out, that couldn't have been further from the truth.
The Derby della Capitale was drenched in narrative. In a sporting context, the word narrative might well be overused to the point of meaninglessness, but there’s not many other ways in which to focus on the 90-minute battle between Lazio and Roma that took place on Sunday.
In purely sporting terms, it was a fascinating game. Roma, second in the league and easily fulfilling their role as perpetual also-rans, came up against arch-rivals Lazio, who were themselves only a point behind.
It simply doesn’t get any more embarrassing or unprofessional than this. Trailing Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the English Championship on Saturday, Preston had both their strikers sent off in the final minutes after nearly coming to blows and being separated by teammates.
Eoin Doyle had halved the Preston deficit in the 82nd minute, but he and strike partner Jermaine Beckford were subsequently shown straight reds for violent conduct in the 90th minute.
The record for the fastest red card ever in soccer is somewhat dubious: is it limited to professionals? What about amateur leagues? Does the player actually have to play a second before being sent off? These are the kinds of ridiculous variables you must factor into determining the fastest red card ever in soccer.
According to the Guardian, there have been a number of instances when substitutes have been sent off without having ever played a second in the match.
OK, so the image above doesn't actually have Henrik Larsson in it, or savage dogs, which might make this all seem a bit misleading, but it's not. I promise. You see, that picture is actually of Henrik Larsson's son, Jordan Larsson. The elder Larsson is manager of Helsingborg, and the younger Larsson is a player.
Helsingborg just got relegated from the Swedish first division. The above picture is of Helsingborg ultras running on the field and trying to rip Jordan Larsson's jersey off.
With "The Walking Dead" once again gracing our television screens, it felt appropriate to tie in some interesting comparisons to the weird world of football. Although the likes of Ronaldo and Messi don't exactly fight hordes of the undead on a daily basis, there are some players that you'd have to back when it comes to fighting off walkers in a post apocalyptic world.
Now, we aren't saying that any of these men even remotely come close to the likes of Rick Grimes or Daryl Dixon, but they'd certainly not be too concerned with getting blood on their hands.
This, um, is not how you're supposed to act during a soccer game. You're supposed to be nice and play soccer. UMass Boston did neither of these things, unless you count punting the ball into a guy's face as "playing soccer".
We do not count punting the ball into the guy's face as "playing soccer", although we will note that of the five violent things UMass Boston players did in that video, that was the least-violent thing. Punting a ball is less violent that elbowing, eye-raking, headlocking and headbutting.
On a day when we've questioned everything and discussed some of the stranger red card offenses in the history of the game, this should come as no surprise. In Sunday's draw between Greece and Bosnia we witnessed one of the most ridiculous red cards of all-time. The culprit was Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko, who earned a second yellow by stripping Greece's Sokratis.
It's normal to high five your teammates or jump for joy after scoring a goal — everyone has their own way of celebrating. These players took their celebrations to the next level and were quickly penalized for their actions.
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