Children between the ages of six and 11 have been banned from heading during practice by the English, Scottish and Irish FAs. The heading ban was announced on Monday following a landmark study into the correlation between footballers and brain disease.
With only 10 matches remaining in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League, the title race is being hotly contested between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns. Kaizer Chiefs currently holds a four-point lead at the top of the division, and Sundowns obviously can’t allow that gap to grow any larger.
Last Wednesday, Sundowns went to extreme lengths of shithousery to ensure that didn’t happen when hosting Bloemfontein Celtic at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
It’s a tactic that’s frequently implemented during elementary school recess, but its application at the professional level is far less pronounced: After a quick throw-in during a match in Romania between Makedonija Gjorce Petrov and Akademija Pandev, a defender chased after play with a spare ball in his hands before throwing it at the feet of the attacking player and knocking the live ball away.
South Korea’s K League was scheduled to begin play this weekend, but the growing coronavirus outbreak in the country has led to the temporary postponement of the competition. Outside of China, South Korea has been hit hardest by the virus with 833 reported cases and seven deaths. The epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea is the southeastern city of Daegu.
Argentine legend Diego Maradona is fondly remembered for his amazing goals and off-the-wall personality. Sadly, Maradona’s legacy also includes a notorious history of drug use, and while managing his struggling club Gimnasia in a recent Primera División match, Maradona was handed a suspicious small bag.
The coaching staff was then quick to block the view of the camera.
On Sunday night, following the racist abuse he suffered during Porto's 2-1 victory over Vitoria, Porto forward Moussa Marega took to social media and responded to the Vitoria fans who forced him to walk off the pitch in protest in the 72nd minute.
Marega wrote: “I would just like to tell these idiots who come to the stadium to make racist chants …. go fuck yourself. And I also thank the referees for not defending me and for giving me a yellow card because I defend my skin colour. I hope I never meet you on a football field again! YOU ARE A SHAME!!!!”
I’ve never played goalkeeper before, but I can imagine it’s pretty damn infuriating when an opponent stands directly between you and your distribution. I’m not trying to excuse the behavior of Tigres keeper Nahuel Guzmán — who absolutely lost it in those exact circumstances and attempted to punt a man — but I also can’t suppress a chuckle while he blatantly attempts to drive his knee up Eduardo Aguirre’s sphincter.
It’s been an excellent 24 hours for Tottenham’s Champions League aspirations.
For a club that’s won the FA Cup six times and made it to the final on 13 occasions (only Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal have more final appearances), Newcastle’s abysmal recent record in the competition is astounding.
Heading into Tuesday’s Fourth Round replay with third-tier Oxford United, Newcastle hadn’t advanced to the Fifth Round (the Round of 16) in 14 years — that’s despite the club being a Premier League side in each corresponding year apart from two.
The China women’s national football team is currently sitting in a hotel in Brisbane, Australia, under quarantine as precautions concerning the coronavirus outbreak continue. As of Monday, there are 12 confirmed cases in Australia.
The national team, consisting of 32 members, will be quarantined until Wednesday, Feb. 5. The team is scheduled to play three Olympic qualifying matches against Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Australia in Sydney this week and next week.