We were just doodling along in soccer Internet land when we came across an item from the BBC concerning disgraced former FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter.
"Well!" we thought to ourselves. "That certainly is interesting! We wonder how the old boy's suspension, erm, retirement is going!"
Not well, as it turnsout. From the article
It’s all done and dusted with Neymar penning an improved deal to keep him at Barcelona until 2021, but just imagine what could’ve been. According to Neymar’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, the 24-year-old Brazilian captain came exceptionally close to joining either Manchester United or PSG over the summer.
The annual Bundesliga Playa Haters’ Ball has commenced within the Bundesliga’s official YouTube channel, and there’s one clear target: the Bundesliga’s newest arrival after promotion, RB Leipzig.
Last season, soccer fans all over the world were treated to perhaps the greatest underdog story ever told, a Leicester City Premier League championship. The Foxes entered the season with 5,000 to one odds to win the title, and as the favorite of many pundits to be relegated out of the Premier League.
However, they shocked the soccer world and won the Premier League championship with a 10-point cushion, running away with the trophy. Now, the question becomes "can Leicester City repeat as Premier League champions? Surely, if they did it once, they can do it again, right?"
Real Madrid and Atletico madrid were handed transfer bans (for the next two windows) related to the signing of youth players from foreign countries, and now FIFA has upheld those bans. Real and Atletico wil not be able to register new players until the January 2018 transfer window.
From a FIFA statement on the appeal rejection:
We love a good manager tiff, and no two managers in soccer have been more consistently tiff-some in the last few years than Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger. Their long and storied history of passive-aggressive sniping is a shining example for those of us who count being petty as a hobby.
There was that time Mourinho called Wenger a "specialist in failure" and refused to apologize, that time Wenger said Mourinho was afraid of failure and that time Mourinho called Wenger a "voyeur."
And now there is a new entry into the pair's long lesson in managerial grudge-holding.
After two months on the sideline following the injury he suffered during the Euro 2016 Final, Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to make his 2016-17 La Liga bow with Real Madrid.
The Portuguese forward spoke at the launch of his new perfume, saying: “I am fine, I’m going to play.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s signing for Manchester United is the final big European stop for a man who has found success in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France. The questions surrounding his ability to succeed in the Premier League, while undoubtedly a media creation, still seem to fuel his desire to stay at the top of his game at 34 years of age.
Imagine how great the world would be if every footballer behaved like Gigi Buffon. The 38-year-old Juventus and Italy goalkeeper is an absolute legend, equally famous for his remarkable career between the posts and his overall character. In recent years Buffon has endeared himself to fans around the world with his charismatic signing of the Italian national anthem, writing an emotional letter to the goal he defends, and playing keeper during a game with children.
They came, they saw, they conquered. That’s the American plan for FC Barcelona and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu following the opening of a Barca office in New York on Tuesday.
The Empire State Building projected the Blaugrana colors, Ronaldinho completed the ribbon-cutting ceremony with a signature no-look pass into a mini-goal and the Barcelona flag was hoisted outside Barca’s new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.