Shocking

Croatia’s Captain Testing Positive For COVID-19 At Halftime Shows Stupidity Of International Friendlies

Croatia’s captain and center back Domagoj Vida was surprisingly substituted at halftime during Wednesday’s friendly match against Turkey. It was only later revealed why Vida was taken out so early. His COVID test from that morning had come back positive.

Vida was quickly isolated from the team and further testing revealed he was indeed positive. This means that he played a full 45 while potentially spreading the virus to teammates and opponents.

Quiz: Can You Guess If These Crazy Soccer Stats Are True?

A stat crossed my timeline the other day showing that Lionel Messi has 35 goals from direct free kicks for Barcelona over the last decade. That in and of itself is impressive, but perhaps even more extraordinary is the fact that Messi's free kick total is higher than any other club in Europe's top five leagues during that span.

Watch Unluckiest Guy In The World Hit The Woodwork Four Times In A Span Of Five Minutes

An Israeli striker put on one of the most impressive displays in modern history of being so bad that he’s good. 

Eli Elbaz had the most ridiculous five minutes of his career on Monday in the second division of Israeli soccer. With his team Sektzia Ness Ziona, which he had just joined on Nov. 2, leading 1-0, Elbaz was brought on as a substitute in the 81st minute to put the nail in the coffin.

Samuel Eto’o Escapes Head-On Collision With Bus Uninjured

Former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o was taken to the hospital over concern from his involvement in a nasty car crash near the town of Nkongsamba, Cameroon, on Sunday.

Reports say that Eto’o was driving home from a wedding when a public transportation bus collided with his car head-on. He was taken to the hospital with fears of a head injury, but BBC Sport reported he escaped the incident unscathed.

Zlatan Takes Himself Off Penalty Kick Duties

Zlatan Ibrahimovic might leave AC Milan's next penalty to team mate Franck Kessie, he said after missing his third spot kick of the season in their 2-2 draw with Verona on Sunday.

The 39-year-old later scored Milan's equalizer in stoppage time but not even that could diminish his frustration.

“Any Little Thing” Can Hurt Frail Real Madrid, Says Zinedine Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side could not hide behind the referee's decisions or their injury and illness woes after they stumbled to a 4-1 defeat at Valencia on Sunday.

Real conceded three penalties for the first time in their history, all of which were scored by Valencia's Carlos Soler, while Raphael Varane also scored an own goal, after Karim Benzema had given the champions the lead.

Watch Player Get Sent Off For… Getting The Ball Back From Out Of Bounds?

The Édgar Méndez red card that took place in the 34th minute between Alavés and Levante will be a strong contender for the oddest sending off of the season.

Méndez was shown his first yellow card in the 24th minute. Then, ten minutes later, he was bizarrely booked a second time and given a red card after retrieving a ball that went out of bounds and passing it onto the field.

Russia Drops Team Captain After He Makes Nation Uncomfortable In Private Video Leak

Russia's national football team said on Sunday it would not be calling up its captain Artem Dzyuba for upcoming international matches this month to shield him from negative publicity.

Its statement followed the leak of an private video online on Saturday, which TASS news agency said showed a man similar to the 32-year-old Dzyuba, who is also the striker for Zenit St. Petersburg. There was no suggestion of any controversial behavior in the video and it was not clear how it had leaked.

Team Scores 15 Seconds From Kickoff After 6 Passes Without Opposing Team Touching Ball Once

Conceding immediately after kickoff is a FIFA video game tradition unlike any other. For some unholy reason, opponents will slice through your team like a hot knife through butter after a kickoff. Every so often this event of a fast kickoff goal takes place in the real world.

No kickoff goal will be faster than that poor Spanish goalkeeper scoring a late goal and then immediately getting lobbed from kickoff. We have found a close second though.

Man United Concedes One Of The Worst Goals In UCL History During Defeat To Başakşehir

With Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw playing the roles of marauding fullbacks, Axel Tuanzebe the false center back, Bruno Fernandes the floating No. 10, Donny van de Beek the floating No. 8 and Juan Mata and Nemanja Matić the taxidermied zebras, Manchester United produced the sort of display that makes you wonder why Mauricio Pochettino is still out of a job on Wednesday.

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