Touching is good. It’s a display of endearment, a bonding behavior, an affectionate act.
Touching is bad. It’s a display of aggression, a divisive behavior, a violent act.
Contrary to popular belief, referees are people too. They like good touch. They don’t like bad touch. On Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo did a bad touch. The referee didn’t like it. Ronaldo is suspended five matches.
The 2017 Copa Libertadores round of 16 wrapped up last Thursday, and among the advancing quarterfinalists will be some of the usual South American powers. Traditional favorites will be three-time winners River Plate and Santos, two-time champions Gremio and 2014 victors San Lorenzo.
But four remaining sides have never captured the Copa Libertadores trophy in their history: Brazil’s Botafogo, Argentina’s Lanus, Ecuador’s Barcelona and Bolivia’s Jorge Wilstermann.
If you’ve ever refereed at any level of the game, you’ll know that the job’s garments ain’t no thang. The referee’s jersey is comfortably oversized, lightweight and sensible, what with its dual pockets and smart collar. Hell, you’ve probably slightly copped out and pretended to be the legendary Pierluigi Collina for Halloween. It’s fun to record peoples’ indiscretions into a little book and theatrically show them a card, all while lounging comfortably.
But outside of Halloween and off the pitch, it’s never been entirely socially acceptable to dress like a ref.
July 8th marks a tragic date that Ajax will not soon forget. It was on this day that 20-year-old Abdelhak “Appie” Nouri collapsed during a friendly against Werder Bremen due to cardiac arrhythmia. Tragically, the young footballer suffered severe and permanent brain damage as a result. As of July 25th, Appie is no longer in an induced coma and is able to breathe on his own again.
On the pitch, Appie was named the 2016-17 Eerste Player of the Year as a member of Jong Ajax (the second team), and he was expected to make an impact this year in the Eredivisie with the first team.
Dogs are good. Soccer dogs are especially good. A soccer team walking on the field with soccer dogs instead of children as mascots is just so incredibly good we can't even contain ourselves.
Chilean side Colo Colo walked out with some soccer dogs looking to be adopted before Colo Colo's match against Antofagasta. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, but my guess is no one noticed because they were entranced by the good dogs.
In a recent New York Times article by Andrew Keh, the writer delved into the strange but fascinating world of Finnish sports. One famous event Keh chronicled is the Swamp Soccer World Championships, a 20-year-old competition that now draws more than 2,000 people annually.
Former Chapecoense goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, one of three players to survive the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster, shared an Instagram video on Monday celebrating a remarkable milestone in his recovery process. Follmann had his right leg amputated because of the accident, but he’s now running again with the use of a prosthetic.
Brothers: you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. After years of what may have been some separation anxiety plying their trades thousands of miles away from each other, Jonathan and Giovani dos Santos may play on the same club team again.