When Germany takes to the pitch in Rennes, France, on June 8 to open its Women’s World Cup campaign against China, it’ll do so wearing a jersey that’s synonymous with triumph in German footballing lore. For most, the style evokes memories of Italia ’90, the men’s World Cup where Germany went on to capture its third title in that competition.
The Edinburgh Derby, the fierce rivalry between Hearts of Midlothian and Hibernian, saw its 645th edition played on Saturday at Tynecastle Stadium, home of Hearts.
The match didn’t quite have the fireworks of their meeting in November, which saw an assistant referee assaulted, a coach hit by a coin and a goalkeeper punched by a fan.
But there was a coconut.
The first Old Firm Derby of 2019 was fiery and passionate as ever. Rangers travelled to Celtic Park with hopes of catching up to its hated rivals in the SPL title race on Sunday. The match did not disappoint. A total of six cards came out of the ref’s pocket, two of them red.
Scottish football has been the butt of the joke in the British Isles for quite some time now. The Scottish Premier League, or SPL, has been trying to fight the stereotype that Scottish football is terrible via an active YouTube page. The Scottish national team has been including new and talented young players that ply their trade in a diverse number of high level leagues across Europe in order to show that Scottish football is indeed quality.
With Rangers drawing 0-0 with St. Johnstone on Saturday, Celtic took to the pitch Sunday knowing that a victory over Kilmarnock would open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership with only seven matches remaining before the league splits into two sections for the final five games.
Accordingly, it was a furious game at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park which saw two players sent off. First, Kilmarnock’s Kirk Broadfoot was sent off in the 75th minute for a late challenge on Scott Brown.
Goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas made a penalty and then saved one moments later to send Rangers past AS Roma at the Al Kass International Cup, a U-17 club competition growing in prestige every year, on Friday in Doha, Qatar.
The teams were tied 1-1 through regulation, sending the match immediately to a shootout. Tied 3-3 after the first five spot kicks, both teams traded goals in the first five rounds of sudden death, including both goalkeepers converting on the 10th attempt (both teams had been reduced to 10 men through the course of the match).
Timothy Weah notched his third goal in five appearances for Celtic on Sunday after coming on as a late substitute against St. Johnstone and turning the game on its head. The 18-year-old American has only played a total of 142 minutes for the Scottish giants, but, on average, it’s taking him only 47 minutes per goal. The teenager has probably forced himself into Brendan Rodgers’ starting 11 after today’s display.
Tim Weah, the 18-year-old American, wasn’t getting much playing time at PSG. This was no surprise, with the likes of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar ahead of him in the pecking order.
So Weah went on loan to Celtic earlier this month in search of more playing time.
That playing time has arrived and it didn’t take long for Weah to show new manager Brendan Rodgers what he can do.
There's been a lot of news surrounding American players abroad in Europe lately.
It’s hard to get too excited about Scottish football these days. Sure, Rangers are back giving some sort of challenge to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, but neither side has done anything interesting in Europe in recent years and the national team still can’t qualify for a major tournament (though at least it got promoted from UEFA Nations League C). In a perfect encapsulation of Scottish football these days is a five-second clip from the Old Firm Derby highlights on Saturday.