Global Football Odds & Ends

Vinho Tinto

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44637931

This saga is pretty crazy for a non-fan. Sporting fired their manager after nine days, four days after they fired de Carvalho, who hired the manager.
BdC wasn’t fired technically, but was voted out at an emergency general assembly. They have hired Jose Pesseiro to manage. He was their coach when they lost to CSKA in the UEFA Cup final in 2005. BdC went out with his typical tact by proclaiming that he would no longer support Sporting, rescind his membership, and never attend a club event.


There will be an open election for a new president in September.

After BdC’s dismissal, the club reached out to Jorge Jesus and Slimani to see if they would return. Both told them to screw. The club has confirmed that they have re-established a working relationship with Jorge Mendes.
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
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This doesn’t strike me as an odd or an end, but... DiMarzio is reporting Ronaldo to Juve.

I have loved this club since I remember learning how to cheer a team. Before the Sox. I don’t know if I can deal with Ronaldo.
 

dirtynine

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Dec 17, 2002
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This piece is a good overview of ancillary soccer-inspired brands turning into "real" clubs. It's interesting to me because I maintain a brand not unlike some of these entities (though they're much farther along with social media, mindshare etc.). Asbury Park FC in particular has long been a group I look up to.

The alchemy that turns digital into tangible is fascinating - not least in soccer.
 

Cellar-Door

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This post deeply confused me for a minute until I realized you are talking about Ronaldo, and not Di Canio.
Yeah, Ronaldo is by all accounts an incredibly generous and great guy, tons of charity work, always makes time for young fans no matter what. He's arrogant on the field, a bit whiny, but hey I think you can get away with that if you're maybe the greatest ever to play the world's most popular sport.

DiCanio who I should like as a West Ham fan I guess, is of course a facist asshole and generally a shitty person.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Interesting signing in the Persian Gulf Pro League... Tractor Sazi has signed recently-released Rangers mifielder Harry Forrester, first Englishman to play in Iran since before the Islamic Revolution in '79. No Western news sources on it that I could find but that is the jersey

 

Titans Bastard

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Interesting signing in the Persian Gulf Pro League... Tractor Sazi has signed recently-released Rangers mifielder Harry Forrester, first Englishman to play in Iran since before the Islamic Revolution in '79. No Western news sources on it that I could find but that is the jersey

John Toshack is the manager there?

 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Indeed. Took him two turns at Real Madrid to prove his mettle for Tractor Sazi (literally Tractor Factory) FC
 

Titans Bastard

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We are those who plays the victory march,
We are those who are immortal,
Hereoism is ours,
We're the head of Iran.
Azerbaijan is our land,
Tractor is our pride,
Courtesy and honor is our slogan,
Tractor is our pride.
We have faith in the strength of the union,
We have stood like the mountains,
We have traveled many arenas,
We have won many honors.
Azerbaijan is our land,
Tractor is our pride,
Courtesy and honor is our slogan,
Tractor is our pride.
 

mic99

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Jul 18, 2005
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Holy hell my former Celtic binky Anthony Stokes is also going to Tractor Sazi

Hopefully there aren't any Elvis impersonators in Iran.

In other news, West Belfast club Sport and Leisure Swifts are changing their name to Belfast Celtic. Belfast Celtic folded in 1948 after the team was attacked by Linfield supporters.

"When we had nothing, we had Belfast Celtic;
When we had Belfast Celtic, we had everything"
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Hopefully there aren't any Elvis impersonators in Iran.

In other news, West Belfast club Sport and Leisure Swifts are changing their name to Belfast Celtic. Belfast Celtic folded in 1948 after the team was attacked by Linfield supporters.

"When we had nothing, we had Belfast Celtic;
When we had Belfast Celtic, we had everything"
That should be interesting, since there's already a team in the same league called Donegal Celtic that play in Belfast, wear green and white hoops, and consider themselves the spiritual successor to Belfast Celtic.
 

Zomp

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Bit of sad news to report.

I'm not sure how many people remember World Football Daily (and then World Soccer Daily), but Kenny Hassan just tweeted yesterday that he's having some major health issues. Cancer in his neck, brain hemorrhage, brain fracture, etc...

To be honest I haven't thought much about WFD in years but seeing his tweet yesterday sent me back to when I used to listen to it every day. Out of the two hosts he was always the better listen. Steven Cohen played his role well but towards the end he became a caricature. Anyway, I think there were more listeners on here aside from myself (I actually called in a few times) so it was worth posting.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Steven Cohen played his role well but towards the end he became a caricature.
He was more than a caricature, he actively trolled Liverpool fans by spouting all the lies about Hillsborough that came right out of the infamous issue of the S*n. He kept it up to the point where Chelsea (his favorite club) actively distanced themselves from him, so he ended up renouncing his fandom. He was a bitter asshole.

Sucks to hear that about Hassan, though.
 

Vinho Tinto

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I still follow Kenny on Twitter and saw his post. Terrible to read.

Trolling families who lost loved ones made Cohen a special level of asshole. He and Nick Geber are no longer on speaking terms.
 

wonderland

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Jul 20, 2005
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See that Manchester City crossed the £500m barrier last season. They joined Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

I know they increased the size of their stadium but I’m pretty surprised by this as I’ve never seen that much evidence they are in the same stratosphere as those other clubs. I know they have a great naming rights deal but something doesn’t add up for me. I would’ve thought Chelsea, Liverpool, or Arsenal would’ve cracked the mark before City.
 

Titans Bastard

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Ballou Tabla has chosen to play for Canada, which is a very important get for our neighbors to the north. The fear is that he would be yet another dual national lost (to Ivory Coast, in this case).

 

PedroSpecialK

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Considering Ronaldo is reportedly now suing Der Spiegel this probably warrants its own thread.

I don’t have much to add, other than that while I hope this incident didn’t happen, if the accounts in the Der Spiegel are at all accurate, this sounds pretty damning for CR7.
 

Kliq

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Yeah I've seen him play in Football Aid before; he actually has some legitmate technical skills, in addition to being 6'6" and literally the fastest person who has ever lived.
 

InstaFace

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It's funny though, because he's had some stamina issues.
as you'd expect.

not that the two are in the same league, but I've seen a lot of american football players wander onto the ultimate frisbee field in rec leagues over the years. Many are cocky about it, expecting to just roll these geeks. They might make a good cut on their first point, but they end that point huffing and puffing. By the third point where they're asked to cut (and defend cuts) happening every 5-10 seconds, with jogging in between, they're absolutely destroyed.

Training to do something once for a few seconds, or even once every minute for a few seconds (with breathers in between), is totally different conditioning from the endurance and continuous work required from a soccer player. Bolt might get there, but for now I'm surprised he's even starting rather than coming in off the bench.
 

DJnVa

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Bolt might get there, but for now I'm surprised he's even starting rather than coming in off the bench.
It was just a friendly. He doesn't have a contract for season yet.
 
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Titans Bastard

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Bummer for Atlanta and MLS in general.
Agreed. Not a huge shock, though: Martino's stint managing Paraguay from 2007-11 was the only job he's held for more than two years.

I don't think Atlanta will find a replacement of Martino's stature, but they should be able to attract someone good.
 

Cellar-Door

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A really good manager who is almost certainly better than whatever hero of mediocrity USSF chooses. Of course he was never considered for USMNT because he doesn't speak enough English.
 

Cellar-Door

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Not a bad thing big picture wise if successful MLS stints are good stepping stones to big jobs
Yeah I guess, but Tata was seen as slumming it. I don't think anyone sees China as a stepping stone based on big names they brought in for a year or 2 that then returned to big jobs
 

Titans Bastard

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I don't think it's a bad thing if, in the span of six months, three MLS managers were lured away to El Tri, OGC Nice, and an assistant job for a upper-half Bundesliga club.
 

Titans Bastard

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Thomas Dooley, who played in the 1994 WC and captained the 1998 WC team after Harkes got himself kicked off the team, managed the Philippines from 2014-18. His contract wasn't renewed earlier this year and has now been replaced by.....Sven-Göran Eriksson.
 

Zososoxfan

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River beat Gremio last night in an absurd match to win their Libertadores Semifinal tie on away goals (2-2 aggregate). This match included a red card for Gremio at '88, a VAR penalty at '95, and ultimately ended after 15 minutes (!) of extra time. Boca and Palmeiras play the return leg of the other semifinal tonight in Sao Paolo with Boca ahead 2-0. If Boca can see this through, it will be a Superclasico Libertadores final and will prominently feature mayhem.

 

Zososoxfan

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It's the Superclasico Boca-River for the Libertadores final, the first time the archrivals have met in the finals of this cup. The final is a 2-legged affair. Originally slated for 11/7 at La Bombonera and 11/28 at El Monumental, the G20 summit begins in BA on 11/7 and may shift the match dates due to security protocols.
 

mic99

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It's the Superclasico Boca-River for the Libertadores final, the first time the archrivals have met in the finals of this cup. The final is a 2-legged affair. Originally slated for 11/7 at La Bombonera and 11/28 at El Monumental, the G20 summit begins in BA on 11/7 and may shift the match dates due to security protocols.
2-1 Boca HT of first leg
 

mic99

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Boca River second leg tomorrow.

Huge college football day but I would not miss this one. I just watched a video of Boca's training session from this week with the entire stadium filled. It really is something special.