Soccer Sorcery

You might not think that a man with a powerful beard and his own vineyard like Andrea Pirlo would have any time for video games, but you would be very, very wrong. The 33-year-old Juventus midfielder has a new biography out now entitled "I think therefore I play" and James Horncastle wrote an excellent piece for ESPN on a section in the book about Pep Guardiola, who tried to buy Pirlo from Milan when he was still at Barcelona. But within this tale is the revelation that Pirlo really football video games. From ESPN: "After the wheel, the best invention is the PlayStation," he claims. To say Pirlo picks up a controller every now and again is an understatement. Though he can't precisely recall how many football games he has played on it, he estimates that it's "at least four times" more than in real life. When Pirlo was with Milan, he and defender Alessandro Nesta would have regular Playstation sessions based around their training schedule. And it w...

At the very end of ITV's interview with Jose Mourinho following Real Madrid's attempt to come back from a 4-1 first-leg deficit against Borussia Dortmund, Mourinho started to open up about where he'll be next season. Speculation has been heavy for months now that Mourinho would return to Chelsea since his time in Madrid has turned sour with infighting and less than absolute support from the fans. And fresh off coming within a goal of advancing to the Champions League final for the first time in his three years with the club, Mourinho admitted his immediate future could very well be elsewhere. "Maybe next season with Real?" the ITV reporter asked after saying he had to wrap the interview up. "Maybe not," Mourinho replied with a melancholy look. "Where?" he was asked. "I don't know but, I want to be where I love to be, where people love me to be.." But the age old rush to get to the nightly news on time prompted the frazzled reporte...

Milan have released a statement on their official website debunking a salacious quote attributed to Mario Balotelli by news organizations far and wide. Spanish outlets AS and Marca started it all by publishing brief items that claimed the Milan striker said, "If Real Madrid comes back against Borussia Dortmund and make it to the final of the Champions League, I will let my girlfriend sleep with all the players." Neither said who he told this to or why it should be believed to be true. And yet, that didn't stop major outlets all over the world from parroting the story and gleefully jumping on the pageview gravy train. So, the day of Real Madrid's attempt to come back from 4-1 down to Dortmund in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal, Milan confirmed that the quote was false . AC Milan deny what is published today by the "Corriere della Sera", referring to the British tabloid "The Sun", concerning alleged statements made by Mario Bolot...

Apparently feeling quite confident with Bayern Munich's 4-0 lead over Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 lead on Real Madrid after the first legs of the Champions League semifinals, Sky Sports Germany quite literally sticks it to Spain in their new ad. The video opens with an empty bull fighting arena. The bull fighter enters and before we can see more than his feet, we hear his wails of pain. He is then revealed to be a fat, disheveled and mustachioed old man with Bayern and Dortmund flags planted in his rear end. The video ends with the words "Adios amigos! The way to Wembley." If the results themselves don't make bull-fightingaficionadoSergio Ramos sad, this ad will.

On Saturday, Internacional played So Defende in the final of the Copa Sul dos Campees, an amateur competition held in the city of Cricima. After Internacional took the lead, things turned controversial when a So player was given a red card for apparently punching an opponent. In his wisdom, referee Edsio Weber also decided to send off the Inter player who had been punched to the ground, sparking an outraged reaction from his teammates. This climaxed when the Internacional coach took to the field to choke the bewildered ref, in the fashion of Homer Simpson administering punishment to his son... The match somehow continued, as did unnecessary abuse of the officials: a linesman was struck with a stone by a fan, and was unhelpfully sprayed with drink as he lay on the ground. According to our video-foraging friends at 101GG , local police received no complaints of violence at the game. Which sounds about right. This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events ...

A couple weeks ago, we asked readers to write a poem about Robbie Keane on our Facebook page for the chance to win an LA Galaxy replica 2012 MLS Cup championship ring. Well, there was some dodgy rhyming and a fewplagiarists, but there were also a number of delightful poems about the Galaxy captain. Here are the two winners... From the seas of the north to Gibralter, We first heard of this lad versus Malta. Fourth country cap, clad in Irish green, Oi! This is Robbie Keane. Bussing his way through the Prem, He played through his knocks and phlegm. Tumbles he does, it keeps his legs lean, Oi! This is Robbie Keane. He then flies his way to the States, Every year, him and the Becks become mates. Woe be this lad, unknown Yankee media screens, Oi! This is Robbie Keane. Another championship won, the season is done, The trophy a higher grade than epoxy. This lad makes guns with his fingers, points them at I, A replica ring ought to go on the finger of Sir Boxey! -- Grant Boxey There once was ...

Dangling just above the relegation zone, Werder Bremen have decided to ban Marko Arnautovic and Eljero Elia for the final three matches of the season after both were caught speeding last week. The decision is a curious one considering the fact that driving offenses are commonplace for footballers and they weren't drinking. From Reuters : Werder had temporarily banned the pair on Friday but decided to extend the sanction to all training sessions and matches until the end of the season, after the late-night incident. Arnautovic, who has had previous disciplinary problems for club and country, and Elia were stopped for speeding in separate cars and their behaviour prompted the police to call for back-up. No alcohol was involved. This is far from the first time Arnautovic has had disciplinary issues, so the punishment is likely for more than just this incident and meant to ensure focus in such an important period for the club. Still, Carlos Tevez should be happy that he doesn't pla...

The sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United that Arsenal were cornered into last summer has been a shadow over the club all season. On Sunday, they gave Man United a guard of honor before their match as Van Persie's new club has already sealed the Premier League title an achievement aided by Van Persie's league-leading 25 goals while Arsenal sit fourth in the table. After the match, Arsene Wenger was asked if Sir Alex Ferguson wanted any more of his players. Wenger responded : I dont know but he will not sign them from us. The following is a transcript of Wenger's attempt to refuse Ferguson's advances. Ferguson: Arsene, thank you again for the guard of honor. That was class. Wenger: Don't mention it. Ferguson: I know Robin appreciated it, too. Wenger: I SAID DON'T MENTION IT. Ferguson: Well, since the season's already done and dusted for us, I thought we might discuss some transfer business. Wenger: I'm not selling you anyone else ever aga...

A Chechen linesman has been given a lifetime ban for physically attacking a youth player at the end of a Russian reserve league match between Amkar Perm and Terek. As the video above shows, the linesman, Musa Kadyrov, dropped his flag and viciously went after Amkar defender Ilya Krichmar as the final whistle blew. Terek players then jumped into the mix and the scuffle then excluded the man who started it. From Reuters : "The ref blew the final whistle and I started walking to our bench, when suddenly someone came from behind, pushed me to the ground and began kicking and punching me," the 18-year-old Amkar player told reporters. "Terek players then joined the attack. Someone grabbed me by the throat, another hit me... bloodying my face. "Thank God, my team mates came to the rescue. Special thanks to Vlasov from Terek. We had known each other from a youth academy in St Petersburg and he helped me escape." Kadyrov said Krichmar had insulted him but the player den...

When Brommapojkarna traveled to Mjallby for their Swedish Allsvenskan match on Sunday, there was just one supporter there to back them in the away section. Though Brommapojkarna lost 4-2, that one fan offered vocal support that was so appreciated by his team that midfielder Bojan Djordjic, formerly of Manchester United, decided to reward him for his efforts. From Reuters : "When I saw him, in his shirt, singing and cheering by himself, I decided I had to do something. So I'm going to pay for him to travel to a game of his choice and he'll get to meet the lads," Djordjic told Reuters. The fan in question, Ander Ung, used to coach one of Brommapojkarna's junior sides, before moving 660 kilometers from Stockholm to Ystad in southern Sweden 20 years ago. He has not been to a home game since. "You have to lift up people like that," Djordjic said. "I got his number last night and called him from our bus - the warmth and the joy in his voice was unbelievab...

Stockholm's Friends Arena was the venue where The Mighty Zlatan Ibrahomovic scored a ridiculous bicycle kick against England last November , and fans at AIK's home stadium witnessed yet another beautiful overhead volley on Sunday. AIK were drawing 2-2 in the 74th minute of their league tie with Halmstad BK when Nigerian striker Kennedy Igboananike connected with a cross from the right in spectacular fashion. The 2013 Swedish Allsvenskan is only six games old, but this powerful bicycle kick is already being lined up as a goal of the season contender. Unfortunately, Igboananike's goal wasn't enough to earn the Gnaget all three points, as the visitors equalized in the 90th minute. Way to put a dampener on things, Halmstad.

Perhaps eager to join the chorus of boos for Robin van Persie upon his return to Emirates Stadium, Jay-Z was in attendance for Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Manchester United along with friend, collaborator and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. Jay-Z, a part owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets until he recently started his own sports management agency, previously attended Man City's match against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in 2010 as a guest of City. He later clarified his allegiances to Arsenal Magazine : After that game the press started reporting that I was a Manchester City fan, I am really glad all that has been cleared up and that everybody in the UK knows that I am an Arsenal fan. I will come to Emirates soon that's for sure. I love London as a city, its just finding time when I am over here for a few days to come and watch a game. I will find time soon, I will make sure of it. And three years later, he did. Jay also explained how he first became an Arsenal suppor...

Despite being shown three of four red cards on the day, PSG beat Evian 1-0. With PSG already in the lead thanks to a Javier Pastore goal in the 50th minute, Marco Verratti was sent off after getting booked a second time in the 81st minute. Beckham, who entered the match two minutes later, was then sent off with a straight red for a stompy challenge that didn't appear to connect with its intended target in the third minute of added time. Beckham was understandably surprised by the ruling and did a bit of protesting to the ref, but the official was far from done his day's work. A scuffle broke out after the final whistle with PSG keeper Salvatore Sirigu and Evian striker Saber Khelifa each shown red, though there was some confusion as to whether Sirigu was actually punished. This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.

The Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro is nearly finished after years of renovations for next summer's World Cup, so on Saturday, a special test match was held in Brazil's national stadium. Two teams of Brazilian legends led by Ronaldo and Bebeto graced the pitch four months after FIFA's deadline for completion ahead of this summer's Confederations Cup. And Ronaldo reponed the building with style and good humor. With his side leading Bebeto's 6-4 in the second half, Ronaldo left his defender standing still and put the ball past the keeper with a wonderful (and surprisingly quick) move inside the box. After scoring, he tried to jump on a nearby stadium worker in a slightly delayed goal celebration. "It was a total thrill," the man Ronaldo celebrated on told Globoesporte . "I got scared when he came at me. I didn't know what to do." Not many people would. Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the Maracana...

With Manchester United sealing their 20th league title on Monday thanks to a Robin van Persie hat trick, the former Arsenal striker was set up for the best possible return to visit his former club on Saturday. Or worst, depending on your perspective. When Van Persie arrived at his former home, his eight years in north London were clearly still very much ingrained in his head. A big smile on his face, Van Persie hugged and shook hands with Arsenal staff in the tunnel when he arrived in his Man United suit. He went towards the door to the home dressing room before catching himself and veering towards the away dressing room, slapping himself on the forehead once he realized his mistake. Once Van Persie remembered which team he plays for, he lined up with his Man United teammates so the Arsenal players could give them a guard of honor. Arsenal supporters still working through feelings of loss and betrayal offered disheartened boos. Van Persie tried not to show emotion one way or the other....

Shortly before the Columbus Crew's match against DC United, their stadium's scoreboard caught fire as the teams warmed up on the pitch. It's unclear how the fire started, but according to the club, it's under control and it sounds like it won't prevent them from playing the game. Columbus Fire Dept is on the scene and is extinguishing the fire as we speak. We will have more details shortly. #Crew96 Columbus Crew (@ColumbusCrew) April 27, 2013 The fire is under control and the players are heading back into the locker room. They will begin warming up in the next half hour. #Crew96 Columbus Crew (@ColumbusCrew) April 27, 2013 With two draws and a loss in their last three matches, Columbus' desire to generate excitement is understandable, but there has to be a better way to do it than this.

MLS commissioner Don Garber thinks there's too much of his sport on American television. Way too much. And no, he's not being sarcastic. He made the poorly phrased claim while speaking to the Associated Press Sports Editors and to avoid headlines like the one above, it probably should've come out a bit different. From the AP : Garber said the sport must deal with a glut of soccer on American television, where MLS has national deals with ESPN, NBC and Univision. NBC takes over the English Premier League next season from Fox, which retains rights for the European Champions League and Europa League. BeIN Sport televises the Spanish, Italian and French leagues, GOL broadcasts the German Bundesliga and ESPN and Univision televise Mexican games. "There's more soccer on television than any other sport by far,'' Garber said. "You've got European soccer. You've got Mexican soccer. You've got Major League Soccer. There's way too much soccer on te...

Before joining Chelsea, Cesar " just call me Dave " Azpilicueta played two trophy-strewn seasons with Marseille. According to our friends at 101GG , when Dave arrived in France, OM president Jean-Claude Dassier declared him to be "the future right full back of the Spanish national team". On RMC the French sports radio station that previously brought you overt sexism former Marseille left-back and current radio personality ric Di Meco disagreed, saying "if that happens, I'll eat a rat." Lo and behold, Dave has become a regular at Chelsea and made his full Spain debut in February, setting in motion his inevitable succession to 30-year-old Alvaro Arbeloa in the national team. Di Meco kept true to his word and dined on a coypu a type of river rat live on air on Monday. It may not be much of a stretch for a native of a country that eats frogs, snails and horses out of choice, but his decision to quite literally make a meal of it with a glass of red wi...

Going into Friday night's top-of-the-Championship clash with third-placed Watford, Leicester needed three points to obtain an all-important promotion play-off spot before the last game of the season. Their hopes were dashed, however, when they went 2-0 down in the 43rd minute thanks to an unstoppable 35-yard goal from 18-year-old midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah. The game finished 2-1, with the superb effort from the Chelsea loan player keeping Gianfanco Zola's Watford in with a (slim) chance of stealing an automatic Premier League promotion spot on the final day of the season. The home defeat left Foxes fans disappointed, and made their optimistic signs seem unintentionally depressing...

Manchester United won the Premier League title with a victory over Aston Villa on Monday. That night, they celebrated taking the title back from Man City with a night on the town that ended with several players including Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand getting into a blue cab completely covered in an ad for Man City shirt and stadium sponsor Etihad. Pictures were taken of this and Etihad decided to put them to use in a newspaper ad placed in the Manchester Evening News . Under the taxi cab picture, the ad simply reads "Congratulations Manchester United. You deserve to go home in style." And that's how you have some harmless fun with a season that didn't go your way. (While also advertising for an airline.)

Marouane Fellaini's hair has been one of the enduring wonders of the Premier League for years. And now you can play a part in making it even more tremendous for a good cause. Everton's official website explains : To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Blues' official charity, the midfielder has committed to dye his famous 'fro' silver - but only if Evertonians can reach a fundraising target of 25,000. Says Fellaini: "Our fans have already given thousands of pounds to support Everton in the Community but there's still a long way to go, so I hope that my silver hair challenge will help to bring in lots more money and make a difference," he said. "I've never done anything like this before but I am happy to help this brilliant charity. It helps so many people and I want to help them too." The 25th anniversary is the silver anniversary, so that's why he's not dying it blue or any other color. But if you want to help make Fellaini...

Bayern Munich beating Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal wasn't terribly surprising. Beating them 4-0 was worthy of a gasp, but it's also been used to make sweeping declarations by those who are eager to write off Barcelona as a washed up super power. What this assessment fails to take into account is the fact that Barca are one win away from another La Liga title and that they still extended their streak of consecutive years in the Champions League semfinals to six. Given that, Andres Iniesta thinks that dismissing Barcelona as past it is flat out wrong. From Reuters : "I think it is unfair to talk of a cyclical change," the Spanish World Cup winner told a news conference on Thursday. "Over the last five years this team has won two Champions League titles...and we are on the point of winning a fourth La Liga title. "It makes no sense to analyse five years in the one match in Munich. For me the end of an era is when years go by and ...

Real Madrid supporters were obviously upset about the team's 4-1 loss in Dortmund. This, after all, was a match that had a score of 1-1 at halftime. So when the team arrived at Dortmund's airport to make their trip home, their traveling fans were there and ready to make themselves heard. "Menos milliones, mas cojones," (less millions, more balls) they chanted as the squad filed past them. Their words stuck to the theme of Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp's post-match comments . "That was like Robin Hood taking from the rich," he said, noting Madrid's superior wealth. Though a comeback in the second leg wouldn't be completely impossible for Real Madrid, in order to achieve such a task, they would probably have to become a new kind of Robin Hood, who steals cojones. We can only hope they don't take that order too literal.

Well, you did it, Robin. You helped Manchester United win the title in your first season with the club. You scored a hat trick to finish it off and you did it just in time to force Arsenal to either give you a guard of honor at the Emirates or look as bitter as Alex Ferguson after watching Nani get sent off in the Champions League. Also, it's Man United's 20th title and you wear the No. 20 shirt. That's so cute that I can taste my stomach acids leaking from my nasal passages. It really couldn't have worked out more perfectly for you if you publicly forced us to sell you to the winningest club in the country. Oh wait, that's pretty much what you did. By the way, how's that little boy inside you , Robin? The one you said was "screaming for Manchester United." It's been eight months since you said that and it's still the weirdest thing I've ever heard a sober, mentally stable adult say. Still, like all little kids, I can only imagine that you ...

Robert Lewandowski scored all four of Borussia Dortmund's goals in their 4-1 win against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal. It was obviously a masterful performance, but it was also a record-setting one, too. Lewandowski became the first player to ever score three goals or more against Real Madrid in the Champions League and the first player to score four goals in a European semifinal or final since Ferenc Puskas in 1960, according to STATS . With those four goals, he now has 10 in this Champions League campaign, second only to Ronaldo's 11. What follows is all the information we assume to be true about the Polish international. -Strange but true: While looking to move away from Polish club Lech Poznan in 2010, Lewandowski canceled a trip to Blackburn because volcanic ash from Iceland grounded all flights at the time. He went on to sign with Dortmund for a fee of 4.5 million. So maybe the whole purpose of that volcanic eruption was to save Lewand...

Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-1 to follow up on Bayern Munich's 4-0 win against Barcelona to bring the Champions League semifinal first-leg aggregate score to Germany 8, Spain 1. Since the second legs of each tie will likely be formalities on the way to an all-German final, let's go back take one more whiff of the faint scent of competition before it completely disappears. These are the very best images from Dortmund-Madrid... The pre-match talk all centered around the leaked news that Bayern Munich will buy Dortmund's Mario Gotze for 37 million this summer. So now that the midfielder has officially been labeled a Judas, the obligatory "GOTZE OUT" banner was held aloft by a Dortmund fan. Even though him leaving is the problem to begin with. The "Thanks Mario!" sign showed that Dortmund fans weren't all bitter about Gotze's decision. Unless it was being sarcastic. Iker Casillas: Still not starting, still having a sad. This guy just drank a ...

That little cell phone right there in your hand can get you into all kinds of trouble, and it doesn't much matter how famous you might be. Wednesday afternoon, Hope Solo was apparently trying to either text or direct-message a friend, and ended up tweeting out what appeared to be her new cell phone to her 660,000-plus followers. Whoops. Solo quickly deleted the tweet, then followed it up with a couple of rationalizations: You fools fall 4anything!Wanted to see how easy it was! Uhad my number but for a second! But say hello to my new phone & u ain't got that Hope Solo (@hopesolo) April 24, 2013 And, later ... For all of u still calling the hair stylist. she's good! Book that appointment! somebody once told me April fools ran all of April! Xoxo! ;) Hope Solo (@hopesolo) April 24, 2013 (For the record, when Yahoo! Sports called the number, it went to the voicemail of a salon stylist. OR DID IT ...?) Naturally, this captured the attention of Solo's fans, who responded...

The FA has decided to give Liverpool striker Luis Suarez a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during Sunday's match . The incident wasn't seen by the referee at the time, but it was seen by everyone with a television, newspaper or Internet connection so Suarez was forced to swiftly apologize . Before The FA could act, Liverpool fined him 200,000 , which was donated to the Hillsborough Family Support Group in an uncomfortable example of roping in a noble cause for PR gain. When The FA did charge Suarez, he accepted it , but said that the standard three-match ban would do him just fine. That brings us to The FA's statement : A three-person Independent Regulatory Commission today upheld The FAs claim that a suspension of three matches was clearly insufficient and the player will serve a further seven first-team matches in addition to the standard three. The suspension begins with immediate effect. In 2010, Suarez was given a seven-match ban the Dutch Foot...

Let's be honest, we've all had one of those nights where you solicit the services of a prostitute, try to pay her with an iPhone 5, steal her purse and try to escape on a bicycle, only to be chased down and caught by a transvestite? No? Oh, that'll just be U.S. Lecce winger Ousmane Dram then. The 20-year-old Frenchman is alleged to have sought the services of a Nigerian lady of the night in the Porta Rudiae area of Lecce in the early hours of Monday morning, but after failing to pay for the dirty deed with cash, things started to play out like a rejected plotline from The Hangover sequel. Italian news agency ANSA reports: A Lecce soccer player was charged Monday for stealing a purse from a prostitute and fleeing by bicycle after reneging on a deal to give her his iPhone 5 for sex. Ousmane Drame, a French national and striker for the third-division club, was reportedly chased down by a transsexual friend of the robbed Nigerian streetwalker after the incident early Monday. ...

Let's be honest, we've all had one of those nights where you solicit the services of a prostitute, try to pay her with an iPhone 5, steal her purse and try to escape on a bicycle, only to be chased down and caught by a transvestite? No? Oh, that'll just be U.S. Lecce winger Ousmane Dram then. The 20-year-old Frenchman is alleged to have sought the services of a Nigerian lady of the night in the Porta Rudiae area of Lecce in the early hours of Monday morning, but after failing to pay for the dirty deed with cash, things started to play out like a rejected plotline from The Hangover sequel. Italian news agency ANSA reports: A Lecce soccer player was charged Monday for stealing a purse from a prostitute and fleeing by bicycle after reneging on a deal to give her his iPhone 5 for sex. Ousmane Drame, a French national and striker for the third-division club, was reportedly chased down by a transsexual friend of the robbed Nigerian streetwalker after the incident early Monday. ...

Perhaps anticipating the nightmare Barcelona were about to endure against Bayern Munich, Dani Alves took out his nervous energy on the hair of a young mascot. As the two teams were lined up for the Champions League anthem, Alves became a hair stylist as he tried to make the kid's blond locks stand up in some sort of makeshift mohawk. The kid just stood there, looking straight ahead with a blank smile on his face that said, "What...uh, what is this guy doing to my head right now?" Of course, Barcelona went on to lose 4-0, so this should be a lesson to professional footballers everywhere. Nothing good comes from messing with a mascot's hair.

Bayern Munich absolutely dismantled Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal, winning 4-0 at the Allianz Arena. Though Barca maintained their trademark possession advantage, Lionel Messi, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury, was rendered mostly irrelevant as Barca only managed four shots with just one on target during the game. Another round of misleading obituaries for Barcelona is likely to follow this display, but the true takeaway from the match should be what Germany already knows: Bayern, who have been confirmed as this season's domestic champions for weeks now, have reached that transcendent level. To varying degrees of justifiability, Barca can blame the waterlogged center of the pitch, their injury plagued backline and a hobbled Messi daring to go a whole match without scoring eight goals. But if they could, they would still like to erase the entire match from their memory. The one moment when Barcelona did stick it to Bayern, it was in a ...

Following the confirmation that Mario Gotze will move from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich for 37 million this summer and Bayern's 4-0 thrashing of Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal, Pep Guardiola has announced that he will coach the German champions from his home in New York next season. Guardiola, who established himself as Europe's winningest manager during his time with Barcelona, was named Bayern's next boss in January. In the time since, Bayern have clinched the Bundesliga title with a 20-point lead in the table, reached the DFB Pokal final and built up a commanding lead over Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal under outgoing manager Jupp Heynckes. This has prompted many observers to quip that Guardiola, who moved his family to New York City after stepping down from Barca at the end of last season, won't have much to do once he takes over at the club this summer. And it's an opinion that Guardiola himself seems to share....

With QPR's relegation from the Premier League imminent, there's a good chance goalkeeper Julio Cesar will be wearing a different shirt next season. Yet the Brazilian appears to be getting ahead of himself by wearing a full Chelsea kit to countryman David Luiz's fancy dress-themed 26th birthday party. Luiz and Cesar could have made things very easy for themselves by dressing up as Sideshow Bob and Buzz Lightyear for the celebration, but their outfits appeared to be inspired by south west London, with the Blues defender dressing as a Chelsea pensioner. The picture above was uploaded to Instagram by Cesar's partner Susana Werner, but now appears to have been removed. A host of Chelsea stars turned up to the party, which also commemorated Mikel John Obi's 26th birthday... Henrique Hilario appears to be paying homage to Top Gun , Paulo Ferreira is Robin (it's hard to tell who Batman is, perhaps Fernando Torres is wearing his mask under the mask?), Oscar is Zorro, N...

BK Hcken goalkeeper Christoffer Kallqvist was put under pressure by a backpass from one of his own players during Sunday's Swedish Allsvenskan league match with Mjllby AIF. Rather than hoof the ball away like most shot stoppers in this high-pressure situation, Kallqvist decides to control it and take on approaching striker Marcus Ekenberg. The risky decision paid dividends when the keeper pulled off an outrageous nutmeg (i.e. he put the ball between his opponent's legs) with his left foot, before clearing it to safety. He even earned a smile and a high five from the humiliated striker for his efforts. One can only imagine that Ekenburg was distracted by the sound of the goalkeeper's huge titanium cojones clanging together as he pulled of this potentially suicidal manoeuvre.

In the immediate aftermath of Luis Suarez biting Branislav Ivanovic's arm during Liverpool's match against Chelsea on Sunday, the cosmos aligned when Mike Tyson began following Suarez on Twitter . Tyson became the world's most famous professional athlete to have bitten an opponent when he took a chunk off Evander Holyfield's ear during a match in 1997 and though Suarez has now done it twice, he probably still retains that title. So how did this widely publicized bit of Internet perfection come about? Tyson was asked about it on North Carolina sports talk radio's The David Glenn Show . Said Tyson ( audio here ): "I just sort of got on the the Twitter thing and I said hey, um, this is an interesting guy, let me follow him, check him out, see what his journey's all about. You know, he bit somebody, you know s*** happens, you know what I mean? I'm sure he made amends with his guy, I made amends with Evander, and we go on with our lives." Though Suarez ...

Now that Neymar has that sweet, sweet comic book money rolling in, he apparently decided to treat himself to a watch that can be seen from space. Upon arriving Belo Horizonte for national team duty, the congregated reporters, including those from Globoesporte , couldn't help but notice the sparkling dinner plate strapped to his wrist. Encrusted in diamonds and featuring the Brazilian flag and his initials (roughly the same size as the part that actually tells time), the watch will probably greatly improve the 21-year-old's upper body strength.