With 2018 now here, I thought I would reflect on some 2017’s top stories.
Merry Christmas to everyone and a prosperous 2018. I will continue to bring you the most “what the fuck” football news stories. Thank you for your continued support and readership.
Happy New Year!
Pedro
Sometimes, life is as simple as a phone call. In Neymar’s and PSG’s case, it was indeed a phone call that made the biggest transfer in football history possible. After three weeks of drama, negotiations, brainstormings, discussions, and arguments, the Parisians welcomed the Brazilian superstar for a whopping 222 million Euros.
Like every transfer, the inside story is the fascinating aspect.
- USA
All the USA needed was a tie or a win versus lowly-ranked Trinidad / Tobago and their birth to the Russian World Cup would be signed and sealed. Their destiny was in their own hands.
Every bookmaker had the USA as outright favorites and nobody had any thought of the mighty USA losing this match.
It happened that Trinidad / Tobago won the match 2-1, in what has been described as the lowest day in USA football history.
This result shook the entire North American football community to its core. What a letdown and complete shock!
- Italy
Four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in six decades, after losing its playoff to Sweden 1-0 on aggregate.
The last major competitions Italy missed were the 1984 and 1992 European Championships. It has participated in every World Cup since failing to qualify for the 1958 tournament.
Unreal…the USA and Italy are out and will not participate in the Russian World Cup !!
“Fuck” is what I said then and I say it again now !!
In a terrorist attack, three explosive devices went off by the side of a bus carrying the German football team, Borussia Dortmund, prior to their Champions League game with Monaco, injuring one player.
The incident occurred at around 7:15 pm local time in Dortmund’s Höchstem district, approximately six miles (10 km) from the club’s stadium.
Defender Marc Bartra was injured by shards of glass and was taken to hospital. He was due to undergo surgery on his injured arm to repair a fracture and remove shrapnel.
Thankfully, there were no deaths. I really wish this article didn’t make this list, but it had everyone in the football world talking about it.
Terrorism does not belong in football. Terrorism doesn’t have a place anywhere !!
Hopefully, we never see anything like this again.
Totti spent his entire career at Roma, winning a Serie A title, two Coppa Italia titles, and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. He is the 2nd highest scorer of all time in the Italian league history with 250 goals and is the 6th highest scoring Italian in all competitions with 316 goals. Totti is the top goalscorer (and the most-capped player in the club’s history), holding the record for the most goals scored in Serie A while playing for a single club. He also holds the record for the youngest club captain in the history of Serie A.
On 17 July 2017, Totti confirmed his retirement from professional football and announced that he had accepted an offer from his former team (Roma) to become the club’s director.
On 18 September, Totti began studying for a course in order to obtain his UEFA B coaching license. However, he withdrew from the course two weeks later, as he was unable to attend the course regularly due to his commitments as a director of Roma.
It was a pleasure to watch him play, I’m so sad to see him go!
What an unbelievable career…a real gentleman and sportsman. Totti, you will be missed…
It began as an ordinary Wednesday night featuring some Champions League action for soccer fans to look forward to.
It ended up being an extraordinary Wednesday featuring one of the greatest soccer comebacks of all time.
Barcelona suffered a 4-0 loss in the first leg of their Round of 16 matchup with Paris SG. Even with a valiant effort from the Catalan in Wednesday’s game, advancing to the quarterfinals seemed like a fool’s errand for Lionel Messi and company.
Barcelona wasn’t going out without a fight, however, and was up 2-0 at halftime. Messi scored on a penalty kick in the 50th minute to make it 3-0 but 12 minutes later Edinson Cavani scored an away goal for PSG to cut the lead to 3-1. At this point, most onlookers wouldn’t entertain the idea of a Barcelona comeback.
The score sat at 3-1 for more than 25 minutes when Neymar made it 4-1 in the 88th. The young superstar scored on a penalty three minutes later then Sergi Roberto netted the winner five minutes into injury time to complete the improbable comeback.
Probably one of the best football games I’ve ever watched.
Wow is all I can say…
“Super” Mario Mandzukic’s goal for Juventus in the Champions League final against Real Madrid was simply ‘unbelievable’.
It did little for the result; however, it caused quite a stir on social media and had every football enthusiast talking about this goal.
I have watched it a few times…he actually meant to do that !!
A Mexican soccer fan pulled off an almighty deception after he told his wife he was going to a convenience store to buy some cigarettes, and instead journeyed all the way to Russia to watch the Mexican men’s national team in action at the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament.
Garcia’s footballing pilgrimage was made all the more audacious by the fact that he spent his life savings on the trip, and even snapped a tendon in his foot during his stopover in the German city of Wolfsburg, leaving him to endure the final leg of his journey to Russia on crutches (after he nearly missed his flight due to a heavy downpour that crippled Wolfsburg’s public transportation).
It remains to be seen if the super-fan will be shown a red card by his missus…
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