REPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP
1 Pigeon gatecrashes cuP tie The final moments of the recent Scottish League Cup game between Queen’s Park and St Mirren were disrupted when a dead animal was dropped onto the Hampden Park pitch from a great height, apparently from a passing seagull.
“We’ve seen some strange things at Hampden but St Mirren keeper Craig Samson has just been forced to remove what looks like a dead squirrel, dropped onto the pitch by a seagull,” Queen’s Park announced on their official Twitter feed.
It soon transpired that it wasn’t a squirrel, but a pigeon. To add insult to the injury suffered by the bird, Queen’s Park lost the tie 5-4 on penalties.
2 huesca defend signing
Newly promoted La Liga side Huesca have defended their loan signing of Ruben Semedo, who is awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Huesca say they will not be monitoring the defender’s behaviour off the pitch and dismissed concerns over his fitness by saying the 24-year-old Portuguese “played a few games in prison”.
Semedo joined Huesca from fellow La Liga side Villarreal one week after his parent club confirmed that the player had left prison after posting bail of 30,000.
Semedo, who spent 141 days in detention after being arrested in February, joined Villarreal last summer in a 14m transfer from Portuguese club Sporting.
3 dortmund trial nascar
Pre-season tours bring many offpitch ventures for the modern footballer. And while Borussia Dortmund were taking part in the International Champions Cup tour of the USA they were invited to a Nascar test run on the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.
Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho were the lucky players involved.
4 the re-naming game
Much was made of the renaming of Southgate tube station in London as Gareth Southgate station, following the England manager’s achievement’s at the World Cup.
And winners France followed suit, naming two stations on the Paris Metro after their victorious coach and captain. Notre Dame des Champs was temporarily changed to Notre Didier Deschamps, while Line 2 station Victor Hugo was renamed Victor Hugo Lloris.
5 colombia at Peace
In a throwback to the famous occasion in 1914 when the war stopped on Christmas Day for British and German soldiers to play football, something similar happened in Colombia.
FARC and ELN guerrillas, and former right-wing paramilitaries, played a match after watching Colombia’s opening game at the World Cup against Japan together on television.