REPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP
1 TACTICAL BOOKING?
Iago Aspas turned 34 at the start of this season, but in Celta Vigo’s recent clash with Valencia, it appeared he’s still as sharp as ever – in more ways than one. After giving his side the lead with a smart stepover and finish, he appeared to sustain an injury from a clash with a Valencia defender. Knowing that the knock would likely rule him out of action – later tapping his groin area while lying down injured – the striker whipped his shirt off in “celebration”, and duly collected his fifth yellow card of the season. He then served his suspension in Celta’s next game, while recovering from his injury.
2 EDEN PROJECT
Ambition is always a good thing in football, but the owners of Westerlo in Belgium’s second tier may have set their sights a little too high by declaring their interest in Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard. “I think I can consider [him] as a friend. I met him when he was at Lille and he promised that one day he would play for Fenerbahce,” the club’s Turkish vice-president, Hasan Cetinkaya told Voetbalkrant. “Westerlo will be more difficult, but you never know.” In this case, perhaps we do know.
3 TOUGH JOURNEY
This season’s Coupe de France threw up another remarkable long-haul trip for one of the teams involved. Ten-time champions of Tahiti, AS Venus, are based in French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean, yet qualified for the French Cup by winning the Tahiti Cup earlier this year. Their reward was a 20,000-mile round trip to southwest France to face fourth-tier side Trelissac FC. Although they suffered a 2-0 defeat, their coach Samuel Garcia took the positives: “The trip has been a very positive experience for the whole team and club,” he said. “We showed really good form in this match against a team which plays in a higher division than us.” Incidentally, in 2015 Trelissac were on the other side of such a draw, as they endured a 10,500-mile trip to face AS Magenta in New Caledonia.
4 DREADFUL DIVING: PART ONE
It is hardly rare to see footballers exaggerate contact during the heat of battle in the hope of getting your opponent sent off. That was the thinking of Viking goalkeeper Patrik Gunnarsson, after getting involved in a scuffle during the Norwegian top-flight clash with Kristiansund. After being shoved in the chest, Gunnarsson dropped to the ground clutching his face, and the referee duly whipped out a red card for the offender. The problem was, the person who had pushed him was Gunnarsson’s own teammate, David Brekalo. Fortunately for the goalkeeper, his team were able to hold onto their 3-2 lead.
5 DREADFUL DIVING: PART TWO
Gunnarsson wasn’t the only player to be guilty of some awful playacting recently – the goalkeeper was beaten to the award of worst dive by Palmeiras forward Deyverson. The Brazilian was the hero for his team after scoring the winner in the Copa Libertadores final, but that shouldn’t exonerate him from his attempts to get somebody else sent off – in this case, the referee. After feeling a pat on the back, Deyverson dropped to the ground as if he’d been shot, before realising that his assailant was Nestor Pitana, and the weapon was a whistle. Somehow, he escaped the incident without being booked for simulation.