Random Sport Titbits

[Malenko]

18 hours ago, Malenko said:

River Plate has 20 cases of covid and they don't have any available goalkeepers for their copa libertadores match. Apparently CONMEBOL refused their appeal to use U-20 goalkeepers so they'll use Enzo Perez, an injured... Midfielder, in goal.

Follow-up: River won 2-1 despite having only 11 players, no subs and, as I had mentioned, an injured midfielder in goal. Good stuff.

[Lineker]

A spiritual successor to the General Football Thread. Use this thread for posting random sport-y things (so no longer just restricted to football) that don't fit anywhere else.

 

Link to the old General Football thread.

[OctoberRaven]

From a book of USL logos circa 1999

 

[OctoberRaven]

Since this is more than just about footy, here's a comic book about the then-Florida Marlins mascot saving Jeff Conine from being kidnapped by Doctor Doom, thanks to the help of Spider-Man

[Malenko]

If only the Marlins could use spider man's help more often.

[gunnar hendershow]

The 90s comic book speculator market was a truly wild time.

[FestiveJack]

Copa America has been moved from COVID-hit Argentina to COVID-hit Brazil.

[gunnar hendershow]

Well Brazil at least has a government that won't cave to common sense.

Copa should simply not be held, there's an open summer next year thanks to the World Cup being in the winter and they absolutely could make it happen then if all parties were motivated. But alas...

[Malenko]

1 hour ago, MadJack said:

Copa America has been moved from COVID-hit Argentina to COVID-hit Brazil.

I think it's mostly moving from covid-worried Argentina to Covid is fake Brazil.

[Lineker]

Quote

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has sparked outrage after approving plans to hold South America’s answer to the European Championship in his Covid-stricken country despite warnings Brazil is steaming into a potentially calamitous third wave of infections.

The Copa América was originally due to be co-hosted by Colombia and Argentina, but their struggles with deadly street protests and coronavirus put paid to those plans.

On Monday, in a surprise move, the South American Football Confederation, Conmebol, announced that Brazil, which has the world’s second highest Covid death toll, would host the footballing event between 13 June and 17 July. “I want to say a special thanks to President Jair Bolsonaro and his cabinet for hosting the tournament,” tweeted Conmebol’s Paraguayan president, Alejandro Domínguez.

The announcement caused an immediate outcry in Brazil, where more than 462,000 lives have been lost in a Covid outbreak Bolsonaro stands accused of catastrophically mishandling.

Renan Calheiros, a Brazilian senator who is the rapporteur of a congressional inquiry into Bolsonaro’s Covid response, condemned the “unbelievable” idea of holding what he claimed would be a “championship of death”. Calheiros urged Brazilian players such as Neymar to refuse to take to the field “while your relatives and acquaintances continue to die”.

Juca Kfouri, one of Brazil’s top sports writers, branded the competition the “Cova América” or “Grave of the Americas”.

“There is no justification for bringing nine South American teams, and potentially new variants, to one of the epicentres of the pandemic, wasting resources and attention that should be directed towards our thousands of infected patients,” he wrote.

Others called the competition as the “Cepa América” – “the Strain of the Americas” – and demanded the Brazilian government reversed its decision which comes with an average of nearly 2,000 lives still being lost each day.

“This is shameful,” one of Brazil’s best-known commentators, Luís Roberto, told the SporTV network. “It’s a provocation. It is a slap in the face of all Brazilians.”

There was little sign Bolsonaro’s administration was rethinking its move on Tuesday. “As far as it’s up to me, and all the ministers – health included – it’s a done deal,” the far-right populist told supporters outside the presidential residence.

South America is one of the regions worst-hit by the Covid pandemic, with Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay all enduring the most dramatic moments of their epidemics.

On Monday, Peru revealed that its true Covid death toll was nearly three times the official figure of 68,000, with at least 180,000 fatalities. More than 1 million lives have been lost to the disease across Latin America and the Caribbean, about a third of the official global total, even though the region is home to less than 9% of the world’s population.

 

[Gorka]

'Biscuitmen' is much better for Reading than 'the Royals'!

[Adam]

Where are the mighty Doncaster Rovers?

I have seen some still refer to Reading as the Biscuitmen, even if only as a novelty.

[DanishmadePunk]

So Brentfords sister club FC Midtjylland have drawn Celtic in the 2. qualifying round to the Champions League. Should be spicy, considering that Celtic crashed out to Copenhagen in a european tournament not too long ago

[OctoberRaven]

Now that's a venue.

[Gorka]

Actually been there! (albeit not when a match was on)

[METALMAN]

bloody hell Michael Owen's boring even when he's being a creep

 

 

[Colly]

 

[Kyle]

Yaya Toure writing articles on the important things.

[DavidMarrio]

Having a badonkadonk is gonna be the new scouting tool going forward.

He may have double figures for assists but what's his arse like 

[gunnar hendershow]

Images of every player who might be called too short to play professionally squatting twice their body weight in the gym to get that defined booty.