“They didn’t believe it in the beginning. But when they saw the shirts printed, they thought it was funny.” — Yiannis Batziolas, the chairman of a cash-strapped Greekamateur team that inked shirt sponsorships deals with two brothels. (
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Brazil's keeper smacks teammate David Luiz
[VIDEO PICK: Off the Post] A Diego Alvez shot to the chops forces David Luiz to seek medical attention during a win by Brazilin a friendly on Thursday. Brazil beat Iraq on Thursday in Sweden, 6-0, in what was cleary a bigger mismatch than the U.S. armed forces vs. the Iraqi army. Oscar,Neymar, Hulk and […]
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Crazy own goal: A Bosnian defender's Greek tragedy
[VIDEO PICK: Off the Post] A cruel twist of fate awaits Mirnes Sisic when he skies this attempted clearance in Athens during a GreekSuperleague play. Host Panonios won, 2-1, over OFI, from Crete, but Sisic wasn’t the only object of scorn in this fable of futility. All three goals were scored in the wrong net, […]
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Two balls better than one for Helsinki
[VIDEO PICK: Off the Post] FC Haka players and its coach were fuming after getting scored on by HJK Helsinki with two balls on the field in a Finnish firstdivision game. Two ball boys each tossed a ball to two different HJK for throw-ins. One of the balls reached midfielder Juho Makela, whose goal made […]
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Major Goalie Gaffe by Mandanda
[VIDEO PICK] After winning its first six games of the French Ligue 1 season, Marseille fell 4-1 to Valenciennes last weekend in a game that featured a gift fromgoalkeeper Steve Mandanda. Mandanda, Ligue 1’s Goalkeeper of the Year in 2010-11, fluffed an attempt to toss the ball into play, delivering it to the feet of […]
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Heavy price for celebration
Hannover’s Hungarian midfielder Szabolcs Huszti scored the gamewinner in last Saturday’s 3-2 win over Werder Bremen — then was ejected for his celebration. Referee DenizAytekin showed Huszti a yellow card for removing his shirt, and a second yellow for climbing the perimeter fencing to celebrate in front of Hannover fans. Huszti has scored threeof Hannover’s […]
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German World Cup keeper volunteers for blind team
Jen Lehmann, who played on Germany’s 2006 World Cup team and spent much of his career at Arsenal, is being considered as a possible goalkeeper for Germany’s blind soccer team atthe next Paralympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in 2016. Visually impaired soccer teams are allowed to use fully-sighted goalkeepers. According to the Paralympic rules, […]
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A tremendous penalty-kick miss
[VIDEO PICK] It’s one thing to miss from the penalty spot. It’s another to miss the target by as much Red Bull Salzburg’s Jonathan Soriano didduring a 2-0 loss last weekend to Rapid Vienna. Soriano, a 26-year-old Spaniard, has scored five goals in 12 Austrian league games since joining Salzburg last January, but managed one […]
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Coach cuts players with text message
Graham Westley, coach of English third division club Preston North End, informed eight players they were dropped from the first team by sending them a text message. Westley, who took over in January, released 14 players at the end of last season and transfer-listed seven, noting: “I’ve had to tread carefully around some of the […]
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Lip reader busts Germany's Loew
[OFF THE POST] What does German soccer fan Julia Probst do for fun during national team games? Probst, who isdeaf, reads the lips of German players and coaches and tweets what they have to say. What Germany coach Joachim Loew has been saying has made her feed amust-read for German media and allowed her to build […]