“The most exciting climax the Brazilian Championship has seen in years was marred by two incidents of crowd trouble. One was in the line to buy tickets for Flamengo’s crunch game against Grêmio earlier this month, where the police used tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to maintain order. The other came after Coritiba had been relegated to the second division, and some of its fans staged a full-scale riot on the pitch.” (SI – Tim Vickery)

“The tears of national team general manager Oliver Bierhoff; the 35,000 sorrow-stained faces at the memorial service; the numerous volumes of the book of condolence; and the sea of candles, flowers and shirts left at the gates of his home ground.” (World Soccer)

“This weekend has seen yet another example of the defensive frailties plaguing Celtic this year. Firstly, we go three nil down after a mere quarter of an hour in our Europa League game, and then the lack of communication between Gary Caldwell and Glenn Loovens saw us fall to yet another league defeat. Simply put, it isn’t good enough.” (The Great Footballing Circus)

“It will be the big noise at next year’s football World Cup. The vuvuzela, a metre-long plastic horn blown by South African football fans, is loved and hated in equal measure for emulating a herd of elephants or hive of angry bees. But while manufacturers are hoping to cash in on the once-in-a-lifetime chance to sell the instrument to hundreds of thousands of visiting supporters, the man who claims he invented the vuvuzela says he will receive nothing.” (Guardian)

“The Spanish Primera Division or La Liga has its commonly known has reached its winter break with Real Madrid and Barcelona in a tight race at the top of the table. On the opposite end, newly promoted Xerez is last with 7 points and a lot of work to do.” (The 90th Minute)

“As the Premier League reaches the half-way point in its season, Mark Siglioccolo takes a look into his crystal ball and wonders whether the days of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea might be coming to an end. Sixteen games into the season and it is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested championships in recent history. What is even more exciting and nail-biting for the fans is that it does not look as if there will be a runaway leader, or possibly even a two-horse race for the title.” (twohundredpercent)

“In WSC 251 (January 2008) Jon Spurling braced himself for a festive football hangover. Along with communal baths, a crafty drag on a cigarette in the toilets, and swigging a bottle of brown ale with the lads, Christmas parties are entwined in the fabric of English football. ‘The players have talked of little else for weeks,’ confided Ian Rush – dressed in Beefeater garb for Liverpool’s bash – to a BBC reporter in 1992. ‘All the lads have made the effort to dress up,’ added Rushie, as Bruce ‘The Joker’ Grobbelaar and John ‘Dick Turpin’ Barnes staggered past clutching empty Grolsch bottles.” (WSC)