Mourinho's Notebook - False Anthems, Warm Toilet Seats & Flipped Birds
Tune-Deaf?
Imagine the pride of representing your country. Of standing there with all your teammates, hand on heart, as you belt out the national anthem while the tears stream down your face. Fans singing along with passion.
Now imagine you were one of the El Salvadoran players the other day, who lined up for their friendly against Argentina in Washington D.C., USA only for organisers to play the wrong anthem. Instead of the El Salvador anthem, the loud speakers blasted out the Isle of Mann tune.
Players slowly dropped their hands from their chests in confusion, while the 50,000+ crowd at FedEx Field booed, whistled and jeered. This from a country with one of the largest Salvadoran ex-pat communities in the world beyond Latin America, with an estimated 100,000 living in the area.
Organisers apologised for the “honest mistake” and denied any “malicious intentions”. Argentina, without Lionel Messi or Sergio Aguero (but with Angel Di Maria, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain) ran out 2-0 winners thanks to second half goals from Ever Banega and Federico Mancuello. El Salvador coach Albert Roca made no mention of the anthem gaffe in his post-match comments.
The mix-up was probably a simple slip of the finger, with the Isle of Mann being listed under its Manx name ‘Ellan Vannin’ on the list, falling directly next to ‘El Salvador’. Hence why ‘O Land of Our Birth’ was accidentally played at the expense of ‘Himno Nacional de El Salvador’.
FedEx Field is most famously home to NFL team the Washington Redskins, another famous misunderstanding where a racial slur is still considered an appropriate name for a professional sporting franchise.
As for the anthem, seems a good chance to slip this hilarity into the piece.
John Terry Speaks About His Rookie Days At Chelsea
“I'd do anything for them. I'd make their teas and coffees, even silly things like sit on the toilet to make the seat warm for them in the cold winter days at the training ground. I used to clean Dennis Wise’s boots and he wanted them perfect, so I took really good care of them. Every now and then he gave me a little bonus. Every time he scored I was on £25, which was half my wages at the time. I used to be praying we'd get a penalty or he'd score. During training I would go in and win tackles against first-team players, and I remember at the time people were going, 'Ooh, you can't do that'. Sometimes – the foreign guys especially – didn't like it. Dan Petrescu, once, he got me round the throat, and said, 'What do you think you're doing?' The first one over to back me up was Wisey: 'If you've got something to say, you say it to me, not the younger players'. Me and Dan laugh about it now."
Yes, John Terry used to warm toilet seats for the Chelsea veterans. No wonder he’s so screwed up.
Playing The Villain
Brazilian top flight player Fabrício picked up a red card for flipping the bird at his own fans during Internacional’s match against Ypiranga this week. Frustrated with the endless boos and jeers from his own supporters, he snapped – right in the middle of a dribble too. He left the ball for a teammates, stormed to the sideline and gave the one-finger salute (in double time) to the crowd. He then ripped his shirt off, tossed it to the ground and left declaring that he would never play for this team again. The crowd cheered his dismissal.
Tim Wiese, International Goalkeeper/Professional Wrestler
Let’s catch up with the journey of Mr Wiese. Capped six times as a goalie for the German national team, he retired young last year at just 32, declaring himself a ‘realist’ who knew that his best years were beyond him. And if he couldn’t keep improving then he didn’t wanna do it no more.
But perhaps he had other plans too, because almost immediately he found himself with a development deal with WWE. Suddenly enormously bulked up, a couple months later he made an appearance as the timekeeper in a WWE event in Frankfurt, a bout between ‘The Usos’ and the ‘Dust Brothers’. He played to the crowd, threatening to enter the ring to rapturous applause, only to be held back by security. All planned, no doubt. It was there that he was announced as an official member of the entertainment powerhouse. To date he’s completed a couple brutal training sessions on his way to wherever he ends up in the sport. Apparently he eats a kilogram of meat a day.
“The WWE is a really interesting thing for me. I think you all remember me from when I weighed 90 kilos. To put on 40 kilos in two years is rare, it’s striking. Gym visits are like an addiction. If I don't go to the gym, it feels like I have done something wrong. And you have to eat, eat, eat. I already have two training sessions behind me, which were incredibly painful and I hadn't expected that! Whatever happens now is up in the stars, I'll just keep continuing my training and who knows where that will lead."
Only In Leeds
Once a proud Premier League battler, now a proud but hilarious Championship battler. Manager Neil Redfearn has been told by the club that he cannot pick his best striker because of the fear that he might keep scoring goals for them.
Mirco Antenuccis is a 31 year old Italian who joined Leeds from Serie B side Termana. He has 10 goals this season, and he also has a contract clause that extends his deal for another year if he hits 12. Because of the precarious financial situation that Leeds are in, they don’t really wanna do that, so the club has hinted that perhaps it’s best if Antenucci rests a bit. Although that’s been denied. The player’s manager confirmed the existence of the clause but says the selection is entirely down to the manager. Which is clearly not the case.
All this after Redfearn was allegedly on the verge of quitting because his assistant had been suspended for unknown circumstances. Unknown to us and unknown to Mr Redfearn.
Social Media Stunners
Pele went hunting
Sexy Mancini, there are more of these on The Guardian