Brooks Peck

Author

Brooks Peck is a Soccer blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

  • Someone found a new rug. (Reuters)

    Fortuna Dusseldorf's Bundesliga promotion/relegation playoff against Hertha Berlin teetered on the edge of mayhem before eventually succumbing to a premature pitch invasion that probably helped them hold on for the victory.

    Dusseldorf won the first leg 2-1 and took a quick lead in the second leg by scoring in the first minute. Hertha would equalize, but had a man sent off in the 54th minute and Dusseldorf scored again just five minutes later, prompting anxious Hertha fans to throw flares on the pitch. And even after Hertha scored in the 85th minute to put the second leg level at 2-2, Hertha fans still threw more flares, pushing referee Wolfgang Stark to add seven minutes of stoppage time.

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  • David Beckham reacts to Barack Obama talking about his underwear. (AP)

    The MLS champion L.A. Galaxy visited the White House on Tuesday for the traditional winners ceremony/photo op -- an event especially notable since it brought together the most powerful man in the world and the President of the United States. And President Obama's brief speech about the team quickly turned into a roast of David Beckham (who brought some impressive Three Musketeers-style facial hair).

    Obama introduced the 37-year-old Beckham as a "young up-and-comer on the team" before inviting everyone to giggle at Beckham's line of underwear.

    "I have to say, I gave David a hard time. I said half his teammates could be his kids. We're getting old, David. Although you're holding up better than me.

    "Last year at the age of 36, David had his best year in MLS. Leading the team with 15 assists He did it despite fracturing his spine halfway through the season and injuring his hamstring a week before the championship game. He is tough. It is a rare man who can be that tough on the field and have his own line of underwear. David Beckham is that man."

    That got a laugh from Beckham and his teammates before Obama praised Galaxy captain Landon Donovan, who got the biggest cheer of the day despite his lack of a personal underwear brand.

    Video of the ceremony right this way...

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  • If it continued… (Man City v QPR)

    The final day of the Premier League season provided more entertainment than we could have possibly hoped for. And even though Man City came back to beat 10-man QPR with two goals during injury time to win the title, we still must ask the all-important question: "What if it continued?"

    97' -- Mario Balotelli continues to be an upstanding citizen who quietly helps his team.

    101' -- Everton realize that City finishing ahead of Man United means no one will know that they finished ahead of Liverpool.

    108' -- Anton Ferdinand tells John Terry to stop trying to hug him already.

    112' -- Though he was subbed out with an injury in the 45th minute, Yaya Toure continues to power the entire Man City team by running on a treadmill next to the bench.

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  • Samir Nasri (far right) texts every Arsenal fan he knows. (Getty)

    When Samir Nasri moved from Arsenal to Man City last summer in a £25 million transfer, many Arsenal fans accused him of being a mercenary who was only out for the money (as opposed to all those people around the world who don't want to get paid as much as possible for their work) and wasn't helping his chances of winning trophies. Well, City won the Premier League title in his first season with club and Arsenal, well, didn't. So now Nasri has decided to rub it in a bit.

    From the Guardian:

    "People at Arsenal tried to make out that I came here for the money," Nasri told the French television channel TF1. "I hope they are watching me now, collecting my Premier League winner's medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.

    "I made the hard choice to come and fight for my place at a big club, and I have proved it correct. I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me.

    "If all that I was interested in was money, the easiest decision would have been

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  • Dutch footballer’s young daughter consoles him after relegation

    The most prominent images this time of year are often of the unbridled joy on display during title celebrations, but the despair of players on the opposite end of the table is often just as intense.

    On Sunday, De Graafschap were relegated from the Dutch Eredivisie after only managing a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg of its promotion/relegation playoff against FC Den Bosch. The first leg ended 0-0, so De Graafschap fell because of a single away goal, which had to be an especially painful way to go down.

    After the match, De Graafschap midfielder Rogier Meijer sat on the pitch, depressed and in disbelief over what just happened, when his young daughter, Saar, marched over to him. Wearing a De Graafschap shirt with her dad's number and her own name on the back, Saar put a hand on his shoulder and checked to see if he was OK. He shook his head and laid back while she stood over him.

    When a scene that adorable can't cheer someone up, it shows just how devastating relegation is for a

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  • Carlos Tevez being Carlos Tevez.

    Man City held their bus parade through Manchester on Monday to celebrate their first league title in 44 years and during that parade, Carlos Tevez held up a presumably fan-made sign depicting a tombstone that read "RIP Fergie."

    In 2009, Ferguson was asked if Man United would ever go into a Manchester derby as underdogs. Ferguson responded, "not in my lifetime." So after Man City edged out Man United to win the Premier League title on the final day of the season, the sign was likely a (crude) reference to that. And Tevez, who played for Ferguson before joining City, seemed to enjoy it. Even though his inability to speak English is well known.

    Meanwhile, Ferguson's comments about City's victory are probably an accurate reflection of how he feels about Tevez and his sign. From Soccernet:

    "They can go on as much as they like - that's what you would expect - but the history of our club stands us aside," Ferguson said. "We don't need to worry about that. I think we have a rich history,

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  • DTotD: An overhead kick to the throat in MLS

    Columbus' Justin Meram was hoping to equalize against Dallas after he entered the match just before halftime on Saturday, but instead he ended up delivering a failed overhead kick to the throat of an opponent in the 51st minute.

    Meram thought he was set up nicely for an emphatic finish right in front of goal, but instead of making contact with the ball, he caught Dallas' Hernan Pertuz in the neck with the toe of his boot. Meram was shown a yellow card for the dangerous high boot, but eventually scored in the 67th to start Columbus' comeback and eventual 2-1 win.

    Pertuz was able to play on despite having his Adam's apple moved to the back of his skull.

    This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.

  • Real Madrid beat Mallorca 4-1 in their final match of the season to become the first club in Europe's four biggest domestic leagues to reach 100 points for a season. After reaching such an impressive milestone, the club held a lavish title celebration on the pitch at the Bernabeu that was a cross between the final scene in Star Wars and the closing ceremony for the space olympics.

    Near the end of the celebration, Jose Callejon took the microphone and announced that he needed to do "one last thing before the season ends." He then got off the podium, took Jose Mourinho by the hand and jumped on his manager's back for a piggyback ride just as Mourinho had spontaneously done to him during a match against Valencia back in November.

    When Mourinho was first introduced for the celebration, he bowed before his players. Video of that moment, plus some photos right this way...

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  • Manchester City beat a 10-man QPR 3-2 with two goals in added time to make Manchester United's 1-0 win over Sunderland irrelevant and win their first league title in 44 years. It was an ending so incredible that it will probably take a few months of intense analysis to make sure it actually happened, but in the meantime, Mario Balotelli has a message for his critics.

    "A lot of people talked bad about me, so now they have to shut up and watch me," said Balotelli with his winner's medal around his neck.

    From having his bathroom set ablaze with fireworks to being told he wouldn't play for the rest of the season by Roberto Mancini after he was sent off for violent conduct in a loss to Arsenal, Balotelli has been under a tremendous amount of scrutiny this season. And while much of it was brought on by himself, Mario was still the guy City brought on for Carlos Tevez with their final substitution when they were losing in the 76th minute. And when he left the pitch, he had that winner's medal.

    Mario also told how he predicted City's comeback after they went down 2-1 and that he preferred winning this way than to winning by a wide margin.

    "For United to suffer a little bit is better for us," he added with a sly grin.

    That said, here are some photos of Man United suffering and City celebrating...

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  • Alessandro Del Piero lifts the Scudetto. (Getty)

    One of the classiest footballers to ever wear a Juventus shirt (or any shirt) got the send-off he deserved at his final home match. Juve finished off their undefeated season -- the first in a 38-match Serie A season, according to Paolo Bandini -- with a 3-1 win over Atalanta in which Del Piero scored Juve's second goal.

    After he was subbed off in the 58th minute to a standing ovation, Del Piero turned his attention to the tearful fans who have supported him for the last 19 years, signing autographs and waving goodbye before lifting the Scudetto and taking a lap of honor after the final whistle.

    With just the Coppa Italia final against Napoli in Rome left to play before his Juve career ends, the 37-year-old made it clear that there's still some joy he needs to squeeze out of the game. From Football Italia:

    "There's a lifetime ahead of me to work as a director. I am in good shape, I was born to play football and as long as I can do that, I'm happy.

    "Would I like to play in England? I've always said you experience football in a fantastic way there. However, I haven't discussed a transfer for 19 years, so I'm a bit out of the loop on what to do!"

    Better to be born to play football than to talk about transfer, I'd say.

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