YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Brooks Peck

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    Brooks Peck is the award-winning editor and co-founder of Yahoo! Sports soccer blog Dirty Tackle. He has also written for World Cup Blog, BT Life's a Pitch and Howler Magazine.

    • Milan fans' banners at Saturday's derby. (@Milanello)

      Milan have been fined €8,000 for fan behavior at Sunday's 1-0 Derby della Madonnina loss to 10-man Inter. The offenses that earned the fine included plastic bottles thrown on the pitch and tasteless banners displayed with messages referencing former Milan striker Antonio Cassano's heart surgery last season.

      "Cassano traitor, give us back the defibrillator," read one banner (pictured above) of the player who requested a transfer after the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva and moved from Milan to Inter in a swap deal that also involved Giampaolo Pazzini. Cassano had heart surgery after suffering stroke-like symptoms on Milan's team plane last season and though he later admitted that he thought he might die, he made a tremendous recovery to reclaim a spot on Italy's Euro 2012 squad.

      Cassano's heart condition was a theme among Milan supporters' banners on Sunday, though. There was also one that read "Cassano plays with his heart," where the "o" in "cuore" (the Italian word for heart) was a broken heart.

      Read More »from Milan fans had a banner demanding ‘traitor’ Antonio Cassano return defibrillator
    • Porto's 26-year-old Colombian striker Jackson Martinez is quickly becoming a YouTube star with his stunning shows of control and creative finishing like what he pulled off in the 10th minute of his side's 2-0 win against Sporting Lisbon. Controlling a pass with his knee while running backwards, Martinez set himself up for a backheel right in front of goal that he finished with grace and ease.

      Just two weeks ago against Beira Mar, Martinez showed that he is also quite good at controlling the ball with his chest to set up an overhead kick that had a similar result.

      And elsewhere on Sunday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic put his black belt in Taekwando to footballing use in a way that did not involve kicking his teammates by flicking in a corner kick with the outside of his foot for the first of his two goals against Marseille. And for his second, he blasted in this curling free kick from considerable distance...

      Read More »from Porto’s Jackson Martinez with an impressive backheel golazo against Sporting Lisbon
    • Ashley Young sits with Man United fans, gives one of them a shock

      Ashley Young disguised as an eskimo. (@DavePipCollins)

      Unable to play due to a knee injury, Manchester United's Ashley Young still made the trip to Newcastle for his side's 3-0 win on Sunday, but he didn't sit with the team or in one of the executive suites. Instead, he sat in the away end at St. James' Park ("Sports Direct Arena," if you're Mike Ashley) with the Man United fans and kept a low profile in a hooded coat, though he did pose for pictures and sign autographs.

      This wasn't the first time Young or one of his teammates have sat with the fans while injured, but it was still a shock to some supporters who made the trip. Perhaps none of them were more surprised than the man on the right side of the picture below...

      Read More »from Ashley Young sits with Man United fans, gives one of them a shock
    • Luis Suarez hurls his body over an ant hill. (Getty)

      Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been heavily criticized for what many believe is his habit of going to ground too easily, but a new study has revealed the true compassionate nature of his actions. According to an in-depth investigation conducted by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Suarez's dives have saved the lives of thousands of ants living in penalty boxes at football grounds across England -- a fact the organization believes will drastically change public perception of the Uruguayan's frequent tendency to go down the way he does.

      "These findings prove what a great lad Luis Suarez truly is, OK?" said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers after reviewing the PETA report. "This just shows the extent of his compassion and talent. Even when running at full speed and thinking about what he's going to do with the ball, he can still spot ants in the grass and throw himself over them so as not to disturb their habitat. It takes a special player to do all that. And if he

      Read More »from Future News: Study shows that Luis Suarez’s dives save lives of thousands of ants
    • Ronaldinho had a good cry after scoring the first goal in Atletico-MG's 6-0 win against Figueirense to snap a four-match winless streak. Ronaldinho ended up with a hat trick, but it was his first goal -- a shot that at first appeared to be a cross but floated into the far corner of the goal -- that brought out the emotions.

      The 32-year-old immediately knelt down and began to cry as his teammates crowded around him. It was an unusual sight, especially coming from a player so famous for his smiles on the pitch, but after his stepfather died of a heart attack on Friday, he was clearly overcome by the mix of emotions.

      In addition to his three goals, Ronaldinho also set up his teammates for two others, keeping Atletico-MG six points behind first-place Fluminense. His best days as a footballer might be behind him, but he can still make a difference for his club...whether he means to or not.

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      Read More »from Ronaldinho in tears after floating the ball into the top corner on way to hat trick
    • Bayern Munich president, sausage king and World Cup winner Uli Hoeness was standing courtside and conducting a TV interview after Bayern's basketball team lost to Oldenburg when a little kid interrupted and swiped the microphone for his own enjoyment.

      Hoeness was discussing the reported trouble between manager Jupp Heynckes and sporting director Matthias Sammer when Ashawn, the six-year old son of former Boston College point guard Tyrese Rice, walked up to Hoeness and took the mic. Hoeness tried to keep him at bay with a pat on the head and a "hi, how are you?" in English, but Ashawn was determined to get that mic and get it he did. While a staffer for the TV production pulled Ashawn by his hood and Hoeness tried to take the mic back, Ashawn proved too powerful for both of them and gained sole possession of the mic before it was eventually given back to Uli.

      First the man sees his club lose a Champions League final in their own stadium and then he loses a microphone to a six-year-old

      Read More »from Bayern president Uli Hoeness gets his microphone stolen by a small child
    • An empty net tap-in during a FIFA 13 match leaves the keeper understandably dejected, but instead of rubbing it with an elaborate celebration, the scorer, well...he just rubs it.

      The violin celebration isn't new to the video game, but this probably wasn't the positioning the developers had in mind when they included it. Yet, the keeper seems to enjoy it at first before one of the scorer's teammates brings a premature end to the kind gesture.

      This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate (or, in this case, unexpectedly pleasurable) events.

      Previously: Gerard Pique is very affectionate in FIFA 12 and so is Andy Carroll

      Read More »from DTotD: Celebrating a goal by giving the keeper a happy ending in FIFA 13
    • Chelsea TV's Gigi Salmon hosted an audience with the club's Spanish contingent of Fernando Torres, Oriol Romeu, Juan Mata and new addition Cesar Azpilicueta, who is now officially just "Dave." As Salmon explains in the clip, some fans (and commentators) have had a difficult time pronouncing the 23-year-old defender's surname, so they have taken to just calling him Dave. Azpilicueta finds this quite funny and offers his approval of the new moniker. So, he is now Dave.

      With that settled, Juan Mata then sings Macarena (which he admits was the initiation song he performed for his teammates upon joining the club). Clearly a good time was had by all. Including Dave.

    • Adam Johnson hugs people who don't hug him back. (Getty)

      When a club starts buying up some of the best players in the world, it can suddenly become difficult for younger players who still have some growing to do to find a productive place for themselves in the team. After three seasons with Manchester City, Adam Johnson had enough of that and moved to the far more accommodating confines of Sunderland in August. And now, as his new club prepares to face his old club, Johnson is warning young English footballers who might consider signing with City that it's a trap.

      From the Telegraph:

      "When City come in for you, it is hard to say no," said Johnson, who had been on the verge of signing for Sunderland 2½ years ago only for City to outbid them.

      "I was in that situation a couple of years ago. I would probably advise young English players you probably won't get the chance to play as much as you would like.

      "As you can see, it has turned out that way as well with recent signings. It is difficult. It is excellent when a club like City come for you

      Read More »from Adam Johnson warns young English footballers about (not) playing for Man City
    • These men want to pay you to watch them do stuff. (Getty)

      Disheartened by having to play Champions League matches in a mostly empty stadium, Dinamo Zagreb players have decided to pool their money to fund a lottery in an attempt to get more people to show up to their next Champions League match against PSG. Dinamo only had an official (read: inflated) attendance of 15,000 in the 38,000-seat Stadion Maksimir for its first Group A match against Porto -- part of a trend blamed on expensive tickets and fans boycotting the club's nefarious leadership. So now the players are offering up to one million kunas (€134,000 or $174,000) for a sellout.

      From the AFP:

      The idea was launched by young midfielder Mateo Kovacic who posted a video, "One Million for a Full Stadium", on his Facebook page, in which he explains the idea to his teammates. [...]

      At a press conference on Friday, the players said the amount of the reward would actually depend on the number of fans who will attend the match against PSG on October 24.

      One million kunas will be handed out if more than 25,000 fans show up, they said.

      For 15,000 fans the reward would amount to some 20,000 euros while for 5,000 fans it drops drastically to some 650 euros.

      Five finalists for the prize will be chosen at halftime through a ticket barcode drawing, but there is no plan in place for deciding a winner yet.

      It's sad that Dinamo players have to resort to such a measure, but impressive that they care so much about the atmosphere that they are willing to put up their own money to try and improve it. Especially when Dinamo defender Domagoj Vida was fined €100,00 for opening a beer on the team bus just last week. Then again, this could just be a marketing ploy thought up and funded by the club using those massive fines they charge their players.

      Here's video of the press conference attended by the entire squad. There are no subtitles, but you can get a sense of the general mood...

      Read More »from Dinamo Zagreb players to give one fan a million kunas in attempt to fill stadium for Champions League match

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