Mesut Ozil has more control with his gum than you do with a soccer ball

Since moving to Arsenal almost two months ago things have gone well for Mesut Ozil and even better for the Gunners. It's not a tough line to draw between Arsenal being in first place (no really!) and the signing of the young German to play at Emirates Stadium.

The cameras caught the midfielder showing off during a pregame warm up with some of his skillful footwork.



I dare anyone to try that and come anywhere close to getting it in your mouth. In fact record it and send us the videos.

I would show you the video of myself trying this but 18 packs of gum later it was just too embarrassing to face my own lack of anything resembling skill.

Video via TheRightyGeorge

The new Levski Sofia coach had a really crappy first day at work.

The first day at a new job is always stressful. There's nothing worse than fumbling around an unfamiliar office looking for supplies, having to have lunch with people you don't know, and being left out of the newest office gossip.

The one thing you usually don't count on for your first day is to be attacked and stripped partially nude when you're introduced to everyone. Welcome to the first day of Ivaylo Petev's first day as the new coach for Levski Sofia. The fun starts about the :45 mark.



What could Ivaylo have possibly done to upset his new team's fans before he ever even coached a game? Supporting the enemy it seems. Story via Reuters

Levski, the 26-times Bulgarian champions, turned to Petev after sacking Serbian coach Slavisa Jokanovic following a mediocre start to the season but the Sofia-based club’s fans believe his allegiance lies with CSKA.

“I have no sympathy to another Sofia club, you can check it out,” said Petev.

In an interview with local media in June, however, the 38-year-old, who led Ludogorets to two consecutive league titles, said he was a CSKA fan, adding that this had never stopped him being uncompromising against his favourite team on the pitch.

 I guess feeling awkward at the water-cooler doesn't seem like such a big deal now.

Bomb goes off in front of Panathinaikos Supporters Group HQ

 

And you thought MLS Supporters Group drama was bad.....

via AP

A bomb has exploded outside the Athens offices of a fan club for the premier league Panathinaikos football club, damaging the building and several nearby parked cars but causing no injuries.

The explosion occurred in the early morning Friday outside the office in the central neighborhood of Petralona. The blast shattered windows of nearby stores and homes.

There was no immediate information on what the explosive device consisted of.

Panathanaikos, one of the oldest Greek clubs, has a long standing feud with fans of Olympiakos, who's fans are widely viewed to be behind the bombing. The derby between these two clubs is referred to as "The Derby of the Eternal Enemies" and has a long history of violence between the two groups of fans.

Go see all the hatred for yourself at forzainterforums.com.

I think Samir Nasri is stoned.

I know that as a teammate sometimes you have to say nice things about people you play with because you don't want to be a dick. Saying that your goalkeeper couldn't cover a U16 team wouldn't really go over well in the locker room regardless of how true it is. So I guess Samir Nasri was just trying to play nice guy when he said something laughable about his teammate Joe Hart.

Samir Nasri has insisted that his Manchester City teammate Joe Hart is still one of the world’s top five goalkeepers -- despite a spate of mistakes.

Nasri ....remains confident that Hart should be ranked alongside the likes of Bayern’s Manuel Neuer, Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon and Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris as the game’s finest.
He said: "Yes, I think it's Neuer, Joe Hart and maybe Hugo Lloris because I play with him in the national team. Then Buffon too. [Iker] Casillas doesn't play anymore but for me Joe is in the world's top five -- easily."

 Don't get me wrong Joe Hart is no slouch but TOP 5 IN THE WORLD?!?!?

Apparently Samir Nasri wasn't paying attention when Manchester City got embarrassed by Bayer Munich, and even more embarrassed by Hart's atrocious keeping job.

Who would you have in as the top 5 net-minders in the world playing right now?

Story via Richard Jolly.

Greenpeace embarrasses UEFA in the middle of a Champions League game

Greenpeace is known for their sometimes extreme measures of protesting what they see as the destruction of the environment. Recently their hippy hard-ons have been focused on targeting groups that are drilling in the Arctic for oil and gas, mainly Shell Oil and , Russian state gas and oil company, Gazprom.

Whether it's climbing the tallest building in Western Europe, embarrassing Shell Oil at the Belgian Grand Prix (this one is actually really funny), or getting themselves charged with Piracy for trying to scale a Russian drilling rig, these guys (and gals) don't give up.

The groups latest hijinks? Interrupting a Champions League match by repelling into St. Jakobs Park in Basel Switzerland with a giant protest banner against Gazprom.

Why this game? I'm guessing that it has to do with Basel's opponent, Schalke, and the Champs League being sponsored by, you guessed it, Gazprom!



Normally I would think this is hilarious but I think this brings up some major security questions for the home side. Mainly, HOW THE HELL DID 8 PEOPLE WITH FULL CLIMBING GEAR AND A GIANT BANNER GET ON TOP OF YOUR STADIUM ROOF WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING?!?!?!?!

I fully expect UEFA to throw the book at FC Basel for this complete and utter breakdown of security that led to a major embarrassment for UEFA and one of it's biggest Champions League sponsors.

Video via donggaBasel

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Did Walsall Twitter troll Wolverhampton after a win?

The first Black County Derby since 2003 was played this week with the away team Walsall FC ending Wolves unbeaten home streak with a 1-0 win. Everyone loves a good derby win but teams don't usually go this far in gloating.

Special thanks to @farnell81 for the screen capture as the tweet was deleted promptly from @WFCOfficial. Immediately following the deletion Walsall FC issued this statement on their official Facebook page:

Walsall Football Club would like to apologise unreservedly to Wolverhampton Wanderers and their supporters for the offensive Tweet that appeared on the club’s Official Twitter Page – @WFCOfficial – last night.

Our Official account was hacked at 22:36 last night and a derogative and frankly disgusting Tweet was published. As soon as the club’s Communications Team, who were at Molineux for the fixture, were made aware of the Tweet, it was deleted and an apology issued.

Walsall Football Club are taking this matter very, very seriously. A full investigation will be launched.

Walsall FC do not condone this type of behaviour and when the culprit is identified the club will be taking the strongest course of action.

Usually I view accounts that claim hacking as the reason for an offensive tweet with a HUGE grain of salt but this one would seem to be a legit hack. Was it tacky? Yes. Was it offensive? Yes. You know what else it was though? Hilarious. I'm not even sure what what "..dingle bastards." means but I think everyone should try to somehow work this insult into a conversation today. Let me know how it turns out!

Jay N

FC Copenhagen won't sell you Champs League tickets if your name doesn't sound Danish.

Are you a fan of FC Copenhagen? (DUH!!) Want to go see them play at home in the Champions League? (What fan wouldn't?!?) Have a last name that doesn't "sound Danish"? Then you can take your ass to the visitors seats! Story via ESPNFC.

The Danish side have been drawn against Galatasaray, Juventus and Real Madrid in Group B of the Champions League, but supporters, according to newspaper Ekstrabladet, have been angered by a new club policy.

It is claimed that, for "security reasons", fans with non-Danish sounding names who bought three-match packages for their home games have seen the tickets cancelled.

"Safety is always our main concern when it comes to events at Parken (stadium). Therefore we make every effort to ensure that fans of our guests only have access to the away section," FC Copenhagen club secretary Daniel Rommedahl is quoted as saying by Reuters.

To be fair the story does go on to say that fans can call the Front Office and work the issue out if their last name doesn't happen to end in "en". No seriously almost all Danish people's last names end in "en". Go see for yourself.

Regardless of whether you can work out the confusion with the team or not, on the surface this seems like a really bad PR move. But then again would anyone be talking about FC Copenhagen otherwise? Is this actually a genius PR move hidden in slightly xenophobic stereotypes? .....touche FCK. Touche.

Jay N

We're Back!!!!

Yeah I know it's been 6 months since I've posted anything. It was a much needed break and I'm ready to get this dumb little site kicked off again for the six of you that will read it. Any one interested in becoming a contributor shoot me an email at jaytheblogger@yahoo.com! Stay tuned folks I'm going to be posting stuff on a semi regular basis again.

Jay N

CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule and venues released

CONCACAF has announced the venues for the 2013 Gold Cup starting in July and they made sure the US plays their 3 group games in the whitest cities they could possibly find.

They play Belize July 9th in Portland, Oregon, Cuba on July 13th in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Costa Rica July 16th in Hartford Connecticut. Conversely they made sure that 2 of Mexico's 3 games are in cities where there isn't a huge Hispanic population (Seattle, WA and Denver, CO). Great job CONCACAF!! We really appreciate all the help you can give us. What was Cleveland booked?? Wait...what was that? The US ARE playing in Cleveland?!?!? Oh....I see.....well.....  Is it just me or does Cleveland seem like an odd place to hold a soccer game? Or really anything for that matter.

Via AP

CHICAGO -- The final of this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 28.

Solider Field also hosted the 2007 final of soccer's regional championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

CONCACAF announced the tournament schedule Wednesday, with quarterfinals at Atlanta's Georgia Dome on July 20 and Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium the following day, and semifinals at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on July 24.

The United States is in Group C in the first round and will play Belize at Portland, Ore. (July 9), Cuba at Salt Lake City (July 13) and Costa Rica at East Hartford, Conn. (July 16).

Mexico is in Group A and plays Panama at Pasadena, Calif. (July 7), Canada at Seattle (July 11) and Martinique at Denver (July 14).

You can find the full schedule and list of venues here.

Jay N