How the “I’ve watched every single World Cup game” people play football…

Atlético Madrid gained promotion to La Liga in 2002. For the next nine seasons, they finished: 11th, 7th, 11th, 10th, 7th, 4th, 4th, 9th, 7th. Simeone joined in 2011/12 and has finished: 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 2nd.

From this to potentially League One in 10 years is crazy 🤯🤯

Covid times were crazy… 🤣

Throwback to this 🤣

Quick reminder that 24-year-old Igor Thiago is the FIRST Brazilian player in Premier League history to score more than 15 goals in a single season. This kid is something special 🇧🇷

🗣️ Bernardo Silva: "The difference between the rivalry with Arsenal and Liverpool? Maybe it's that Liverpool have already won a PL and Arsenal haven't. That Liverpool have won a CL and Arsenal haven't. And that Liverpool always face us with the intention of winning the game."

In September, Manchester United fan, Frank, who is growing his hair out until the club win five games in a row, had his hair pulled aggressively by another fan claiming he’s ‘not a United fan.’ Other fans stepped in to help him fight off the bully. Now he is close to reaching one million followers on Instagram and is one win away from a haircut 👏

Bendtner and Anelka won the Serie A with Juventus in 2013. Combining their stats: 12 matches played, 0 goals scored, and 0 assists provided.

VICENTE DEL BOSQUE: “My son Álvaro changed my life. At first, it was very hard; we cried a lot. I asked myself, why does it have to happen to me and not someone else? But later, life showed us that we have to put things into perspective. Today, I can say that Álvaro has been a blessing — we wouldn’t know how to live without him now. When I look back, I think: ‘How foolish we were.’ He brings us peace. My son is happy and spreads happiness. He’s mischievous, but he doesn’t know what evil is.”

Krzysztof Piątek: "I had no idea who my teammates at Genoa were when I signed. So I turned on my PlayStation and looked them up on FIFA."

Pierluigi Collina, President of the FIFA Referees Committee, has proposed changing the way penalties are taken during regular time: “I think there’s an excessive gap between the opportunities for the shooter and the goalkeeper. On average, 75% of penalties end in goals. Plus, there’s the chance of a rebound off the goalkeeper. One solution is the ‘ONE SHOT’ rule, similar to what we see in penalty shootouts after extra time. No rebounds. Either you score, or the game resumes with a goal kick. This would also eliminate the spectacle we often see before a penalty is taken, with everyone crowding around the area. It looks like horses at the starting gate before a race.”

Name the most random footballer you can think of, and don’t give me someone like Morten Gamst Pedersen, I mean REALLY random.

Thiago Motta: “Once, when I was at PSG, after training, 11 of us went to a fancy restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe. At one point, Lavezzi said: ‘I’m going to call Ancelotti to join us.’ We panicked and told him: ‘Pocho, no! You can’t call the coach. Are you crazy? We’ll get in trouble.’ But Lavezzi, stubborn as always, called Carlo and straight up asked: ‘Where are you?’ Then he tried to convince him to come to the restaurant. When he hung up, we were sure he wouldn’t show up. But 15 minutes later, there he was, at the restaurant. He sat down, had a drink with us, and started telling incredible stories from his time at AC Milan. After a while, he stood up and said: ‘That’s it for me. I have to go home now. You can stay and do whatever you want, but on Sunday, I expect you to play a great game.’ Then he left. We all looked at each other and said: ‘How can we not give everything on the pitch for this guy? By how much do we have to win on Sunday? At least 5–0?’ That Sunday, we dominated and had an incredible match”.

Jermain Defoe on the World Cup in 2010: "When we were in South Africa, I remember one night I was bored, so me and Wayne Rooney sat in his room and watched his whole wedding on DVD."