Great moments in World Cup history #6

Portugal defeated England on penalties in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup.

A random, but interesting, red card

It seems like the Portuguese often get involved in things like this.

Champions League update: Mind-boggling mistakes lead to mind-boggling goals

Porto 2 - Arsenal 1

Porto's first goal was nothing more than a single mistake by the goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski. Porto's second goal was a bit more complicated, because it involved multiple mistakes. Arsenal defender Sol Campbell's back pass to the keeper was picked up by Fabianski (one mistake), which resulted in an indirect free kick for Porto. Fabianski then handed the ball directly to the referee (yet another mistake) who allowed Porto to quickly restart the game and score.

Bayern Munich 2 - Fiorentina 1

In the Bayern Munich-Fiorentina match, the mistakes all belong to the referee and linesman. On Bayern Munich's first goal, the referee had called a penalty before the ball went in the net, so he disallowed the initial goal. Luckily for everyone involved, the subsequent penalty was made, so the score turned out 1-0 as it should have. Bayern Munich's second goal is even simpler-- the fault lies completely with the linesman, who failed to call Klose offside.

Great moments in World Cup history #4

2006 Round of 16: Portugal 1 - Holland 0

This match set a record for the number of red and yellow cards.

Pictures of the Day-- Darren Bent's goal

Sunderland beat Liverpool 1-0 at home earlier today. Sunderland's goal came on a shot by Darren Bent which deflected off a beach ball and/or defender on its way into the goal. Liverpool obviously claimed the goal should not have counted, but the referee did not agree. The beach ball, by the way, apparently had a Liverpool logo on it and was knocked onto the pitch by a Liverpool supporter.

For a more detailed report, click here.

Update--October 18, 2009: The official online Liverpool store has apparently now completely sold out of beach balls.

Six months have passed, and I can hardly remember the Super Bowl

Six months and two days have passed since Super Bowl XLIII, and, thankfully, I can barely remember what happened. I remember that at the end of the first half, the Arizona Cardinals were deep in Pittsburgh territory and were about to score, but Kurt Warner threw an interception and that one guy for the Steelers ran it all the way back for a touchdown and collapsed into the end zone. I also remember that the Cardinals were leading late, but then the Steelers scored. I really wanted that guy's feet (see photo above) to be out of bounds, but they weren't. Finally I remember that with about five seconds left, the Steelers player knocked the ball out of Kurt Warner's hand and the referees ruled it a fumble and didn't even bother to review it using instant replay. (Although, maybe they did after all.)

I am just happy that the human brain can deal with tragedy and injustice by simply forgetting about it. Imagine how horrible our lives would be if we had to remember everything.

Picture(s) of the Day

Above: Champions League semi-final (second leg): Iniesta has just scored for Barcelona in stoppage time. Clearly the Chelsea players can't believe what has just happened. (For a larger, and better, view, click on the photo.)

Below: Minutes later, Chelsea's Michael Ballack is sure the referee just missed a hand ball in the box by Samuel Eto'o.

Barcelona will face Manchester United in Rome on May 27 in the Champions League final. For a complete report on yesterday's semi-final match, click here.

Watford 2 - Reading 2

From last weekend's Football League Championship action. Reading was in the Premiership last year - first they were relegated, and now this. The Football League has ruled that there can not be a replay, despite the obvious mistake.

Update September 23, 2008: Ape Canyon News Service apologizes if the above video does not work. YouTube keeps taking it down, and, as fast as we can, we post it back up. Check back again later!