WHERE WERE WE?
Never slow to steal the thunder of other far more successful, popular and generally better men, Gianni Infantino was seen to be at it again when spotted shamelessly taking what appeared to be selfies near the open casket of Pelé, before the three-time World Cup winner’s funeral. The Fifa president was ostensibly in Brazil to pay his respects to the late legend, but one suspects mainly there to be seen paying his respects to the late legend, whose death cast an inevitable shadow over the Christmas festivities, but prompted a generation of misty-eyed fans of a certain age to dust off their Escape To Victory DVDs and raise a glass to the great man in one of his greatest footballing performances, that of Trinidadian prisoner of war and Allied XI man of the match, Corporal Luis Fernandez. Pelé, we salute you.
While news of the great man’s passing dominated headlines over the festive period, there were other less significant but undeniably intriguing footballing stories that may have slipped under the radar. While Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi side Al Nassr for several convoy-loads of cash came as no great surprise given his recent publicly-stated reluctance to move to Saudi side Al Nassr for several convoy-loads of cash, few if any of us could have predicted Scott Parker would pitch up as the new manager of Club Brugge.
While the shrewdies among us could have been forgiven for betting the farm on the former Fulham and Bournemouth manager being a sure thing to end up trying to mastermind victory for Norwich over Hull at Carrow Road on Valentine’s Day, he will instead take charge of the Belgian outfit in Big Cup at the Jan Breydel Stadium the following evening. “Maybe that’s what hell is: the entire rest of eternity spent in effin’ Bruges,” said Parker on his appointment. Although now that Football Daily thinks about it, maybe it was Colin Farrell’s character at the end of a certain well-known movie about the city.
While Liverpool’s defeat at the hands of Brentford on Monday didn’t necessarily come as a massive surprise, their manager’s reaction to the defeat was far more predictable. Rather than concede that his team were beaten fair and square by the better side on the night and just congratulate his opposite number on a job well done, Jürgen Klopp also opted to complain about Brentford’s unfair tactics of trying to compete for the ball as it came into the Liverpool penalty area from their own corners. He also flagged up a non-existent shove in the back of Ibrahima Konaté by Bryan Mbeumo in the buildup to a goal that ultimately put the game firmly beyond his side. It may be a new year but we’re already hearing the same old excuses.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When people say I’m a fighter, an example, it’s lovely. But the pain I felt: it’s not the cancer in my body, it’s everything I overcame psychologically, everything I went through with my mum. That’s hard, honestly. Very, very, very hard” – Atlético Madrid midfielder Virginia Torrecilla is back playing after cancer and being “sunk” by an accident that left her mother in a wheelchair. After being named Guardian Footballer of the Year, she talks to Sid Lowe.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“If the late, great Dinah Washington was still around (and a Spurs fan), she’d probably be singing What a Difference Five Years Makes, eh Antonio?” – Noble Francis.
“If, according to Big Website, Arsenal really are closing on signing Mykhaylo Mudryk, then judging by his tattoos it would be great news for their No 9. I wouldn’t say much for the chances of him setting up anyone else in the team, mind” – Noble Francis.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Rollover Noble Francis.
MOVING THE GOALPOSTS
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RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The Football Weekly crew pick over the festive fixtures and also put together a special podcast on the legacy of Pelé.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
David Squires on Pelé, the kid who would be football king.
Plus David looks at the story of football in 2022, through 27 objects.
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