Once kicked a ball about. Now talk about kicking a ball about. The Rest Is Football
@restisfootball
@Goalhangerpods
..Instagram . Retweets are not endorsements
I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot. I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all. 👊🏻
After a surreal few days, I’m delighted that we have navigated a way through this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming. 1/4
If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket for the final, please, please don’t boo the Italian anthem. A/ It’s an absolute belter and worth listening to. B/ It’s bloody rude, disrespectful and utterly classless.
Dear non English football fans.
Football’s coming home is a fun song highlighting the lack of success of our football team for decades. No one really thought we’d win it. I totally get why you might think it was arrogance, but it’s more our self deprecatory sense of humour. 👍🏻
Booing and racially abusing the fine young men that play for our country and have given us so much pleasure and joy over the last month is not being an
@england
fan. That goes for the pathetic fighting at the ground too. It’s a minority but it’s a loud one and it’s embarrassing.
Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days. Happy that this ridiculously out of proportion story seems to be abating and very much looking forward to presenting
@BBCMOTD
on Saturday. Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming.
Football is a simple game, 22 men chase the ball for 82 minutes and the Germans get a player sent off so 21 men chase the ball for 13 minutes and at the end the Germans somehow fucking win.
A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you. 3/4
Utterly choked, but this young side gave absolutely everything. It’s a huge step forward and they’ll only get better in the future. They can hold their heads high, they did our country proud. Congratulations to Croatia.
Reports from Argentina that Diego Armando Maradona has died. By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God.
#RipDiego
Lukaku being pulled back and refusing to fall down and then not getting a freekick is exactly why players dive. Referees need to reward honesty if it’s to change.
Lot of rubbish about whether
@England
i better off losing for easier last 16 game. You play to win every game. Winning gives confidence. If you’re scared of playing France/Germany you’ve got no chance of winning the tournament anyway. Let’s stop being so bloody cautious. Attack!
Profoundly saddened to tell you that my beloved dog, Snoop, passed away last night. He was my friend, my companion, my boy. Whether I left the house for 2 weeks, 2 days or 2 minutes he would greet me with equal measure of enthusiasm and love. I’ll miss him greatly. RIP Snoop 💔
Absolutely agree, without the tap-ins and goal-hanging, I wouldn’t have scored hundreds of goals and won golden boots, I’d be like you, completely and utterly useless.
Well no, because Ronaldo’s the greatest player in history and can do everything better than Beckham. But it would be like taking away your goal-hanging & tap-ins… you’d be lucky to make Leicester’s all-time XI without those…
Mauricio Pochettino has been sacked by
@SpursOfficial
. He helped the club to punch massively above their weight for years. Good luck with finding a better replacement....ain’t gonna happen.
The reaction by the
@England
players following the racist abuse has been measured, intelligent and dignified. These young men are a fine example to all of us. Proud of each and every one of them.
It’s been an absolute privilege to watch Lionel Messi for nearly 2 decades. Moment after moment of spellbinding, breathtakingly joyous football. He’s a gift from the footballing Gods. So pleased that he’s lifted the ultimate prize in our sport. Gracias y felicidades, campeón.
Football is nothing without its fans. We’ve seen that clearly over the last 12 months. If fans stand as one against this anti-football pyramid scheme, it can be stopped in its tracks.
I agree with the Prime Minister. It is entirely unacceptable to desecrate Armistice Day with a hate march through London.
If it goes ahead there is an obvious risk of serious public disorder, violence and damage as well as giving offence to millions of decent British people. 1/2
In 25 years of doing this job, that was the most difficult, distressing and emotional broadcast I’ve ever been involved with. Thanks to
@cesc4official
@AlexScott
@MicahRichards
for your professionalism, warmth and empathy. Get well soon, Christian Eriksen. 🙌🏻
@PennyMordaunt
Thank you for mentioning me in your clumsy analogy. I’m just happy to have been better in the 6 yard box than you are at the dispatch box. Best wishes.
The relentless Messi fan-girling by the whole BBC punditry team is getting excruciatingly obsequious.
Getting worried one of them might have an ‘accident’ in the studio. Calm yourselves, lads. He had a good game against an average side. See how he does against a good team.
He’d have practiced taking penalties. He’s a great player and an excellent penalty taker. The true greats of our game have all missed penalties. Also helping to feed hungry children is not politics, it’s just basic human kindness…something this young man possesses in abundance.
O dear O (7) dear.
James Bond would never wear a garish pink suede dinner jacket. You’re supposed to be a steely-eyed assassin with exemplary sartorial taste, Mr Craig…. not an Austin Powers tribute act. 👎
Pele has died. The most divine of footballers and joyous of men. He played a game only a few chosen ones have come close to. 3 times he lifted the most coveted gold trophy in that beautiful yellow shirt. He may have left us but he’ll always have footballing immortality. RIP Pele
If Messi is to leave
@FCBarcelona
by activating a release clause, then I hope the club try to help, not hinder him. He’s been fiercely loyal and their greatest ever player. It would be terribly sad if it finished with a fight between the player and the club.
Strange scenes as
@ericdier
runs off the pitch to the dressing room, followed hastily by Mourinho. Then Dier runs back out to resume playing. Presumably he needed the loo. Players just don’t shit on the pitch anymore. What’s wrong with them?
Stick to anything but football. Ronaldo is a wonderful footballer, but Messi’s numbers this year are superior. His play is on another level. He too won a double. Just because you interviewed him doesn’t make him better. 🙄
In 2019..
One footballer won 2 domestic & 1 national titles, & became 1st to 100 wins & 125 goals in Champions League, 1st current player to 700 official goals & 1st to win Premier League, Série A & La Liga.
Clue: it wasn't Lionel Messi who just won FIFA Best Player.
Congratulations to
@LFC
. No team has won the Premier League so early in the season. No team has won the Premier League so late in the year. A wonderful achievement by a magnificent team. True champions. Well played. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Home Secretary Priti Patel says the toppling of a statue of slaver Edward Colston in Bristol is "utterly disgraceful" and 'undermines' anti-racism protests.
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Ok, so let’s address this. I’m 23. I came from little. I need to protect not just my future but my family’s too. To do that I made a decision at the beg of 2020 to start investing more in property. Please don’t run stories like this alongside refs to ‘campaigning’.
Here they come: politicians jumping on the football bandwagon when it suits them. We all know you don’t give a monkey’s about the sport until you want to bask in any reflective glory. Bore off Boris.
I think going forward
@England
have to find a way of being more attack minded. Braver in possession and throwing more people forward. We have the forward talent to scare teams, at present we seem scared ourselves to release that talent.
Unbelievably, I’ve had to block a number of people on here who inexplicably think it’s funny that Pep lost his mother. What is wrong with these people? Disgusting.
First time in my life I’ve ever tweeted whilst on air but my goodness what a performance, what a triumph, what an amazing young woman. Congratulations
@EmmaRaducanu
on a truly staggering achievement. US Open winner at 18 without losing a set. Extraordinarily fabulous. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
So sad watching a clearly very emotional Lionel Messi having to say goodbye to
@FCBarcelona
. No player in the history of the sport has given so much joy, so many unforgettable moments, so much success to one club.
Messi wins his 6th Ballon d’Or. His numbers this year are once again truly extraordinary. He’s head and shoulders the best player in world football. He plays a game that is both joyous and incomprehensible to mere mortals. The award is totally meritorious. 👏🏻👏🏻
Imagine Man City and Liverpool going toe to toe for the title. On the last day of the season they meet & City are 3 up with just minutes to go. The referee decides it would be more exciting to have a penalty shootout. What’s more the City players have to be barefooted. That’s
@F1
Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans no longer always win. Previous version is confined to history.
McEnroe told the truth. Ms Raducuna’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure & quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.
Some of you on here are saying that poor children shouldn’t be given a food voucher that will stop them from going hungry. Think about that for a second.
Congratulations to
@LFC
. It was an absolute delight to be there to witness one of the greatest nights in the history of European football. A truly astonishing performance. 👏👏👏