Who Ate All The Pies

Brazilian referee suspended for sending off the wrong player

A Brazilian referee has been suspended indefinitely after sending off the wrong player in a case of mistaken identity. Rodrigo Martins Cintra - evidently a graduate of the Graham Poll School of Refereeing - sent off Rio Branco's Felipe for a second bookable offence despite the fact that the foul on a Corinthians player had clearly been committed by Josias.

Marcos Marinho, head of the Brazilian refereeing committee, said: "He's not on form at the moment so we're going to work to make sure he's better when he comes back." If you're the impatient type, the incident is 2mins 45secs into the video below, but it was quite an entertaining game if you fancy watching the extended highlights.

Thierry Henry's unfeasibly large ghetto blaster

Who knows where Thierry picked up this mother of all boomboxes – Tandy? What I do know is that he was listening to MC Hammer when this photo was taken. Or Musical Youth.

Pele soccer skills video

Pele is not just the ambassador for erectile dysfunction. He is also one of the greatest players who ever lived, if not the greatest. I think we've been avoiding Pele videos on here for fear of being too obvious… however, this video is probably the best on the web at showing his dazzling skills and lethal finishing. Enjoy.

PM calls for cheaper tickets for footy fans

Bandwagon hopping anyone? Right this way...

Tony Blair has joined in the ticket pricing debate and backed calls for Premiership clubs to lower their ticket prices to make sure fans can afford to attend matches. He said countless empty seats at top-flight grounds in recent years were a clear indication that prices needed to come down. "Anyone who watches the Premiership can just notice, in the past year or couple of years, the rows of empty seats,'' he said at his monthly press conference today. "It's something I do not recall seeing in the same way four or five years back so I think there are very sensible market-based reasons for people to make sure the ticket prices aren't beyond the reach of the ordinary fan. After all, it's the ordinary fan that really builds the club. It's a decision for them but I think the logic of it is pretty clear.''

Almost 80 MPs have signed a motion protesting at ticket prices "beyond the reach of many fans''. The Premier League should use at least some of the amazing amounts of money received from a new TV rights deal to reduce ticket prices, they say. Who can argue with that? Bolton have announced that they will use some of the extra TV cash to reduce season ticket prices next year and Blackburn are looking to do something similar. Other clubs have cut the cost of attending some matches in a bid to boost attendances - which are falling on average.

Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Don Foster said: "Tony Blair's hit the target on high Premiership ticket prices - they're clearly putting fans off. His comments add pressure to the football authorities who are already being squeezed to get their house in order or lose out on a World Cup bid. It's simply unacceptable that football's recent cash bonanza isn't getting back into fans' pockets. There's a real danger that short-term profits are being given priority over the long-term interests of the game". [Mof Gimmers via]

It shouldn't happen to an FA Cup player of the round

Poor Reading keeper Adam Federici must have come crashing down to Earth a couple of minutes into his side's FA Cup defeat against Manchester United last night. The 22-year-old Aussie had already been voted player of the round before he let Gabriel Heinze's drive through his body two minutes into the replayed fifth-round match.

It shouldn't happen to an FA Cup player of the round continued

The star of the Royals' 1-1 draw at Old Trafford has had a pretty good time of it of late. After taking the plaudits for his performance against United, Federici was then offered his first contract of any great length. And he was the subject of this heart-warming BBC feature, which reveals that until recently he was kipping on Ibrahima Sonko's sofa! Unfortunately, Adam, this is the bit of your fifth-round exploits that will stick in my memory.

[Rob Parker]

Wayne Bridge's blow to the head gets him all confused

After taking a little smack round the head from Emmanuel Eboue, Chelsea's Wayne Bridge was apparently even more concussed than his skipper John Terry. Perhaps a little bemused as to why his team-mates were parading a little tin cup around and drinking champagne, Bridge said: "It doesn't matter what happened in the game - we got the three points." More Quotes of the Week from the BBC here. [Rob Parker]

Top teamwork goals

For every greedy player who likes to take on one man too many, there is the selfless team-mate who would rather put a goal on a plate for a colleague. We celebrate those players who make sure that pass 'n' move is not exclusively the Liverpool groove.

[Rob Parker]

The Mark Viduka song, by Alistair Griffin

'The baffled keeper can't stop Mark Viduka…' This tribute song to the rotund 'Boro/Aussie hitman, written and performed by singer-songwriter Alistair Griffin, is possibly the best football song I've heard since New Order's World in Motion, at least in terms of lyrics. It's a cover of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (and others, including Rufus Wainwright), and it's absolutely f**king brilliant. Hear it now at Alistair's MySpace site.

Diego Maradona steals bottle of Coke from small child

In this Coca-Cola ad from 1982, Maradona, the most gifted cheat of all time, proves that he is also a shit actor.

Bum-to-bum action in the Madrid derby

In the recent incident packed Mardrid derby, something unusual happened. It involved some buttock to buttock action... and... well... I've no idea why. It all seems very sporting though.