Today in Football – Things You May Have Missed

Football never sleeps. During any of the 86400 seconds in a 24-hour day, somewhere in the world someone is doing something related to the beautiful game, whether that’s scoring a last-minute winner in a high-profile match, posting their expert take on social media or simply booting a ball against a wall with their mates.

It’s therefore impossible for any human being to keep up with everything that’s going on in the game, and it’s often those little yet most intriguing moments, like a fan’s alternative viewpoint of a penalty save, or a three-second yet incredibly telling interaction between two arch-rivals, or thread on X explaining why N’Golo Kante is the nicest man in professional sport, which make football so great.

GIVEMESPORT have created our live blog to help solve that problem, providing the best social media has to offer and the greatest football mini-stories from the last 24 hours.

24th March: Robbie Keane Shows Yellow Card to Tottenham Teammate

Spurs hero ‘booked’ Michael Dawson during Legends match

Tottenham hero Robbie Keane showed teammate Michael Dawson a yellow card during Sunday’s Legend’s match against AC Milan. The Irishman, who scored a hat-trick in Spurs’ 6-2 victory against a Milan side featuring the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Cafu, took the card from the referee before flashing it in Dawson’s direction.

Keane decided Dawson deserved the booking after failing to pick Jermain Defoe out with a long-range pass. Dawson had plenty of time and space to play a pass to Defoe, who would have been through on goal, but the defender-turned-pundit messed up the final ball. Watch the funny moment by skipping to 1:08:15 on the following video…

23rd March: Germany Score Genius Goal vs Italy, Who Were Caught Sleeping

Italy stopper Donnarumma was too busy complaining to his fellow countrymen

Gianluigi Donnarumma and the Italian defence were caught sleeping in their Nations League encounter by Germany’s slick thinking – and it was Jamal Musiala who benefitted from the Italian’s lacksidaiscal nature. Donnarumma tipped Tim Kleindienst’s header over the bar, which allowed Joshua Kimmich to restart play as soon as he wanted.

Kimmich took little to no time to receive the ball from a ballboy, switch on and play the perfect pass to an eagerly waiting Musiala, who had an empty net to finish into. That was because Donnarumma had evaded the vinicity of his goalmouth to complain about how poorly his compatriots had begun the second leg of their quarterfinal.

23rd March: Cristiano Ronaldo Misses Penalty vs Denmark

Ronaldo’s tame effort was easily saved by Kasper Schmeichel

Cristiano Ronaldo is perhaps the greatest penalty taker ever. Whenever he steps up to take a spot-kick you can almost guarantee that he will smash the ball into the back of the net. However, when presented with the opportunity to score from 12 yards in Portugal’s clash against Denmark on Sunday evening, he was unable to take the opportunity.

Ronaldo won himself a penalty with barely 5 minutes on the clock and he confidently placed the ball down on the spot. Surprisingly, his shot was tame and his effort was easily saved by Denmark number one, Kasper Schmeichel. It was a poor penalty and could go down as one of the worst spot-kicks he’s taken in his career.

Barry Town United release statement after Evan Press is sentenced

Welsh outfit Barry Town United say they are “shocked” after learning that vice-captain Evan Press, 24, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for dealing cocaine. The midfielder had played every game this season for the Cymru Premier outfit but now finds himself behind bars, leaving his football team stunned.

“Being brutally honest we only heard about this on the day he was sentenced,” Barry Town told Wales Online.

The club spokesman added: “Since the sentencing we’ve heard bits about the case but we don’t have all the information. We have been processing the news. It is a real shock. Evan is a wonderful young man. He’s been part of our club for seven years. He has made a mistake and my understanding is it happened some time ago. We are a family club who want our players to be role models. This was news to us.”

22nd March: Peter Crouch Brings Back Iconic Celebration in Liverpool Legends Match

‘The finish and THAT celebration’

Peter Crouch rolled back the years with a towering header in Liverpool Legends vs Chelsea Legends at Anfield. The retired England striker rose highest in the penalty area to nod home a Florent Sinama Pongolle delivery to give the Reds’ heroes of yesterday the lead.

The Kop were delighted to see the forward – who spent three years on Merseyside – hit the target once again and waited with bated breath to see how he would celebrate. Crouchy, of course, pulled out his famous robot celebration from retirement, much to the joy of the home faithful. His moves may be a bit rusty these days, but it was a special moment for the striker-turned-pundit.

22nd March: Solanke Ranks Saliba, Van Dijk and Dias From Worst to Best

Solanke has played against all three in recent years

William Saliba, Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias are the Premier League’s three standout centre-backs, but who is the best of the trio? Dominic Solanke has played against all three and he was asked to rank them on Sky Sports programme Saturday Social. Solanke believes Liverpool legend Van Dijk is the best of the trio as he called him the toughest opponent he has faced in his career.

Solanke then described Van Dijk as the best centre-back in the world. The English striker proceeded to place Saliba in second and Dias third.

20th March: Andre Onana Gives Bryan Mbeumo Free-Kick Advice

Cameroon goalkeeper offered teammate some words of wisdom

​​​​​​Bryan Mbeumo was left looking a little baffled after being offered some free-kick advice from his Cameroon teammate, Andre Onana, who rushed up the other end of the pitch shortly before half-time during Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Eswatini. This isn’t the first time Onana has offered teammates free-kick advice, although fans are left puzzled each time it happens.

The Manchester United star presumably feels he can help free-kick takers exploit dead-ball situations by offering guidance from a goalkeeper’s perspective. And when you think of it like that, there’s probably some logic behind it. However, judging by his subtle reaction, we’re not overly sure whether Mbeumo appreciated the ‘keeper’s words of wisdom.

18th March: Awful pitch for Real Madrid women’s vs Arsenal

Ian Wright slams the quality of the Champions League venue

Real Madrid hosted Arsenal in the first leg of the women’s Champions League quarterfinal stage, with the home team picking up a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Linda Caicedo and Athensea del Castillo. However, the main talking point was unfortunately the poor quality of the pitch.

Playing at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium, but both sides struggled to get any fluid football going, with the muddy and sodden surface impacting the game significantly. Former Arsenal icon Ian Wright slammed the situation, saying: “Watching the Champions League quarter-final Real Madrid pitch, this is worse than Derby’s pitch the other day. This is a f******* disgrace the pitches these girls have to play on.”

He was referring too another women’s game, at Derby’s Pride Park, which had been heavily criticised after Chelsea beat Manchester City in Saturday’s League Cup final. Wright evidently felt this was worse and he wasn’t alone with other fans noting: “No way in 2025 would the men be expected to play on the equivalent.”

And: “This is so disrespectful to the woman’s game.”

18th March: Club Holds Silence For Player Who Hasn’t Died

Arda Kardzhali release statement after their mistake

​​​​​Arda Kardzhali have issued an apology after holding a minute’s silence for a former player they incorrectly believed had died. Players of the Bulgarian top-flight side, and their opponents Levski Sofia, fell silent shortly before kick-off to mark the passing of Petko Ganchev.

However, before the game had even finished, Arda posted a statement via their Facebook page to announce they had received wrong information about Ganchev’s death. “The management of PFC Arda would like to express its deepest apologies to the team’s former footballer, Petko Ganchev, and his loved ones, after the club received incorrect information regarding his death,” the club wrote.

17th March: Postecoglou confronts Spurs fan after Fulham loss

The Australian couldn’t resists firing back at criticism

Ange Postecoglou was involved in another furious altercation with a Tottenham fan after his side’s 2-0 loss to Fulham on Sunday afternoon. Late goals from Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon condemned Spurs to another defeat, their 15th of the Premier League campaign.

As the Australian boss was making his way down the tunnel and to the dressing room following the match, an aggrieved Spurs fan asked him multiple times “what was that?”. Postecoglou couldn’t resist firing back and retorted “Behave yourself” before telling the fan to “learn some manners.” After Postecoglou removed himself from the situation, Mathys Tel got involved and told the supporter to show some respect.

16th March: Rangers Forward Vaclav Cerny Incites Celtic Fans

The Czech Republic man got Hoops supporters raging with his actions

Rangers forward Vaclav Cerny nearly sparked a riot at Celtic Park after throwing water onto Celtic fans during Sunday’s Old Firm Derby. The blue side of Glasgow let a two-goal lead slip against their rivals but netted an 88th-minute winner to secure all three points against their biggest rivals.

The result gave caretaker manager Barry Ferguson his first win against Celtic as Rangers boss, but he had to contend with one of his players almost causing havoc after his side had scored what turned out to be the winner. Footage showed Cerny spraying water over a section of the home fans, who reacted angrily and had to be barricaded from the Rangers bench by local police who were at the stadium.

Further footage showed Cerny laughing at the situation, seemingly proud of the angry reaction that he had provoked.

14th March: Peter Crouch Loses Expensive Cheltenham Bet

Retired striker forced to fork out almost £8k on 1,000 pints of Guinness

Peter Crouch was forced to cough up almost £8,000 after losing a costly bet at the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday. “Basically, myself or Crouchy will be buying 1,000 pints of Guinness after the Stayer’s Hurdle,” bookmaker Paddy Power explained, per talkSPORT. “If an Irish horse wins, Crouchy’s buying the pints, if an English horse wins, I’m buying the pints. I think I got the better of this one.”

Former England international Crouch said: “That’s outrageous really, isn’t it? Also, I don’t know loads about horse racing. I woke up, I had a look at it and I was like, ‘we ain’t got any chance’ and now he’s (Power) upped it.”

Sadly for Crouchy, it was Paddy Power who prevailed after the Grade 1 race was won by the Henry De Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger. This meant that the retired striker, 44, had to shell out an eye-watering £7,800 to pay for 1000 punters’ Guinness. Ouch.