Did WhatsApp Mishap Cause Luis Suarez Meltdown?
Mystery over Suarez hissy fit, Tata backs personality of Messi and Europeans fill daytime football void. All this and more mouldy Cheerios from the car seat of sport.
By Tim Stannard
1) Rare burst of aggression from striker as Uruguay crash out of Copa
Until Luis Suarez himself sheds light on the affair, we may never know what the heckity heck was going on in the Uruguay v Venezuela clash on Thursday night. But a Luddite Sports Burst suggests that pesky social media was involved.
The Barcelona striker was listed as injured in the official match squad sheet but the footballer himself was apparently under the assumption that he was able to play. And possibly the Uruguay coach as well.
This caused quite the tiff and tantrum on the touchlines as the warming-up Suarez became increasingly frustrated watching his team's departure from the Copa after a defeat to Venezuela left the big dogs of South America on zero points from two games and thus eliminated.
"If he got upset, that is something I was not aware of. He didn't tell me anything," shrugged Uruguay boss, Oscar Tabarez, apparently missing Suarez’s sighing, stomping, throwing his boots about and hitting the side of the dugout.
It all sounds like one team in particular need to get their email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google chat, and all the other blooming communication contraptions that make modern live so confusing all in a line, as apparently Suarez was left off one particular group chat.
2) Tata defends Messi’s mentality after Maradona’s pot-kettle-black moment
After Diego Maradona caused a bit of a kerfuffle in the Argentinean camp by suggesting that Leo Messi lacked personality to be a leader, Coach Tata Martino opted to politely disagree saying that Messi's particular mentoring skills are on display away from the dressing room.
"Mascherano's impact as a leader is more important inside the squad, and Messi's leadership is more important on the pitch," said Martino, whose team can clinch a quarterfinal berth on Friday with a win against Panama.
Chile will be hoping to avoid Uruguay's fate after losing their own first round game in Group D. The chance to make amends takes place in Foxborough with what should be a routine clash against Bolivia.
3) EURO 2016 fires up in France but mascot causes red faces. In many ways.
To cover those awkward, empty, despairing moments between waking up and the Copa America Centenario matches in the evening, the Europeans have stepped up to the plate with some games to fill in the blank with a tournament called Euro 2016.
And it’s in France! Which is a great place. Indeed the English have apparently already started to smash it up to show their seal of approval.
The first game takes place on Friday and it is the a fairly tasty looking France taking on Romania in Paris. Remember to catch the highlights and reaction on the midnight ET edition of the XTRA.
This is awkward. The official mascot of Euro 2016, Super Victor, happens to share a name with another...ahem... product. That's all Sports Burst is going to say on the matter, except that if anyone should be aware of such things, it's the French.
4) Zlatan under Swedish lockdown despite transfer talk
ZLATAN NEWS! Unfortunately there is not going to be that much Zlatan news over the next couple of weeks in terms of His next move.
The Swedish national team coach, Erik Hamren, has said that he would not be down with his striker travelling to Manchester or wherever during Euro 2016 to take care of any contract business.
5) Final respects to be paid to Muhammad Ali at funeral
Thousands are expected to attend the final farewell to Muhammad Ali on Friday as his funeral takes place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
MotoGP rider, Valentino Rossi, says that it is accepted that the event will never be completely safe, in wake of the death of rider, Luis Salom, at last week’s Cataluyna GP after a practice crash.
"It's very difficult to have 100% safety. Unfortunately it's something that you cannot fix,” admitted the Italian.
WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?
The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.