![\"Diego](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SRR2BGDAJWAFUY3QKSL3VMIKW4.jpg\")
Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Photograph: Bob Thomas\/Getty Images <\/p>\nParaguay\u2019s Miguel Almir\u00f3n made some unwanted history in the game against Turkey last weekend when he became the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth while talking to an opponent. Paraguay still managed to go and win the game, but it would be accurate to say that commentator Jorge \u200bChipi Vera was a touch aggrieved with the red card dished out by Salvadorean referee Iv\u00e1n Barton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThief, thief, Barton,\u201d he hollered, live on air. \u201cThey killed football! Fifa, you killed football! Infantino, you\u2019re responsible for this! Fifa, take responsibility for turning football into this! A disgrace! You should be ashamed, Infantino! What kind of racism could Almiron possibly use against the Turkish player? Show me some common sense!\u201d<\/p>\n
Was he done? God no.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlejandro Dom\u00ednguez (president of CONMEBOL), less photos with Infantino! Grow a pair! You ****ing thieves! Is this what we have to come and see at a World Cup? What sons of b******! What sons of b******! This is inexplicable, this is a disgrace! They\u2019re killing football and leaving us with one less player! Sons of b******!\u201d <\/p>\n
Later, when he calmed down a bit, Vera sent a letter of apology to Fifa and put his \u201coutburst\u201d down to frustration. \u201cI used offensive and unacceptable expressions against the referee, Fifa, \u200band its authorities. I failed you in something fundamental: maintaining the composure and respect that this profession requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was he forgiven? No. Fifa have stripped him of his World Cup accreditation. Thieves.<\/p>\n
QUOTE<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure VAR is still working at the World Cup because a clear penalty against England was missed. Maybe it went for a coffee?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz reckoning VAR was too busy slurping a skinny latte to notice England\u2019s Ezri Konsa fouling Prince Adu in the penalty area.<\/p>\n
WORD OF MOUTH<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll probably be there all right, but you mean watching? He can\u2019t be playing, surely? Although if he was a full-back he might be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy Keane dismissing (former full-back) Gary Neville\u2019s suggestion that Cristiano Ronaldo will play in the 2030 World Cup at the age of 45.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would be fantastic. I can see that happening in a couple of years.\u201d <\/p>\n
Harry Redknapp has already picked Thomas Tuchel\u2019s successor \u2013 his, eh, nephew, Frank Lampard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still trying to get my money back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trevoh Chalobah on how he\u2019s spending his World Cup \u2013 battling with travel agents for a refund on the holiday he had to abort after his late call-up to the England squad. <\/p>\n
Peter Shilton finally ready to move on from Hand of GodDiego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Photograph: Bob Thomas\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
Good news, in an interview with The Sun, Peter Shilton has revealed that he has finally put his grudge against (the late) Diego Maradona behind him, 40 years since the Hand of God and, possibly, the greatest World Cup goal we\u2019ve ever seen gave Argentina a 2-1 win in their quarter-final meeting with England in Mexico. <\/p>\n
The Hand of God goal was, well, indeed handball, but Shilton also believed the wonder goal should have been ruled out for a foul by Sergio Batista on Glenn Hoddle in the build-up. But, thankfully, he\u2019s moved on. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been 40 years since the event. I met some of the Argentinian players not so long back and it was very emotional, really. They were really great towards me. I think maybe it\u2019s time to put my beef to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallelujah. Hold it. \u201cIf VAR was around, both goals wouldn\u2019t have been allowed. It\u2019s as simple as that. Who knows what the score would have been. But certainly, the two goals scored wouldn\u2019t have been allowed. I definitely think that both goals we conceded wouldn\u2019t have been allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe not ready to move on just yet. But look it, we\u2019ll most probably still be talking about Thierry in 2050.<\/p>\n
NUMBER: 8<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the tally of red cards we reached by the end of Tuesday\u2019s games, the same as the previous two World Cups combined \u2013 and just the 20 short of the record set in 2006.<\/p>\n
MORE WORD OF MOUTH![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/UC22X4H6BUDWA34PIDZ2LGDDE4.jpg\")
President Donald Trump with Fifa president Gianni Infantino – and the World Cup – in the White House last year. Photograph: Tierney L Cross\/The New York Times<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be together with the president, enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner \u2013 of course together, we are together all the time!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fifa president Gianni Infantino confirming that he and Donald Trump will jointly present the World Cup to the winners on July 19th. We\u2019ll wait to see which man yanks the trophy out of the other\u2019s hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a financial issue. For us, it is purely a sporting matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Infantino again, this time dismissing the notion, with a straightish face, that hydration breaks are all about loot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe referees are saying, \u2018no, you\u2019ve got more time, it\u2019s all right, the ads are still running\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n
The United States\u2019 Antonee Robinson confirming what we suspected \u2013 hydration breaks wait for no man, just ads.<\/p>\n
Norway fans and yoga \u2013 together at last<\/p>\n
What could be better than taking part in a summer solstice yoga class in Times Square in New York City? Being joined by a couple of thousand Norway fans, of course, especially when they start joining in and serenading you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paraguay\u2019s Miguel Almir\u00f3n made some unwanted history in the game against Turkey last weekend when he became the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2956,61,60,112,4018],"class_list":["post-516817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fifa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}