The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Thursday, July 5

Hi, Hoddlers!

I have no obituaries today, but worry not, the ramble will still be about the World Cup.

Ramble of the Day

With all of those obituaries I had to write, there were some very notable World Cup moments I skipped over. Since I’ve got a day off from the obits, there are a couple of things I’d like to catch up on.

The first thing I’d like to address relates to one of my old rambles. Back in May, I went through the timeline of Jordan Henderson’s double watch style, and it turns out that Diego Maradona also loves wearing two watches at once.

Then again, bizarre things are just par for the course with Maradona.

Secondly, I’d like you all to remember this Iran fan with a very unusual wallet.

According to a YouTube search that someone else did, this is what they call a flame wallet. There are many tutorials on the internet, if you’re so curious.

What I’d like to address, though, is that this person stuck flames in his face just to light his cigarette. He did it so calmly, too! That is a lot of fire to just casually bring toward your face. It is a pretty resourceful way to make sure you can smoke in the stadium, though.

Naturally, I can’t help but think about how this man and the many like him might travel with two wallets. It seems like such a simple risk; it is easy to pull off, but once the error happens, it is a massive one. Imagine your average flame wallet owner walking into his local coffee shop to order his preferred morning beverage. He’s going to pay the barista, and reaches for the wallet in his right pocket, where his normal wallet usually is. This morning, though, he accidentally put the flame wallet in that pocket in a rush to get out of his home. All of a sudden, his wallet bursts into flames and the barista freaks out, as do the people behind him in line. He quickly closes it and tries to act like nothing happened, pulling out his other wallet to pay. That barista does not act normally for the rest of the day.

tl;dr: Catching up on some World Cup moments.

Links of the Day

Barcelona has denied a report that former club president Sandro Rosell got former defender Éric Abidal a liver off the black market.

Rafael Márquez has retired following a 22-year career.

Transfer roundup: Atlético Madrid have signed Nehuén Pérez from Argentinos Juniors

Today’s longer read: Jonny Weeks interviews Getty Images photographer Michael Regan about working at the World Cup for The Guardian
Supplemental viewing: Michael Regan picks out his favorite photographs from Russia