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Hey, everyone!
It’s almost old news, but I need to share this video of a dog in Bolivia that laid on a football pitch.
A dog invaded a soccer pitch in Bolivia, with a boot in its mouth, before being carried off the field by a player ⚽ pic.twitter.com/dQMn5V65H4
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 30, 2020
Ramble of the Day
I’ve made a habit of asking this every year, and since we have just about come to the end of the calendar year in football, I’d like to ask: What was your favorite Tottenham moment in 2020, and what was your favorite football moment in 2020?
It was certainly an unforgettable year for Spurs, but while it wasn’t a horrible one, it wasn’t a great one, either. As a result, I had a tough time picking out one particular moment, but I settled on an answer after settling on a fairly broad definition of moment. My favorite thing about Spurs in 2020 was that we got to see Son Heung-min and a not broken Harry Kane play some of their best football for a period this season. They were enjoying their football and enjoying their chemistry, as were the rest of us. They led the way during the best part of the season so far, and hopefully we’ll see some version of it soon.
As for football itself, I think the best thing about 2020 was watching athletes as activists, increasing awareness on much needed topics. Most notably, players were increasing attention on racial inequality, but many shone a spotlight on other, and frequently connected, issues — Marcus Rashford is just one example with his remarkable efforts to combat food insecurity. I hope leaders in the sport follow their lead, but I’d like to take this moment to appreciate what these players have done. Sports remain a (sometimes unnecessarily) complicated space, but to watch players around the world carve a space for them to make lasting impact on the most important issues in life has been one of the objectively positive things to happen in 2020.
tl;dr: I picked my favorite Tottenham moment (Son and Kane’s great run of form) and football moment (players’ activism) of 2020.
Stay informed, read this: Shireen Ahmed reflects on sports in 2020, and how calls for change this year must be acted upon next year for TSN
Links of the Day
Manchester City reopened its training ground after the club reported no new COVID-19 cases.
QPR’s Bright Osayi-Samuel was racially abused on social media.
Liverpool and Everton will no longer have supporters in stadiums as COVID-19 cases increase in the city of Liverpool.
A longer read: Rory Smith on FC Midtjylland and searching for competitive advantages on the pitch and off it for The New York Times