13 March 2011 - A Good Reason To Get There Early

On 13 March 2011, attendees at Milan's match against Bari witnessed a warm-up routine that seemed unreal--because it was.

Milan, who were sitting at the top of the Serie A table while riding an eleven-game unbeaten streak, hosted Bari, the league's bottom team, at the San Siro. While the crowd filtered in, players from both teams took the pitch to warm up. And that's when things got weird.

Instead of the usual warm-up routine, the players engaged in some eccentric activities. Several of them started dancing, with Gennaro Gattuso pairing up with the referee for a bit of ballet. Clarence Seedorf started boxing and Zlatan Ibrahimović tossed a frisbee around. One player donned a swim cap and pretended to swim, while another lay down on the pitch with a newspaper.

As it turned out, all of the players were look-alikes provided by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sportas a publicity stunt.

The match itself was no less interesting, as Bari managed a 1-1 draw thanks in part to Ibrahimović's ejection for punching Bari's Cartellino Rosso. It wasn't much help for Bari, though, who ended the season at the bottom of the table while Milan won the title.

13 March 2011 - A Good Reason To Get There Early

On 13 March 2011, attendees at Milan's match against Bari witnessed a warm-up routine that seemed unreal--because it was.

Milan, who were sitting at the top of the Serie A table while riding an eleven-game unbeaten streak, hosted Bari, the league's bottom team, at the San Siro. While the crowd filtered in, players from both teams took the pitch to warm up. And that's when things got weird.

Instead of the usual warm-up routine, the players engaged in some eccentric activities. Several of them started dancing, with Gennaro Gattuso pairing up with the referee for a bit of ballet. Clarence Seedorf started boxing and Zlatan Ibrahimović tossed a frisbee around. One player donned a swim cap and pretended to swim, while another lay down on the pitch with a newspaper.

As it turned out, all of the players were look-alikes provided by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport as a publicity stunt.

The match itself was no less interesting, as Bari managed a 1-1 draw thanks in part to Ibrahimović's ejection for punching Bari's Cartellino Rosso. It wasn't much help for Bari, though, who ended the season at the bottom of the table while Milan won the title.

16 May 1998 - The French Connection, Scottish Football Style

On 16 May 1998, Heart of Midlothian defeated Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final by the score of 2-1 before a crowd of almost 50,000 at Celtic Park, Glasgow.

The match got off to a quick - and controversial - start, as Hearts midfielder and captain Steve Fulton was impeded on his way to the goal by Rangers midfielder Ian Ferguson. The foul appeared to occur just outside the box, but the referee awarded a penalty kick to Hearts. Midfielder Colin Cameron smashed the spot-kick home past Rangers keeper Andy Goram, and Hearts were up 1-0 within 80 seconds.

Still 1-0 at the half, Rangers manager Walter Smith went on the offensive, replacing his Norwegian defender Ståle Stensaas with forward Ally McCoist at the start of the second half. It was Hearts who scored again, however, as French keeper Gilles Rousset launched a long ball down the field. Rangers' Italian back Lorenzo Amoruso misplayed it, then Rousset's fellow Frenchman, Hearts forward Stéphane Adam, stole it away and fired a powerful shot into the net, putting the Edinburgh side up 2-0 in the 52nd minute.

Rangers continued to pressure the Jambos' goal and finally got through in the 81st minute as their Italian midfielder Rino Gattuso passed the ball neatly to McCoist, who scored from 18 yards out.

The remaining minutes were tense for all. With two minutes left, McCoist went down in the box after a foul by Hearts defender David Weir. Rangers clamored for a penalty, but the referee put the ball just outside the box and the ensuing free-kick went wide. Hearts continued to hold on through four minutes of extra time, earning the 2-1 victory.