Dominik 🚀

[🎱 @LegacyOcho]

@ShamsCharania Contract so bad the league had to step in

[Erling Haaland @Erling]

Well well well 😂

[Zain @ItzzZain10]

This is what tennis was meant to be all along

[The Touchline | 𝐓 @TouchlineX]

🚨🤍 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Yan Diomande emotional letter to his late sister:

"Dear Roxane,

Remember when somebody bought me a fake United jersey, and I wrote Ronaldo 7 on the back with the black marker?"

"We didn’t know rich or poor. We just knew happiness."

"Remember 25 people sleeping in one house back in Abidjan? Mum wanted to watch her soap operas. Everyone else wanted to watch movies. Remember how I always used to fake like I was asleep and then go into the TV room after midnight? I’d put the TV on real low. Just like 2 volume bars. I’d watch football in the dark and dream."

"Remember when the adults saw me playing football in the dirt and nicknamed me “Roberto Carlos” because of how hard I would shoot? And remember how I was secretly so mad about it, because CR7 was my idol?"

"Remember when I went to play so far from home? I was 9 years old. Inter Foot Sud Comoé, all the way near the Ghana border. Just a little boy on his own. I don’t know if I ever told you this story, but me and the other kids used to go into the village and steal potatoes because we were so hungry. We did a “bank heist.” Two kids distracting the shop owner, and 18 other kids running out with two potatoes. They weren’t even good. But they tasted amazing. Hahahah. It’s still my favorite thing to eat. Boiled potatoes with some oil. It reminds me of those times."

"Remember when I got my first real football boots, and I used to sleep with them? Growing up, I always played in those white plastic sandals. Even when I go back home now, I still play in them. It’s our tradition."

"Remember when I would come back home, and you would tell my friends from the neighborhood, “Why did you stop training? Yan is not going to buy you cars. You have to keep working."

"You were 10 years old, and already my agent."

"Remember how we used to sit and dream about moving to France? How we were going to go shopping and get our own apartment and I was going to be a rich footballer with cars and a big house, and you wouldn’t have to worry about nothing. You were the one who always believed that I could be the next Cristiano, when everybody else laughed."

"Remember when I moved to America for high school at 15, and I was so homesick? I didn’t know what anybody was saying for months. They sat me next to a French kid, and he tried to translate everything the teacher was saying. Remember when I called you, saying, “You won’t believe it, the kids here argue with teachers."

"Back home, you know we wouldn’t even dare to blink at our elders."

"Remember when I couldn’t believe the kids were smoking after school? You used to say it sounded like I was in an American TV show."

"Remember when they took me on trial at Bournemouth? At Chelsea, Rangers, Olympiacos, Crystal Palace? Eze and Olise even came up to me after one training and said, “Yo kid, you’re really good.”"

"But they still didn’t sign me."

"Even the B teams in the MLS didn’t want me. I didn’t even know why. They never gave me a reason. The adults handled everything. They just kept taking me all around Europe, and everybody kept saying no."

"My visa was up. My dream was over. They sent me back to Africa, and we cried together."

"You were the one who never stopped believing. A few weeks later, I signed for Leganés and we cried different tears."

"That was back when I used to have emotions. Now, I don’t feel anything. It’s like I’m not even human. Since you died, I’m just blank."

"I don’t even think I shed a tear the day they told me that you were gone. I was just in shock."

"It was a few weeks after I made my debut for Leganés. Who makes their debut at 18 against Real Madrid? It was too crazy. It was a dream."

"And then it was a nightmare. Someone kept calling me from back home. I was annoyed. I didn’t understand why they kept calling me."

"I picked up, and they didn’t even soften it. You know how it is back home. No emotions. Just……..

“Your sister is gone.”
“What?”
“She died.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Somebody put something in her drink at a party, and she never woke up. She is gone.”

"You were 15."

"15."

"I never got any answers. I don’t know if I want to know why. Maybe it was jealousy. Maybe it’s just something that happens in our country. Maybe I could have protected you. I don’t know."

"I try to trust God’s plan. It’s all I can do. I don’t try to forget, because I know I won’t forget. All I can do is use the pain to work harder, and to do everything we dreamed about."

"I wrote this because I can’t speak about it. I wrote this because I want you to know that I will make sure that you live on. I will make sure that everybody knows your name. The whole world."

"Everything I do on a football pitch, it’s for you."

"So much has happened since I last saw you…… You would not even believe it. I don’t know if I believe it."

"You know what’s crazy? After my debut against Madrid, I actually swapped shirts with Mbappé. Remember when we used to watch him on TV, and you’d say, “Mbappé? Yeah, he’s good. But my brother is better.”

"I was wrong about one thing. I don’t want to be rich. I see what it does to people, even to family. When I was at Leganés, everything I was earning, I was sending home. It got to the point where I didn’t even want money anymore. It was just a burden. They never stopped asking. I guess they thought I was a millionaire already. I didn’t even have an apartment. I was living at the training ground in a room with no TV. Just football and sleep, football and sleep."

"I didn’t want a big house. I didn’t want cars. I just wanted to put everything into football. Everything to show the world that my sister was right……."

"Ha…. you will think this is funny. When I moved to play at RB Leipzig, I was always late. Well, not late. But I was on time, which in Germany means you’re very late."

"So you already know what I did next. I started arriving 90 minutes early to everything. I was so early all the time that the guys started calling me “The German.”"

"I always have to overdo everything. I have zero chill. You always said that."

"The pitch is the only place that I feel at home anymore. It’s the place where I feel calm, and I can speak to you. I just wish you were still here so I could tell you….. We did it."

"Everything you said came true."

"We’re leaving for the World Cup tomorrow. For real. Your brother is going to play for Côte d'Ivoire, like Drogba, like Yaya, like Gervinho."

"I don’t even look at it like a game. I look at it like a stage. This is my chance to show the whole world what you saw in me. Every time I score, I’ll make sure everybody knows your name. I’ll make sure they don’t forget you."

"You always said that I could be better than Cristiano. If I see him there, I’ll tell him hello for you."

"I’m going to do what you predicted, I swear. Before I even had real boots, you were telling everybody, “My brother is going to be the greatest in the world.”

"I will prove that you were right, or I will die trying... Your brother, Yan."

— @PlayersTribune

[The Touchline | 𝐓 @TouchlineX]

🚨 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧: 24 years ago, Xavi Hernández came on for Marc Overmars in the second half of an Athletic Club vs Barça match.

From that moment on, Barcelona has ALWAYS had at least one La Masia graduate on the pitch; every single minute, every single game (1,398 matches).

— @orioljove

[King @Kingeerrrr]

@arkaavs

[Bayern & Germany @iMiaSanMia]

Vincent Kompany defends Vini Jr and criticizes José Mourinho for his statements after the game

[Transfer News Live @DeadlineDayLive]

🚨 Gregory Van der Wiel's incredible testimony about his career 😳🥺

𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗬 read this 👇

🗣️ “I won 16 trophies. And I felt nothing. No joy, no pride, no relief. Nothing. I couldn’t enjoy a single moment of my career. Because I was too busy… wearing a mask. Pretending to be okay. Avoiding anything that might unsettle me. Showing that I had everything under control.

I wore that mask for so long that I eventually became the mask itself. A robot playing a role without feeling a thing.

If you feel this way, that mask isn’t protecting you. It’s killing you. Take it off.

What would you give to play without fear? To step onto the field and feel totally FREE. No pre-game anxiety. No post-game depression. Just you. Fully present. Fully focused. Fully yourself.

Most athletes will never know that feeling. They’ll spend their entire careers playing in fear. Fear of the coach’s reaction. Fear of the fans’ judgment. Fear of the media headlines. Fear of their own thoughts.

And they’ll call it ‘pressure.’ They’ll say: ‘That’s just football.’

It’s not. It’s a prison. And I lived in it for 15 years.

I played stiffly when I should have played freely. I held back when I should have exploded. I doubted myself when I should have had confidence.

The version of myself I could have been? It still exists, somewhere. It never saw the light of day. It still torments me, it still haunts me.

But you? You still have time.

You have time to develop the mindset that will set you free. You have time to perfect the tools that will make you invincible in every match.

This inner work is demanding. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your life. And it’s truly the only thing that changes everything.”

[Harrison Faigen @hmfaigen]

Larry Nance Jr’s shirt at tonight’s Cavs game

[Larry Nance @Larrydn22]

"Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart.
Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared."

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

[NBACentel @TheNBACentel]

😭😭😭

[The Touchline | 𝐓 @TouchlineX]

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Estrada Fernandez (Former La Liga referee): "The 3D render they put to justify Lamine Yamal's offside has ZERO CREDIBILITY."

"If they took so long to show it, it was because they were editing it to make it look believable."

"The refereeing committee always told us that we could 'play with the frames' to show on broadcast TV."

"They also said that for VAR to disallow a goal due to a previous foul, it would have to be a minimum yellow card offense. This was not the case for Fermín's goal, which means it was ALSO unfairly disallowed."

[BBC Sport Scotland @BBCSportScot]

SOUND ON 🎧

This radio commentary from Alasdair Lamont!!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

#BBCFootball

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

🗣️ "After scoring four goals against Norwich, I came home expecting my wife to congratulate me. But she didn't say a word. The next day she looked at me and said, 'Do you know why I didn't congratulate you? Because here, you're still my husband, the father of your daughter... the same old Salta.

And that's when I understood everything. She was right. When you start getting praised from all sides, you run the risk of believing it, of getting detached. But having someone by your side to remind you who you are, to keep you grounded, is essential. I could be Luis Suarez to the world, but at home I was still the same as always.

At home, I'm not the goalscorer. I'm the dad, the husband, the Salta native who washes the dishes. My wife always grounded me. You can score 600 goals, but if you leave your clothes lying around, they'll still scold you. And that's okay. It keeps you real."

Luis Suárez on how his wife was key to maintaining his humility even on his most glorious nights.

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

🗣️ Didier Drogba : "When Messi, I and some of the players did an ad for a beverage company before the 2010 World Cup, Messi met some people in a remote village in the African forest , played football with them, but in the end he said to me in a serious tone, "Didier, do you see that these people drink dirty water while we play for millions of euros?" The next day I heard from the company director that Messi donated his entire share of the ad to dig wells for the village and build a good hospital, school, playground and other things.

The best thing is that he insisted on not mentioning his name in this donation. Six months later, Messi sent a doctor, an accountant and an engineer to the village to make sure that the money reached its owners and that the projects were actually built. Do you know the phrase that is still embedded in my mind to this day? On the plane back to South Africa, I asked him, "Why all this secrecy?" He gave me an answer I will never forget: "Because Africa doesn't need ads, it needs actions. And real actions don't need testimonials!" Messi's greatest goals were not scored in the goal, but in the hearts of those who do not know football! And whoever knows football will know that Messi is the best player in the history of football."

[ENJ🏀Y @EnjoyBBall]

The new “Enjoy Hour” on @NBAonNBC starting Monday October 20th 📝 🦚

[KENNY BEECHAM @KOT4Q]

A new way to ENJOY the NBA returns to NBC

[Middle Age Riot @middleageriot]

"I didn't vote for this." - people who absolutely voted for this but thought this would only hurt people they hate

[𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 @Three_Cone]

The signs with Kawhi were always there

[Football Insights @Footy_Insights]

MESSI SAVES INTER MIAMI AGAIN!!!! The most clutch player in football history

Messi scores and gives Inter Miami the lead heading into the Leagues cup final ⚽️🐐🔥