Girlfriend's goal to show Pelle dolled up
While most Italian fans waved scarves and roared their appreciation for Graziano Pelle's masterful display against Belgium on Monday, his girlfriend decided to show her gratitude in a different way.
Viktoria Vargas, a 24-year-old Hungarian swimwear model who has been dating the striker for the past four years, held up a a blow-up doll of her man, which she had brought to the Stade des Lumieres in Lyon, reported the Daily Mail.
Ronaldo the world's best player, says Pele
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in world football, says Brazil legend Pele, who insists the Real Madrid forward would be his first pick over Argentina superstar Lionel Messi if he were a manager.
"I admire him. If I had to set up a national team, he would be my first pick," Sky Sports quoted Pele as saying. "But in the meantime I feel sorry because today and the last five years, you just mention two big stars. Some years ago, you had a lot of players.
"You have (Wales' Gareth) Bale and (Brazil's) Neymar, but they are not enough. You used to have two or three players in one team who were stars. Now there are that many in the world. It's a shame. The game deserves more great players."
Mustafi's name the subject of baby talk
A German journalist, whose wife is set to give birth this week, has no choice but to name his newborn Mustafi, after vowing that he would name his son after whoever scored Germany's winning goal against Ukraine.
According to the Daily Mail, he had even declared that "it won't be Skhodran Mustafi" before the match.
Talk about tempting fate. It was none other than defender Mustafi who poppped up to open the scoring in the 2-0 win on Sunday.
Hart's old reputation just doesn't stack up
England goalkeeper Joe Hart used to rent a room at the two-bedroomed house of the Wales midfielder David Edwards when they came through the academy at Shrewsbury Town together.
Hart has since gone on to become the face of an anti-dandruff shampoo, but in his teens, cleanliness was not top of his list.
"He was a messy housemate," Edwards said. "The house didn't have a dishwasher so he used to stack up (the crockery) and I used to clean them. I still give him some stick. He rented a room off me for peanuts."
THE TIMES, LONDON
