The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.
Neymar pulled into, pushed out of PSG celebrations
Paris Saint-Germain went behind to Rennes after 13 minutes of the Trophee des Champions, only to fight back for a 2-1 come-from behind win, yet the real drama didn’t begin until well after the 90 minutes were up.
Neymar didn’t take part in France’s Super Cup, missing through suspension following his lashing out at a fan in PSG’s Coupe de France final loss in April. Dressed in street clothes, the Brazilian was hardly impressed by Angel Di Maria’s eventual winner, refusing to celebrate the goal that secured the Parisian club another piece of silverware.
And then the fireworks really kicked off.
Marco Verratti somewhat uncomfortably dragging Neymar into celebrations as PSG win the Trophée des Champions. @eddie1991razo with the great spot. pic.twitter.com/G5zfHNFM1R
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 3, 2019
With the confetti falling, PSG players jumped, danced and cheered, taking turns lifting up the Trophee des Champions. With Neymar awkwardly standing beside the celebrations, Marco Verratti dragged his teammate into the fray.
That seemed to go over well initially, with Verratti wrapping his arms around the Brazilian. Kylian Mbappe, too, embraced his fellow attacker.
And then this happened.
Then Kylian Mbappé appears to force Neymar out of the team photo. pic.twitter.com/8HKmd6jmvV
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 3, 2019
That’s Mbappe rather forcefully shoving Neymar out of the team photo, featuring players posing with their latest trophy to add to the cabinet, albeit perhaps with a wry smile. But it’s worth noting, Julian Draxler — who was also suspended for this match — took part in the club’s photo and celebrations.
PSG, however, didn’t seem altogether bothered by the incident.
📸🔝⚽️ #PSGSRFC
Que du bonheur ! 🥰#ChinaSummerTour2019🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/aWPQooHXR7
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 3, 2019
Lukaku spills beans on United speed test
Ever wonder who the fastest player on your favourite team is? Well, if you’re a Manchester United supporter, Romelu Lukaku has your back.
The Belgian striker — linked with a move away from Old Trafford — took to Twitter to silence those who suggest he doesn’t have a proper top gear and posted a video of what looks to be the results of a one-off speed test from a United training session on July 10 along with the words “Lack of pace.”
Romelu Lukaku has published Manchester United’s sprinting stats and it makes for some interesting reading…🏃🏻♂️
(📽: @RomeluLukaku9) pic.twitter.com/DupdtKRZOj
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) August 2, 2019
The tweet, which was quickly deleted, shows Lukaku was the second-fastest player on United in the test with a top speed of 36.25 Km/h, behind only Diogo Dalot‘s 36.43. Point taken, Rom, but we’re much more interested in some of the results a little farther down — and all the way to the bottom of — the list.
First of all, Phil Jones! Not sure many would have pegged the pugnacious defender to crack the top 10 ahead of teammates such as Paul Pogba (was he trying?), Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Eric Bailly.
However, it might be Luke Shaw who’ll be the most remiss that this list saw the light of day. The results show the left-back is the slowest player on this squad with a top speed of 31.03 Km/h, leaving Juan Mata, second from bottom on the list, to gloatingly thank Lukaku for “finally showing the world he’s quicker than Luke Shaw.”
Not to be outdone, Shaw tweeted soon after that he was going only at 70 percent. Whatever the case, sounds like a prime PPV opportunity for Man United TV to settle this particular squabble on the track.