Football You Missed, Oct 25: Brazilian protest and Firmino with an incredible near-assist

Bahia and Ceara stars demonstrated against the government's slow response to an oil spill

11:00am on Friday 25th October 2019
By Martin Macdonald

BRAZILIAN PROTEST

In September, thousands of barrels of oil from an unknown source began polluting Brazil's northern coastline, affecting 1000 miles of beaches as well as marine life. It is the largest spill in the country's history with the government at a loss to explain how it happened, or indeed how they plan to fix it. Their inaction has prompted protests around Brazil, including from the players of Bahia and Ceara. Players from the former wore kits with oil-like splashes across the front, while Ceara's stars wore black gloves during the national anthem. The army, and indeed thousands of civilians, have taken it upon themselves to try and clean over 200 beaches.

Brazilian footballers protest oil spill with custom-made shirts and gloves pic.twitter.com/e9YGLnIMFc
— The Guardian (@guardian) October 23, 2019

THE (ALMOST) ASSIST OF THE SEASON

Last month, Roberto Firmino assisted Mohamed Salah with a pair of outrageous touches in a Premier League win against Newcastle. He attempted to top that feat this time for Sadio Mane, with a rabona flicked through-ball for his Senegalese team-mate, who unfortunately couldn't finish the move. Liverpool went on to comfortably with the match 4-1 against Genk, but that move really would have been the icing on the cake.

Et voilá

Bobby #Firmino...pic.twitter.com/HMHoEu4CBK
— OddscheckerIT (@OddscheckerIT) October 24, 2019

PANENKA PARTY

It is the last minute of a crunch clash in the Eastern Conference semi-final against one of your nearest rivals. Your team receives a penalty. You are the penalty taker. What do you do...? A Panenka, of course!

Or, at least, that is what Alejandro Pozuelo of Toronto did in the 89th minute versus New York City FC on Wednesday night to send the Canadian outfit through to the final. After scoring the opening goal, he got the winner with this cheeky chip from the spot which left opposition goalkeeper Sean Johnson looking silly between the sticks.

90th minute. Game on the line. Time to pull out a Panenkapic.twitter.com/1B7SwKrzrC
— Goal (@goal) October 24, 2019

MAGNIFICENT MERTENS OVERTAKES MARADONA

Dries Mertens is already a legend for Napoli due to his contributions in recent years, but he recently overtook the biggest legend of all, Diego Maradona. The Belgian scored two in the Champions League versus RB Salzburg on Wednesday which put him ahead of Diego, who scored 115 goals in his famous spell with the club in which he helped them to win Serie A for the first time ever. Now, Mertens has Marek Hamsik in his sights, as he is now only five goals behind the former Napoli captain.

Dries Mertens has now scored more goals for Napoli than Diego Maradona. Legendary status! pic.twitter.com/F5GOL6Kn9w
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 24, 2019

THE BEST ATMOSPHERE IN FOOTBALL

The Champions League was on this week, but the biggest match in the world was taking place in Argentina as Boca and River faced off in the Superclasico, this time in the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores. Boca won 1-0 thanks to an 80th minute goal from Jan Hurtado, but the real stars of the show were the fans, who put on a monumental display before the game even kicked off. La Bombanera truly does provide the best atmosphere in football.