Saturday was one of the greatest nights in Australian football history as South Melbourne pulled off an INCREDIBLE upset!
For the first time ever, a team outside the closed shop of A-League won the Australia Cup. South Melbourne’s story is well worth your time. They’re not your usual lower league team.
They have a long and storied history and Saturday’s penalty shootout win over Melbourne Victory was their greatest night.
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Elsewhere, Clarence Seedorf has a surprising new job in the Brasileiro, Al Ahly got the better of Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League and Rayo Vallecano fans forced the abandonment of a match in protest.
Let’s take a look at everything 👇
Something Down Under 🐨
22 years ago, South Melbourne FC were on their knees.
The club with a history stretching all the way back to 1959 were on the brink of extinction, saddled with debts of over $1.5m. Left out of the recently-created A-League, Hellas (as they’re nicknamed due to their Greek roots) appeared doomed.
Now, they are Australian Cup winners after Saturday’s triumph over Melbourne Victory.
This is the club that gave Ange Postecoglou his start as a player and manager. Ferenc Puskas also played for South Melbourne back in the day.
Hellas represent the Greek community in Melbourne and Saturday’s shootout victory gave them something to celebrate. The scenes at a sold out AAMI Park were something to behold.
South Melbourne have long had a chip on their shoulder after being banished from the top level of Australian football when the A-League was launched in 2004.
Saturday’s Australian Cup final was one in the eye for the Australian football establishment. South Melbourne fans will be talking about this one for years! Decades, even!
Something shaky
You need nerves of steel to be a TV cameraman in the Brazilian third division!
Paysandu supporters shook the platform this poor guy was operating a camera on during Saturday’s Brazilian Serie C match against Brusque. Nope. Couldn’t be me.
Something abandoned ❌
Rayo Vallecano supporters are furious at their club’s owners and showed it by forcing Saturday’s match against Athletic Club to be abandoned.
Paper plans and rubber balls were thrown on to the pitch during Rayo’s first home game of the season. Their stadium had been closed due to serious health and safety issues.
Rayo fans blame owner and president Raul Martin Presa who has been criticised for not modernising the club.
Something Norwegian 🇳🇴
The title race at the top of the Norwegian Eliteserien couldn’t be any tighter - like, genuinely!
Bodo/Glimt are aiming to become Norwegian champions again after being dethroned by Viking last season and boosted their title chances with a comfortable 3-1 win over Kristiansund on Saturday.
This came after Viking’s 2-0 away win over Brann, meaning the two title chasers are TIED on points, goal difference, goals scored, goals against, wins, draws and losses after 22 matches.
Bodo host Viking at the end of the month in what could be a titanic clash in this season’s Norwegian title race. There’s no separating the two rivals at the moment!
This is one I’ll be keeping an eye on. Check back for further updates!
Something soggy ☔️
Croatia’s Eternal Derby is chaotic at the best of times, but Saturday’s encounter was something else!
Hajduk Split claimed a 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb to go top of the Croatian HNL tablke, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. Check out the conditions for the final few minutes!
Either this match was played in Split or the lost city of Atlantis. One of the two.
Something in protest
Austin FC fans staged a walkout during their team’s match against Nashville on Saturday, leaving the ultras section at Q2 stadium empty.
They were protesting a fellow supporter being banned wearing an anti-ICE shirt to a hispanic heritage night. Fair play. Let’s hope Austin FC change their stance soon because ICE suuuuuucks.
Something Dutch in Brazil 🇳🇱 🇧🇷
Seven years after his last managerial job, Clarence Seedorf will be back in the dugout soon as the new manager of Corinthians.
The Brazilian club announced the appointment of the former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder who will coach Dutch compatriot Memphis Depay at Corinthians.
Corinthians need a new manager bounce - they’re currently in the relegation zone!
Something Egyptian 🇪🇬
Sunday was the Cairo Derby and the bragging rights went the way of Al Ahly.
Goals from Mohamed Hany (remember him from the World Cup?) and Monsef Bakrar were enough to give The Red Devils all three points.
They know hold a three-point advantage over Zamalek at the top of the Egyptian Premier League.
Something Greek 🇬🇷
Talking of bragging rights, Olympiacos won Sunday’s Derby of the Eternal Enemies!
Panagiotis Retsos scored the only goal of the game to close the gap on Panathinaikos at the top of the Greek Super League to just three points.
The Piraeus side had to play the final 25 minutes of the match with 10 men.
Something on the south coast 🏴
Another derby and rivalry to feature in this week’s VAR…
The South Coast Derby is one of the fiercest in English football and the bragging rights belonged to Southampton on Sunday.
James Bree scored the only goal of the game and the scenes of celebration at St Mary’s Stadium were intense! This was the Saints’ first league win over Pompey in 22 years!
Something Danish 🇩🇰
There was a top-of-the-table clash in the Danish Superligaen as FC Midtjylland got the better of FC København thanks to this winner from Denil Castillo.
The result saw The Wolves close the difference on their rivals from the Danish capital to just two points at the top of the table. Viborg are only two points back from that as the surprise package of the season so far.
Something Ugandan 🇺🇬
16-year-old Seb Fisher made his debut for Uganda’s U17s - and scored a hat trick in an 8-0 win over Burundi!
The Partick Thistle youngster, born and raised in Glasgow, qualifies for Uganda through his mother with brother Olly also making his debut for the African nation over the weekend.
A real family affair!
Something top bins
Something from the J-League where Haruya Fujii scored this tremendous goal for Nagoya Grampus over the weekend.
Wait until you heat Fujii is a centre back! Incredible technique for a defender. Guided right into the top corner. Very impressive! 👏
Something dedicated
Lionel Messi played his final match for Argentina last week and shared this image of a special souvenir from the game over the weekend.
Every member of the Argentina squad that featured against Benin signed this jersey which will surely be framed in Messi’s home.
Last week’s The Soccer Dispatch newsletter covered Messi’s efforts to build a personal multi-club ownership group.
Something from 40 yards
It takes something special to find the back of the net from 40 yards out, especially when that goal is scored with a header!
Russell Dingwall scored this goal for Elgin City against Forfar Athletic in Scottish League Two and this newsletter writer will be voting for this to win the Puskas Award.
Some TSD content you might have missed… 🗞️
👑 Why is Lionel Messi building his own multi-club ownership group?
The GOAT has invested in three different clubs as he prepares for retirement!
Good on Austin supporters for taking a stand. Football is nothing without supporters.
Great roundup, very fun.
As an American, it's a shame we're decades into MLS and security teams at stadiums do their utmost to stamp out actually soccer support/culture. Reminds me of when my NE Revs banned flags one year and used pictures of The Fort waving flags on the tickets...