Tag: Jean-Clair Todibo

Let’s all marvel at this nine-second red card in Ligue 1

We’re not even mad, that’s amazing!

Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo will certainly have better career accomplishments, but he may never have a more unlikely one than Sunday’s incredible nine-second red card.

It is nearly impossible to even fathom how a player could be sent off after nine seconds. Punch a player in the face straight after kickoff? Go two-footed into the first challenge you see?

Todibo did neither of those things in Sunday’s game against Angers. Instead, Angers striker Abdallah Sima found himself in a near-breakaway situation straight off the kickoff. Todibo clumsily brought him down, which prompted the referee to produce a straight red for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

It almost goes without saying, but Todibo’s red was the fastest in Ligue 1 since at least 2006-07, when Opta began tracking that data.

Nice would go on to lose the match 1-0, which finished with 10 players on each side after Sofiane Boufal was also sent off for Angers midway through the second half.

Watch Todibo’s nine-second red card

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This Bundesliga player’s gnarly trash talk was clearly audible in an empty stadium

Players may need to adjust to the new normal in sports. We can hear everything.

There were no fans in stadiums as the German soccer league, the Bundesliga, resumed action. The decision to play in empty stadiums, a response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, has created an unfiltered feel during the TV broadcast. Maybe you can’t hear the fans cheering and jeering loudly. But you can hear every kick and almost every comment from each player.

There are no shortage of hot mics to hear the mumbles and grumbles from the athletes. Jean-Clair Todibo learned that the hard way in Borussia Dortmund’s win over Schalke on Saturday. He was caught telling striker Erling Braut Haaland an extremely offensive insult.

Raw moments like this one — as inappropriate as it may be — will be small silver linings in sports during the pandemic. We’ll get up-close and (too) personal looks at the game and the conversations between players. Surely, some athletes will try to curb their bad language, but others won’t be able to help themselves in the heat of the moment.

This is likely the new normal in sports. We might as well find some positives.

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