As Arsenal take on the ageing glitterati of AC Milan tonight, one player will unfortunately be missing from the Rossoneri line-up. Yes, Football’s Daftest Goalkeeper, Mr Nélson de Jesus Silva, otherwise known as Dida, will not be there.
Dida, you may remember, endeared himself to Celtic fans earlier this year. Having been lightly tapped on the shoulder by a pitch-invading scally, he briefly gave chase, only to remember his proud Brazilian heritage, throwing himself melodramatically to the ground, clutching his face in agony as he took his last, halting breaths.
Amazingly brought back to life by… well, a two match ban from his own club for being such a drama queen, Dida has now been sidelined through yet another crushing blow. During last week’s match against Parma, the poor love had to be stretchered off after suffering muscle spasms in his back. The unfortunate rigours of being a professional footballer, eh? Well, not really… he was sitting on the bench at the time.
Actually, one of our best (rugby-playing) athletes was “off sport” when I went to cover it today, with back spasms that just came on while he was watching tv…
It’s a dangerous business… long before Rio Ferdinand became a Man Utd star, I recall he had to miss a match through hurting his knee while watching TV with his feet on the coffee table :-)