Gerard Piqué has got it.  FC Barcelona’s 22-year-old fullback has got that special something that makes everyone from a gaggle of pimply teenage girls right down to a pack of cigar-chewing socis simply swoon.  He has not even broken a sweat winning over the unanimous acclaim from the Catalan sports press and the legions of culés who take turns hailing him as Carles Puyol’s heir apparent or declaring him the reincarnation of the legendary German defender Franz Beckenbauer.  And while there is nothing at all shocking about Barcelona’s infatuation with …

Pepe Reina seems to be cursed.  Not exactly in a bad way.  Just a very weird way.   Not only was he actually hit by a Real Madrid fan during a game in the Bernabéu way back when he still had hair in 2001, but now he is victim of surely the oddest goal ever witnessed in the Premier League when the introduction of a bouncing red ball converted the pitch into a bumperpool table.