In Australia, we're used to seeing flocks of seagulls in the outfield at Tests, or play stop at Melbourne Park while a player gets rid of a cricket, but swarms of insects?
That's what England and Tunisia's footballers had to put up with during their World Cup game. Players from both sides had no choice but to use repellent to keep the seasonal bugs – believed to be a mixture of insects, flies and midges – at bay.
England's Harry Kane scored a brace against Tunisia on Tuesday morning.
Photo: AP
"We got told before that there was going to be quite a lot of flies and when we went out for the warm-up it was a lot more than we all kind of thought," England striker Harry Kane said.
"We had a lot of bug spray on before the game, half-time, which was important because there was some of them in your eyes, some of them in your mouth, but I guess that's part of just dealing whatever comes your way and the team coped with it well."
Thankfully, they are said to be harmless, albeit a nuisance for players, fans and broadcasters at one of the world's biggest sporting events.
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US great cops heat for supporting Mexico
Imagine the outcry if Australia did not qualify for the World Cup and Tim Cahill took to social media to pledge his support for England, Iran or Uruguay. It happened in the US.
USA great Landon Donovan has defended his appearance in an advertisement in which he held a scarf saying "My other team is Mexico".
The country's joint leading goalscorer came under fire from former teammates critical he could give his allegiances to one of America's greatest football rivals.
Former striker Taylor Twellman said he would "rather cut off my toe" than support the CONCACAF nation, while former captain Carlos Bocanegra took to Twitter to question Donovan's committment, saying: "really?"
Donovan copped more heat after a heated response to Bocanegra, who is of Mexican descent, in which he asks his former teammate if he was happy with how Mexicans were treated in the US and tells him to "open your mind, stand for something & remember where you came from".
"This is an incredibly terrible take," former US teammate and ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez wrote on Twitter. "Questioning ones [sic] loyalties to culture and/or heritage because HE questioned YOU for taking marketing dollars to "root" for your SPORTING RIVAL?"
Donovan later said he "bleeds red, white and blue" and that his "strong connection" with Mexico was inspired by the passion shown by his Mexican teammates while playing as a child.
"I believe in supporting each other and building bridges, not barriers," Donovan wrote.
Saudi scare
It has not been a happy tournament so far for Saudi Arabia. Thumped 5-0 in its opening game, the Saudis then had a safety scare while flying to Rostov for their second game against Uruguay when the wing of their Russian Airlines Airbus plane caught fire.
The Saudia Arabian Football Federation issued a statement on Twitter saying the team was safe and attributed the scare to a "technical failure in one of the airplane engines".
Striker standoff
Croatia has moved to hose down speculation it sent home one of its players after he refused to come on as a substitute. Striker Nikola Kalinic reportedly refused to come off the bench for his country's 2-0 win over Nigeria due to a back injury.
Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic later called a press conference to issue a statement saying the 30-year-old was injured.
"During the Nigeria encounter, Kalinic was warming up and was supposed to come on in the second half," Dalic told reporters in Russia.
"However, he then stated that he wasn't ready to come on due to a back issue. The same thing happened during the Brazil friendly in England, as well as before the practice session on Sunday.
"I have calmly accepted that, and since I need my players fit and ready to play, I have made this decision."
Andrew Wu writes on cricket and AFL for The Sydney Morning Herald
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