Your Friday Goals

Always good to unwind on Friday with some videos of goals:

More videos after the jump:

Neymar . . . Copa Libertadores . . . Enough Said

Once again that Brazilian wunderkind worked his magic for Santos in the Copa Libertadores, this time it was against Juan Aurich from Peru.

When Neymar is Neymar: He Scores a Copa Libertadores Hat Trick

There's probably no young South American talent that the big clubs in Europe are drooling over than Brazil's Neymar, and in last night's Copa Libertadores match between Neymar's Santos and Internacional he once again showed why this is the case. In Santos' 3-1 victory over Internacional, it was all Neymar as he picked up a hat trick, including the amazing second goal, which is shown in the first video below. Not only is much of the football world in awe of Neymar's performance, but even Neymar was a bit stunned:

"I cannot explain what I did tonight. I need to watch the TV to see what I did on the field. I knew I dribbled past a lot of rivals. That's the only thing I know," Neymar told Globo TV.

Via ESPN

Santos - Morelia Match Suspended After Gun Battle Occurs Outside Stadium

UPDATED: 8/22/2011 at 5:36 am central time

Although they may not dwell on it, most citizens of the United States and Europe are familiar with the violence in Mexico connected to the drug trade. This violence has permeated much of everyday life in Mexico, especially in the big cities and along the borders. The one refuge, the one safe place to get away from the senseless bloodshed in Mexico has been the football stadiums, but today even that safety was shattered as a firefight erupted outside of the Territorio Santos Modelo in Torreon, Mexico, bringing a scary and abrupt end to the Santos - Morelia match.

The match was tied at 0-0 in the 40th minute when the sound of gunfire sent players running for the tunnels and fans diving to the ground.

Initial reports on Twitter, including Tweets from U.S. Footballer DaMarcus Beasley, indicated there was gunfire but it was uncertain as to whether it was occurring inside or outside of the stadium.

Initial reports coming out of Mexico indicate that a police patrol vehicle near, but outside of, the stadium was attacked by gunmen; however, more recent reports indicate that police tried to stop three trucks, but the trucks refused to stop resulting in a chase and shootout. So for it appears that nobody was killed, though a police officer was injured.

Although it appears that bullets found their way into the stadium, as seen in this picture:

Nobody in the stadium was injured.

At this time it is unclear what cartel was involved in this violence, which resulted in the first ever top flight match cancellation due to drug violence, but both the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas Cartel have been active in Torreon.

On Sunday,El Blog del Narco posted its story on Saturday's incident.

Neymar Scores Wonderful Goal for Santos But Ronaldinho Wins the Night for Flamengo

On Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro, Neymar once again showed why he's one of the most talked about young Brazilian football players thanks to this beauty of a goal in the 26th minute that gave Santos an early 3-0 lead over Flamengo. Unfortunately for Santos, they ended up losing this offensive battle 4-5, with Ronaldinho picking up a hat trick for the visiting Flamengo, which managed to score three goals in the first half too. This was only Flamengo's second win at Vila Belmiro Stadium since 1976.

See Also - When Neymar is Neymar: He Scores a Copa Libertadores Hat Trick

And See Also - Neymar . . . Copa Libertadores . . . Enough Said

Diego Barretto Commits Every Goalkeeper's Worst Nightmare

On Tuesday night, Santos, from Brazil, and Cerro Porteño, from Paraguay, squared off in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-final. Tuesday's match resulted in an exciting 3-3 draw and Santos advanced to the Copa Libertadores final on a 4-3 aggregate. Santos managed to go 3-0 in the first half, but Cerro Porteño battled back in the second half scoring 3 goals of its own, but could not find a fourth goal. Cerro Porteño would not have needed that fourth goal but for a horrible mistake by its keeper, Diego Barretto, in the first half of the match:

Two Sending Offs that Are Stupid Because the Rules are Stupid

In Santos' recent Copa Libertadores match against Colo Colo, Neymar scored a goal in the 52nd minute and then proceeded to celebrate in a manner worthy of the NFL's Chad Ochocinco, he put on a paper mask of himself. The celebration resulted in Neymar getting sent off with a red card. Santos went on to win the match, which saw a total of 5 red cards, 3-2.

Meanwhile, in Wednesday night's MLS match between Vancouver and New England, Eric Hassli picked up his second yellow card of the night and was sent off for pulling off his jersey in a planned goal celebration. That match ended in a 1 all draw.

I know there's a certain stick in the mud, overly self-righteous, envious, and overly serious segment of sports fans that loathe goal celebrations, touchdown celebrations, and other celebrations by athletes. To that segment of sports fans I say, "Pull the stick out of your collective asses and learn to enjoy both sport and life for a change." Life is too short to live it without fun or comedy. There's nothing wrong with athletes celebrating their achievements and having some fun while doing so - it's a good way to release some of the stress and tension that builds up during competition.

Yes they got sent off, and that could have hurt the team, but did it really? Really? Accept it folks, its the rules that led to them getting sent off that are there real culprit here, instead of getting mad at Neymar or Hassli, get mad at the stupid rules created by sour old men who have no understanding or connection to the mind of the younger athlete. Sports are supposed to be fun, the athletes are supposed to be having fun, and the fans paying money to watch in the stands or on television aren't paying for a ballet or opera, which oddly enough seem to allow more expression of joy than allowed in professional sports these days.

For those of you who do enjoy goal celebrations, here Neymar's and Hassli's goal celebrations: