Kickin' It: A rivalry so bitter it extinguishes light and turns water to ice

World Cup qualifying is all but done, with just the playoffs left to determine the field. Mercifully, we get back to normality this weekend, and we can all forget about international football for a few months. Still, even though international weeks are typically boring and awful, there's some interesting stuff happening out there.

Shaun Teale: My wife didn't try to run Harry Redknapp over | Birmingham Mail

Harry Redknapp wrote a book, which is quite frankly unbelievable in and of itself. In it, the Queens Park Rangers manager claims the wife of former Villa defender Shaun Teale tried to run him down with a car over a wage dispute while both player and manager were at Bournemouth. One major problem with Redknapp's version of events: Teale claims his wife didn't learn to drive until several years after the incident is claimed to have occurred. It's not the only claim made by Redknapp that's been disputed by the others supposedly involved, which doesn't really come as too much of a surprise.

U.S. stage unbelievable late comeback to beat Panama and save Mexico’s World Cup hopes | Dirty Tackle

World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF is usually pretty crazy, but the nuttiness doesn't typically involve Mexico, the region's traditional power. This hasn't been the best cycle for El Tri, but heading into the evening it would have taken a loss to Costa Rica and a US loss to Panama to keep Mexico from qualifying for a playoff with New Zealand with a trip to Brazil on the line. Despite the long odds, that came very close to happening, and now Mexico will have to come to grips with the fact that their fiercest rivals are responsible for their (likely) qualification for the World Cup.

Striker scores twice against local rivals – and has his power and water cut off | the Guardian

Losing to your local rival is really unpleasant. I'm painfully aware of this. It can really mess up your day, and at the height of your frustration you'd likely do anything to exact some manner of revenge. Some public servant(s) in Tajikstan did just that.