5 of the funniest moments in football in 2017

Life, some say, is a tragic joke. The very plane of existence is meant to bring us pain and misery. However, there are times when this very life brings us joy and happiness, a reason to laugh till tears drip down our eyes.

Football is something similar. The beautiful game might be filled with a bit of ugliness, but there are times when it provides moments of joy.

The fans and media alike burst into laughter due to these antics. Watching these makes a person go in fits as the smile extends from one ear to the other and here are 5 such moments…

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#5 Antonio Conte couldn't resist the urge

Watching someone eat cake isn't really funny, is it? I mean, everyone eats cake at birthday parties, so it’s not a big deal unless someone starts throwing cakes on everyone’s faces and starts the unnecessary wastage of good food.

However, when the manager of a top football club eats a cake midway during a press conference, it does seem funny.

After winning 3-0 against Leicester in January, the former Juventus manager was in the best of moods and it showed. As the conference was about to begin, Conte spotted a journalist with a piece of cake and told him that he was a bit “jealous” of it.

He then added that “if you offer me a bit, I taste a bit,” to which the journalist obliged. After having it, Conte approved of its taste with a thumbs up.

#4 Ancelotti kisses Ribery

While it is true that Carlo Ancelotti is a coach that doesn’t so much emotion on the touchline, what can’t be denied is that he is one of finest man-managers in the game. It was his man management abilities that helped Real Madrid win the unprecedented 10th Champions League.

It was his man management abilities that had every Real Madrid player upset when he was sacked. The Italian knows how to keep a squad happy—and this is one of the perfect examples.

After being subbed off in the 71st minute while leading 4-1 against Dortmund in April, Franck Ribery was livid with the decision and confronted the Italian. Any other manager would have gotten angry and ordered the Frenchman to the bench but not Ancelotti.

The former Milan tactician kissed Ribery on the cheek to calm him down; a trick that instantly worked as everyone—including the Frenchman—were all smiles.

#3 Giulio Donati did what?

As a child, I loved it when Triple H made his entry into the ring while spraying water from his mouth. Heck, I still love it and try every time in the bathroom. Playing with water is somewhat cool for even adults like us. For instance, watching a footballer run at full speed with water flying off his hair is something that we all enjoy.

Since footballers are also humans, they too carry out this procedure more out of looking cool than anything else. It is for this reason that footballers often spray water on their hair before entering the pitch—and that is normal.

What is not normal is when a footballer sprays water on his groin before entering the pitch—and that is precisely what Giulio Donati did prior to being subbed in against Ingolstadt in a Bundesliga fixture in April.

While Donati was seemingly taking instructions, he casually lifted his shorts and sprayed water on his privates, which was pretty much awkward for everyone involved.

Except, of course, for Donati himself.

#2 Muller's passport

When we enter a company for a job, we have a lot of responsibilities to fulfil. Footballers are no different. While it seems as though their only job is to play and do well, there are others things that also fall under their job responsibility.

One of them is speaking to the media. This can be a very entertaining thing or something utterly dreadful.

For Thomas Muller, the latter is perhaps the case. Whilst returning from Doha, Muller used his passport as a phone in order to avoid the media. The German wasn’t making it to Carlo Ancelotti’s line-up back then in January and was perhaps expecting questions about it—something that he wasn’t too keen to answer.

So he stuck the passport to his ear and was seemingly talking to it while crossing the horde of reporters at the Munich airport. The grin on his face was actually the hilarious thing out of this.

#1 Sweden crash broadcast

Qualifying for the World Cup is the ultimate dream for every national team (apart from winning it, of course). The elation is even bigger when the said team failed to qualify for the previous edition of the tournament.

The case in point here is of the Sweden national team. In the last edition of the World Cup, a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal beat them in the playoffs and denied Ibrahimovic a last hurrah at the biggest competition in the world.

This time, however, there was no Ibra, and Sweden had to play Italy to reach the World Cup. And they won, by breaking Italian hearts and booking their place in Russia. The celebrations commenced as the Swedish players’ joy knew no bounds. They were so ecstatic that they crashed a post-match on-pitch match report in a glorious fashion.

And you see it above.