Daily Schmankerl: Dembélé on Fortnite strike; Sadio Mané gives back; Klinsmann to coach Ecuador; “Bullshit Bingo” with Augsburg’s coach, and MORE!

Dembélé joins Catalan strike, stays home to play Fortnite (Don Balon)

Maybe the Don here is a little biased, but this latest piece is a doozy. As you may or may not know, the Catalan independence movement has called for a general strike in Barcelona. You might remember Pep Guardiola occasionally speaking out in favor of Catalan independence. It is a very big deal in Spain, where the Supreme Court decided on Monday to imprison nine separatist leaders from 9 to 13 years, sparking the violent response (BBC). Over 500,000 people protested on the streets of Barcelona yesterday.

And former BVB bad boy Ousmane Dembélé is joining them! Sort of:

Incredibly, even though Dembélé speaks neither Spanish nor Catalan, he has decided to support the strike and will not go to the training grounds today to continue with his rehabilitation and fine tuning. In Barcelona, and above all Valverde, they are halucinating. Dembélé will stay home playing PlayStation instead of preparing himself for what’s ahead.

Of course, the Don does not reveal how he knows that Dembélé will definitely be playing Fortnite... but given the recent drop of Chapter 2 and the Frenchman’s notorious addiction to the game... yeah, we all know how he’s showing solidarity with Catalonia.

Jürgen Klinsmann new national coach of Ecuador (Sport Bild)

After rumors and denials by Ecuador, Sport Bild now reports that Jürgen Klinsmann will indeed become the new national coach of Ecuador. According to Bild, he has agreed to a contract that will pay him approximately $4.5 million annually, although they do not state how long the contract runs.

Klinsmann coached the US Men’s National Team from 2011 to 2016, and previously coached Germany from 2004 to 2006, including the famous 2006 World Cup. He coached Bayern Munich for one disastrous season in 2008/09 and was dismissed in late April.

Ecuador is current 65th in FIFA’s world ranking.

Sadio Mané uses his money to give back to his roots (Nsemwoha)

In an interview with Canal+ Sport Afrique, Liverpool’s striker Sadio Mané gave a powerful account of how he is giving back to people in his homeland of Senegal:

Why would I want ten Ferraris, twenty diamond watches, or two planes? What will these objects do for me and for the world?

I was hungry, and I had to work in the field; I survived hard times, played football barefooted, I did not have an education and many other things, but today with what I win thanks to football, I can help my people.

I built schools, a stadium, we provide clothes, shoes, food for people who are in extreme poverty. In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people in a very poor region of Senegal which contributes to their family economy.

I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips and even planes. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me.

In Russia with love: Domenico Tedesco honored with special cover

“Bullshit Bingo” with Augsburg’s Martin Schmidt

Some Augsburg fans aren’t exactly enamored with Martin Schmidt. The fan club “Burning Nuts” has made a “Bullshit Bingo” game with some of Schmidt’s comments, such as:

• The buildup worked in the preseason.
• We’re not yet as far along as we had thought.
• It wasn’t at all as bad as the result now stands.
• We actually wanted to win.
• It’s also obvious that the plan doesn’t always work out.

I actually appreciate Martin Schmidt as a coach. He did great things at Mainz and was wasted on Wolfsburg. Things haven’t gone Augsburg’s way under his leadership (14th with just 5 points and a 1-2-4 WDL record), but they might turn around yet... starting next week.

Happy 36th Dante!

Sure, we still laugh about Pep Guardiola’s “1,000 Dantes” remark, but Dante was and remains one of my favorite recent Bayern players. Dante joined OGC Nice in 2016 after a stint in Wolfsburg. He’s the captain there now! All the best, Dante!

Record-breaking season for Manchester United after all!

Gina Lewandowski in the (NYC) house

Gina Lewandowski, a native of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, moved back to the United States last season to be closer to family. She’s playing now for Sky Blue FC in the NWSL in New Jersey, but that doesn’t mean she can’t drop in now and then to catch up with the Bayern Familie.

Liga MX’s Veracruz demands to be paid

Bas Dost is back

Bas Dost, who broke out at Wolfsburg in 2014/15 with a 20 goal season just rejoined the Bundesliga after a sojourn with Sporting. And he scored one of the ugliest goals you’ll ever see yesterday to complete Eintracht Frankfurt’s rout of Bayer Leverkusen. Alas, I couldn’t scrounge up a video clip of it, so you will have to use your imagination. Here’s Ronan Murphy to help:

Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images