Weird week in football: Papas, princesses, and playful prodding

Every Monday, theScore will highlight the most outlandish moments from the wacky, sometimes daft, and perennially entertaining world of European football. Here's what made us smile - or cringe - on the pitch this past week.

With the Premier League on hiatus in lieu of a full slate of FA Cup matches and the rest of Europe's top leagues returning at a leisurely pace, football was rife with storylines both typical and peculiar.

Wayne Rooney was understandably upset with an English rag after matching Sir Bobby's Charlton's Manchester United scoring record, a Stoke City steward said "surf's up," Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino told club chairman Daniel Levy that it takes two to Tango, and Notts County continued an embarrassing string of lamentable errors.

On the continent, Metz president Bernard Serin said something remarkably insensitive and daft, Borussia Monchengladbach continued to lay claim to football's best Twitter account, and Lisbon giant Sporting was boned by the match official before a bitter brawl broke out in Portuguese cup play.

Without further ado, here's a look at the Weird Week in Football:

Papa Papu praises Princess Anni

Lost amid all the talk of Atalanta's budding youthful core are the exploits of Argentine forward Papu Gomez.

Arguably the Bergamo lot's best player this campaign, the 28-year-old was in the news over the weekend not because of his first-half brace against Chievo in a one-sided 4-1 victory, but because of an armband he sported during the tilt at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi.

To celebrate his daughter Anni's second birthday, Gomez wore a Frozen-inspired armband featuring his little one and the characters from the 2013 Disney hit, kissing it after each of his two goals.

Lovely gesture from the player, but before we anoint Papu with Papa of the Year, let's recall a two-footed challenge that his son, Bautista, was lucky to escape from sans serious injury during a cutthroat holiday kickabout in Dubai.

Touchy stuff for enraged Emre

It seems Emre Can has an admirer besides Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp. Plymouth Argyle defender Sonny Bradley was caught getting handsy with the stately German international during Sunday's scoreless FA Cup third-round clash at Anfield.

A bit bizarre that, and if Can was annoyed by Bradley's peculiar prodding, he'll want to avoid the hulking centre-half when the two sides replay the drab draw with a Jan. 18 visit to Home Park in Devon.

Rooney, Alli celebrate Kane kid with Twitter banter

Congratulations were in order for Tottenham goal-machine Harry Kane and his missus, Kate, who welcomed their first child this week.

England captain Wayne Rooney took to Twitter to salute the young couple. and the father of three could not help himself with some gentle ribbing of Kane's Spurs mate Dele Alli.

While Alli appears unfazed about becoming a father himself, the best reply to Kane's tweet was courtesy of south London restaurant owner Frank Khalid, whose shameless plug is funny enough to escape reproach.

Frank, you scoundrel.