The nights are closing in, darkness is falling all around and spooky season is underway once again with the world of football being dragged into the netherworld of Halloween.
As usual, many soccer stars have celebrated in style, and the social media landscape was suddenly awash with images of players and their families going all-out for the occasion.
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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland made a splash when he launched his YouTube channel last week with a video showing a day in the life of a Premier League footballer, and his follow-up post took things in a spookier direction.
Haaland was filmed at home having a very professional make-up and costume job done on him, turning him into a very convincing version of The Joker as played by Heath Ledger “The Dark Knight” (albeit a version that’s 6-foot-5 and weighs 200lbs). The 25-year-old then took to the streets to freak out some locals as he ran some errands.
The first person Haaland encountered in a petrol station took one good look at the giant in front of him and asked “are you the Man City boy?”, while in another store a shopper in the queue reacted by saying: “Is that Haaland? That is actually mad!”
With 24 goals in 15 games for club and country so far this season, Haaland will resume his day job of frightening the life out of defenders when City play AFC Bournemouth on Sunday.
With fixtures piling up, a couple of clubs went early with their celebrations this year as several Real Madrid players had a Halloween party two days before Oct. 31.
Fresh from vanquishing Barcelona in the Clásico, a number of Los Blancos‘ Brazilian contingent gathered for a fright-fest while donning an array of spooky costumes for the occasion.
Vinícius Júnior‘s girlfriend, Virginia Fonseca, dressed up as Cruella de Vil, but her partner obviously didn’t get the memo about the “101 Dalmatians” theme, as he decided to go as a manic clown instead.
Endrick and his wife, Gabriely Miranda, rocked matching his-and-hers Chucky doll costumes for the party that they chose to accessorize with an arsenal of blood-soaked weaponry.
Éder Militão, wife Taina and his family went as the Addams Family and even took the time to produce a short video tribute to the iconic TV show, complete with theme tune and finger clicking.
The theme of Rodrygo‘s costume wasn’t immediately clear, but it consisted of a leopard-print suit and blood-splattered T-shirt.
NAPOLI
Serie A champions Napoli also chose to celebrate on Wednesday, the day after they won 1-0 at Lecce while wearing their new limited-edition Halloween kit complete with glow-in-the-dark badge!
The Partonopei kept the ghoulish theme running by gathering in Naples on Wednesday evening. Scott McTominay and partner Cam Reading looked the part, with the midfielder sporting some very convincing half-flesh/half-skull face paint (though given his new nickname in Naples, dressing up as The Terminator might have been more appropriate).
McTominay also took some time to point out Rasmus Højlund’s lack of effort.
The 22-year-old striker, who is on loan from Man United, turned up in a sweater vest, chinos, and black loafers with white socks, with McTominay enjoying his choice of sock color in particular.
The Addams Family were once again represented, with Leonardo Spinazzola playing Gomez this time, alongside teammate Matteo Politano, who filled in as Pugsley.
Elsewhere, Alex Meret turned up as Hagrid and Mathías Olivera as Captain Jack Sparrow among a variety of other costumes inspired by Harry Potter, Batman and “Breaking Bad.”
