April Fools! The top gags that actually fooled soccer fans on this day

In case you hadn’t noticed that today is April Fools’ Day, congratulations first of all for following only mature, job-holding adults with better things to do all Wednesday morning/afternoon/night than make increasingly weak attempts at “GOT YA!!!” jokes as the day wears on.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, we’ve spent the entire day wondering, “Wait, is this real?” before deciding whether or not to re-tweet literally every tweet in our timeline.

That said, a handful were actually pretty funny this year and worth a quick chuckle. The best of the best from the soccer world’s April Fools’ Day gags:

With the help of @pumafootball we’ve launched the first left-footed football. Our players were first to test it: https://t.co/CmciS9axLw

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) March 31, 2015

The entire world is built for right-handed folks, and speaking as one of them, I’m thankful for that. But that doesn’t mean the lefties among us shouldn’t be catered to every now and then. Good on Puma for allowing left-footed footballers the same chances at righties.

Arsenal vs Liverpool match to pioneer LIVE pre-match teamtalks via @periscopeco http://t.co/dVMUnbPfDx pic.twitter.com/LYmGNOHDJQ — MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) April 1, 2015

“Social media tool Periscope will broadcast the clips to fans around world.” OK, this one is actually pretty brilliant. The powers that be have found plenty of ways to monetize a number of the game’s finest aspects, so doing a deal with a smartphone live-streaming service sound about right.

Exclusive: Qatar to be awarded Euro 2020 place ‘to win hearts and minds’ http://t.co/P9p7iNWaNc pic.twitter.com/9FEI80vBy5

— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) April 1, 2015

Again, not at all unbelievable, because…FIFA.

The #NERevs have filed an appeal with @MLS. http://t.co/8lwOsuZfXP pic.twitter.com/RJ5ZzVOmSW — NE Revolution (@NERevolution) April 1, 2015

The beauty of the Revolution’s April Fools’ Day joke is that nothing about it is inconceivable. You can actually see MLS doing this. Besides, we all know that ball should be orange anyway.

Ref yesterday asked me what the girl in Vancouver said to me so I told him word for word #PutTheRedToBed #ItWasASetUp pic.twitter.com/wG4gs6qKyk

— Jozy Altidore (@magee9) April 1, 2015

That’s actually Chicago Fire forward Mike Magee, whose Twitter account has been cleverly disguised to look just like Jozy Altidore’s, explaining away this silly incident.

Rather try to fool the rest of the world, the New York Cosmos elected to punk one of their own, Alecko Eskandarian, who fancies himself something of a ping pong champion. Sorry, Alecko, but the 13-year-old girl just smoked you.

It’s done. Years of hard work complete. The “Purple Pitch” is ready for Friday. Read: http://t.co/2KqPiMRcz4 #GoCity pic.twitter.com/OBz3O61pv6 — Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) April 1, 2015

Shame on Orlando City, the didn’t even come up with their own April Fools’ Day joke. Sporting Kansas City CEO Robb Heineman has been routinely making this joke for years now.

BREAKING: @PumaNielsen1 to return to action Saturday on emergency basis > http://t.co/uxuzpG9Z6b. #UseYourEnergy pic.twitter.com/xSvsrf1e3s — Energy FC (@EnergyFC) April 1, 2015

If you remember Nielsen’s rickety performance in the final game of his professional career, you’ll understand why this one is actually pretty funny.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is “ready to change.” Do we believe this? http://t.co/so5zDZlhgM | #FIFA #Blatter — NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 1, 2015

Now that is the funniest one of them all. PST lead writer and editor Joe Prince-Wright wins April Fools’ Day for that headline. Well done, JPW.

Follow @AndyEdMLS