The writing has been on the wall for Javier Mascherano at Barcelona for some time, and now it's official: Barcelona announced Tuesday that Mascherano would be leaving the club, with a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Mascherano has been at Barcelona for seven and a half seasons and has made more than 300 appearances.
Monday Osagie, a center back for Churchill Brothers in the Indian I-League, scored from just inside the halfway line to open the scoring against Shillong Lajong on Friday. It was the least impressive goal from midfield you’ll ever see.
Saudi Arabia has a terrible record for gender equality, but there was a step in the right direction on Friday as women were allowed to attend a professional soccer match for the first time.
Organizing the first ever soccer match to allow Saudi women has been surreal!! pic.twitter.com/WELR9dvONH
Lukas Podolski, a World Cup winner with Germany and a former striker for Arsenal and Bayern Munich, has always been a fan favorite, wherever he goes. The man with a hammer for a left leg is finishing out his career in Japan with Vissel Kobe right now, but while back in Cologne rehabbing an injury he opened up a doner kebab shop over the weekend to plenty of fanfare.
The United Arab Emirates is coached by an Italian, Alberto Zaccheroni. And like any good Italian, he can employ catenaccio like a champ. UAE didn’t allow a single goal in the Arabian Gulf Cup. Unfortunately, his team couldn’t score, either, and Oman edged UAE in a shootout to win the Arabian Gulf Cup final on Friday in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
The UAE advanced through the knockout rounds with two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win over Oman thanks to a penalty scored by Ali Mabkhout. In the semifinals, they beat Iraq in a shootout after another 0-0 draw.
If you learn anything today, please let it be this: Kids are not good at anything. This recent video of 100 children taking on three Japanese internationals will serve as my indisputable evidence.
Hiroshi Kiyotake, Hotaru Yamaguchi and Yosuke Ideguchi faced off against 30 forwards, 30 midfielders, 30 defenders and 10 goalkeepers in a friendly match recently. While the youngsters were well drilled in positional discipline (they refused to be pulled from their defensive stations), their skills left a lot to be desired.
China’s Wang Shanshan scored the kind of goal that comes from crossing the DNA of Tobin Heath and Lieke Mertens in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship (the women’s football championship of East Asia) today.
The sometimes defender, sometimes forward kept it poacher after South Korea cleared a Chinese corner in the 18th minute. However, the ball made its way back into the box with a clipped effort over the top, and Shanshan was there to apply the most impudent of touches to steer the ball inside the near post with her heel.
Colombia’s friendly against South Korea on Nov. 10 did not endear the South Americans to the world. Midfielder Edwin Cardona made a racist gesture to South Korean players following an embarrassing flop by James Rodriguez. We wrote then that if FIFA had any sense, Cardona would be given a lengthy ban lasting through the World Cup.