The U.S. women faced off against Japan on Thursday in their last game of the Tournament of Nations. Japan-U.S. has become a particularly heated affair in recent years with the two meeting in three of the last four major finals. USWNT fans will not easily forget the heartbreaking loss to the Japanese at the 2011 FIFA World Cup nor Carli Lloyd’s rampage to win the trophy four years later.
With six delicate touches, Leonardo created this masterpiece in 1995 while playing with Kashima Antlers in the Japanese J1 League. Still in the prime of his career, the attacker joined Kashima after the 1994 World Cup as a 24-year-old.
Hulk and Shanghai SIPG took on bottom-of-the-table Yanbian Fude in the Chinese Super League today, and you can probably guess what happened. There’s really nothing more routine in the world of football right now than the monthly wonder goal from Hulk in Asia, it’s like clockwork.
Well, here’s your banger for the month of July from the Brazilian billionaire.
If you're looking for a sleeper team at the 2018 World Cup, Iran is a good candidate.
They were recently the third team to qualify for Russia 2018, having gone undefeated in both the second and third rounds of AFC qualifying to this point (12-4-0).
In recent years, the top division in China has slowly become a new locus of appealing, high-octane soccer. Some of this has to do with the big name stars the league has drawn in like Carlos Tevez, Alexandre Pato, Ricardo Carvahlo and a host of others.
However, in the past couple weeks, it seems a different pattern is getting all the attention — the bizarre displays of violence and aggression that have unfolded on the field.
Two-time Europa League winner Parma Calcio 1913 sold to Jiang Lizhang on Wednesday, adding to the growing trend of Chinese businessmen buying European socer clubs.
The following first and second division teams in Europe are now all principally owned by Chinese investors.
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Here it is: your complete guide to the 2017 summer soccer schedule.
For most sports, the offseason is a time of respite. Once the Super Bowl ends in February, NFL teams don’t suit up for another game, scrimmage or otherwise, for six months. Soccer, fortunately, doesn’t abide by such silly rules.
The European soccer season technically ends after the Champions League final around late May or early June, but preseason exhibitions pick up in early July. Then there are also international matches (friendlies and cups) to also fill the void.
How’s Oscar doing with Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League? Pretty good. For one, he’ll pocket $26 million this season. But how’s the season going? Shanghai are in second after 13 matches, with Oscar scoring one goal and dropping seven assists for the Red Eagles.
On Saturday, Shanghai played Guangzhou R&F (the R&F stands for “Rich” and “Force”, nice). SIPG manager Don Juan Andre Villas-Boas watched as Oscar slipped in Hulk for a Shanghai equalizer in the 45th minute, but then things decidedly went to s**t.
History and Background
Football hasn’t always been a major sport in Australia. Although the national team was formed in 1922, the country didn’t participate in the first seven World Cups. When they did decide to start participating, they failed to qualify in their first two tries — losing to North Korea in the playoffs for 1966 and Israel in ’70.
Sven-Goran Eriksson has been sacked as manager of Chinese second division club Shenzhen and has been replaced with Wang Baoshan. We know this because Shenzhen posted a poem on their website welcoming Wang as their new coach.
We are not making this up:
Eleven years ago, you led Shenzhen football and never let us down.
Nine years ago, you took over responsibilities and saved Shenzhen football.
Memories of fighting together have never gone away, and now we recall the legend.