Cristiano Ronaldo entered today’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Lithuania needing five goals to reach a century for Portugal. It was always going to be close as the Juventus striker has historically feasted on the world’s 132nd-ranked side, including the four he hit when the two nations met in Vilnius back in September.
It was always going to happen eventually — it’s just that nobody could’ve predicted how insanely long it’d take for age and the grind of professional sports to somewhat catch up to Cristiano Ronaldo. The 34-year-old has played 982 matches for club and country over the last 17 years, and although he remains decisive, indomitable and a catalyst for one of the world’s best teams, he’s beginning to show signs of what Louis C.K. referred to as “incurable shitty ankle.”
There’s a term in multiplayer video games called KSing — kill stealing — that refers to one player getting credit for a kill when another did most of the hard work.
Aaron Ramsey just KS’d Cristiano Ronaldo.
A good portion of the sports-loving world would love it if politics never entered sports. While that’s a pipedream (politics and sports will always be intertwined), we expect at the very least for sports to be conducted outside the purview of politicians.
But in Italy, two senators have brought up a debate on the state of Serie A.
A new study has revealed the top earners on Instagram, and it’s time to drop everything and focus on becoming an influencer. We’ll also need to score 701 professional goals, get shredded, win five Ballon d’Ors and five Champions League crowns, but we’ll worry about that later. First, let’s just dream about taking home $975K for every sponsored post we throw out there.
Paulo Dybala did not start Tuesday’s match well. His first touch was a mess early on, he failed to provide much to the attack as Juventus went behind in the first half and many were surprised he wasn’t pulled when Gonzalo Higuain was brought on in the second half.
But by the time he was subbed out in the 81st minute, Dybala was the star — the match winner having scored twice, including an epic golazo to spark the Old Lady to a 2-1 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow.
Ahead of Juventus’ Champions League clash against Lokomotiv Moscow at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to the media about the club’s direction under new manager Maurizio Sarri and his form at the age of 34, while also issuing a stern rebuke to critics that claim he’s somehow holding back both Juve and Portugal with his predatory play.
On Monday, France Football (over the course of five ridiculous hours) released its 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or prize, as well as a 20-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or Féminin. Last year, Luka Modrić broke Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s combined 10-year stranglehold on the game’s most prestigious individual award, but Messi is again the favorite this year after leading Barcelona to the Spanish league title while capturing his sixth European Golden Shoe.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his professional career, but Portugal’s 13-game unbeaten streak was brought to an abrupt end by Ukraine in Kiev on Monday. The victory secured qualification to Euro 2020 for Ukraine, and it was a continuation of the country’s glorious renaissance under the direction of 43-year-old manager Andriy Shevchenko.
It was Shevhenko himself who scored Ukraine’s last goal at a major international tournament — that coming at Euro 2012 — but based on today’s display, this is a team that will certainly do more than make up the numbers next summer.