I don’t normally abuse my position as a writer at The18 to bring you solely what I would like to bring you — the golden rule for hacks like me is to give the people what the people want — except when it comes Xherdan Shaqiri.
Neymar’s return to the Seleção for a pair of September friendlies against the USMNT and El Salvador brought forth the requisite questions concerning his World Cup antics, and the Paris Saint-Germain star was measured in his response to being labelled a diver before meeting the U.S. in New Jersey on Friday.
If you are reading this, chances are you have tried and no doubt, at one time or another, failed to complete Dele Alli’s now-famous goal celebration.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise given the outcome of the 2017-18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award voting (finishing order: Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah), but the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 are Modric, Ronaldo and Salah, leaving the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne on the outside looking in.
Atlanta United will certainly make the playoffs on the backend of a terrific season, but D.C. United deprived Tata Martino’s side of clinching while giving its own playoff hopes a major boost by defeating the Five Stripes 3-1 in the nation’s capital.
Wayne Rooney was again instrumental for D.C., assisting Luciano Acosta on the game’s opening goal in the 29th minute before restoring the Black-and-Red’s advantage from the spot in the 52nd. With the match in the balance, Rooney then provided another assist for Acosta in the 77th minute to secure the three points for D.C. United.
With the retirement of Clint Dempsey earlier this week, the USMNT lost a legend, the greatest goal scorer the country has ever seen (on the men’s side, at least). So one of the few Americans left in the Premier League decided to pay homage to the Texan, as seen with this wonderful DeAndre Yedlin goal vs Manchester City on Saturday.
Tottenham fans can exhale. There will be no mandatory Son Heung-Min military service. All thanks to the Spurs midfielder beating up on a bunch of kids.
All South Korean men must complete 21 months of military service for the country, a response to the constant threat of the militaristic North Korea. There are only two ways to gain exemptions: win a medal at the Olympics or win gold at the Asian Games.
Son, 26, would be required to enter into military service by the time he turns 28, unless he could gain an exemption.
After watching Loris Karius almost single-handedly crush Liverpool’s chances in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Liverpool spent a record $87.4 million to bring Roma’s Alisson to Anfield.
The 2018-19 Europa League group stage draw on Friday placed Arsenal in Group E alongside Portugal’s Sporting, Azerbaijan’s FK Qarabag and Ukraine’s Vorskla Poltava.
The official result of the #UELdraw!
Toughest group? pic.twitter.com/nfTeWdG1rq
STOP THE PRESSES! We’ve got some pulp for you: Unami Emery has banned Arsenal players from drinking fruit juice at London Colney. That’s right, gone are the days of sucking down Simply Lemonade (I like the raspberry best) and cracking open a Snapple (I like the kiwi strawberry best) to read “Real Fact” #646 inside the bottle cap.