Last weekend, the discovery of a serious match-fixing scandal has made Portuguese football a hot topic in crime pages in newspapers around the world.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated case, over the years, match-fixing scandals have dramatically grown.
Soccer is facing more suspicion than it ever has before, and that suspicion is driven by the possibility of a multibillion-dollar web of match-fixing that is corrupting the game.
Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, a team in Germany's fourth division, have made free agent striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic an offer, should his ego be large enough, he can't refuse.
From the BBC:
The striker, 34, is considering offers after leaving Paris St-Germain but few will be as creative as what Rot-Weiss Oberhausen have put forward.
The Copa America and European Championships are the two biggest continental tournaments in football. Both have a similar structure, but the money made available for winnings by CONMEBOL and UEFA is not equal between the two.
The Copa America Centenario has $18 million with which to reward national teams, which is $8 million more than Chile 2015 had to distribute.
Goals like these from the Spanish are going to make Euro 2016 very, very exciting. David Silva put his sniper specialized left foot to the test against South Korea in a warm up match for Spain. From about 30 yards out, Silva hit a firecracker that went bar down in the upper right corner, virtually giving South Korea's shot stopper no chance at ruining the beautiful moment. Spain's shot at redemption from their falter in 2014 will be tested in this upcoming month as they begin their Euro 2016 debut on June 13th.
Dare to Zlatan. Is there anyone more mercurial, more intense , or more of an egomaniac than Zlatan Ibrahimovic? His posturing and his infamous Zlatanisms flirt with satire so much, it's not even clear how serious he actually is. Zlatan is so quoteable that journalists around the globe froth at the mouth to get a flashy one-liner from the outspoken Swede, something which he derives great enjoyment from.
UPDATE: Alves' transfer to Juventus is official:
UFFICIALE - @DaniAlvesD2 è bianconero! https://t.co/U82CsKAyIY #BemVindoDani pic.twitter.com/1Uxq8fjdnz
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) June 27, 2016
Do you remember the first time soccer blew your mind? For me, it was Ronaldinho. Not even a specific clip, just Ronaldinho in general. The more and more I watched of him the more I realized that my understanding of soccer was so timidly different than what was really possible that it practically hurt; I needed to watch more highlights, and I swear I got high from them.
I thought the days of Ronaldinho blowing my mind were done, but this one goal, this legendary goal that many of you have already seen before, has come back to do it again:
Is there such thing as too much Zlatan? Zlatan overload? Zlatan satiation? Is there a point where enough is enough, where we simply cannot handle any more Zlatan?
If there is, we think we found it.
This is PSG's "goodbye Zlatan" video, which, as would be expected, is full of Zlatan. Perhaps too full. We'll let you be the judge.
Italy have announced their provisional squad for Euro 2016, and it’s one of the worst in recent memory. Gone are Antonio Di Natale, Mario Balotelli, Sebastian Giovinco, and Andrea Pirlo. Italy’s staunch defense is still there, but the class of their attack appears to be completely absent.
Hatem Ben Arfa killed it for OGC Nice this season. The thought-to-be-burnt-out winger torched French football for 18 goals and six assists in all competitions, and he looked good doing it. Like, Messi good.
And before you get all uppity about me using the m-word, just check out the video below showcasing the goals he scored this year. They vary from penalties to “holy s***, I can’t believe he’s done that.”