Europe

Got a hankering for international football? You’re in luck. This weekend marks the first international break since early October and features a multitude of unique matchups that will pit European powerhouse nations against one another. All of these games could be previews for the upcoming Euro 2016 tournament that will be played next June in France, with nine of the 10 featured teams having already qualified.

Spain vs. England

Friday, November 13

Atvidabers’ season went terribly. They played in the Swedish top flight in 2015. Which is to say that they happened to share the pitch with teams that repeatedly beat them. They finished in last place with only 15 points, 2 wins, and a goal differential of -30. They had a bad time. So you have to imagine how amazing it must have felt for them to not just score a goal, but score the Swedish goal of the year.

Notwithstanding certain Barcelona fans, the general soccer public is relieved that they dodged a bullet they didn't even know had been fired at them just more than 30 years ago: Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the bright lights (in both his play and his hair) in soccer almost didn't come into being.

Republic of Ireland vs Bosnia-Herzegovina | EURO 2016 Playoff 1st Leg

Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia

Friday, November 13th, 2:30 PM ET | ESPN 2 

Just due west of where the River Liffey enters the Irish Sea runs O’Connell Street. Heading north across the granite and portland stones of the O’Connell Bridge, connecting the North and Southsides of Dublin, your vision becomes dominated by a nearly 400-foot stainless steel pin rising and merging into the Dublin sky.

With the closing of the 2015 summer transfer window, many European clubs found themselves heading into the season with a worrying lack of options at the striker position. It wasn't for lack of trying, it simply seemed as though world-class European strikers were at a bare minimum.  

The classic, predatory center-forward, capable of providing a steady influx of goals in the box while constantly menacing the opposition's center backs, seems to have neared extinction. 

There are two certainties right now in the world of football:

#1: Louis Van Gaal and Manchester United could really use some consistent goal-scoring right about now.

#2: Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is on fire.

If you look closely enough at Hernandez during one of his now frequent goal celebrations, you’ll see there’s a glint in his eye. You know that glint that says: “stuff it, Louis Van Gaal!”

Three weeks ago in London, Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League. This is not a particularly inventive sentence to start an Internet post, but it should be an attention-grabber nonetheless. Bayern Munich took this personally for some reason - “oh, so, a win against us on a Tuesday night constitutes a famous win?” - and got angry and took out their anger on the poor Gunners when Arsenal visited for the return leg. They bagged three before the half. They got five in total.

We, the general football-consuming public, have always assumed the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry was like this:

Photo: @jasondh153 | Twitter

But, in a recent interview, Cristiano Ronaldo has implied the relationship between him and Messi is more like this:

Andres Guardado and Hector Moreno are teammates for both club and country, for PSV and Mexico. As such, they appear to have developed more chemistry than your average center mid-center back pairing.

This weekend against Utrecht, they got a chance to showcase that chemistry. Off a corner, Guardado found Moreno square in the middle of the box. Moreno then one-timed the ball into the goal, a superb finish for any center back.