Soccer is a strenuous sport. Unless you are a goalkeeper or a certain world champion from a certain South American country known for walking the field, should be prepared to run somewhere between six to nine miles per game.
It's been over six weeks since Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup trophy and Argentina celebrated their long-awaited third star. Messi has since returned to playing for the traveling circus that is PSG, but the 35-year-old's thoughts won't stray far from that month-long odyssey in Qatar and the fulfillment of a life's dream for some time to come.
On Monday, a 45-minute interview in Paris between Messi and Argentine journalist Any Kusnetzoff for Urbana Play provided all the details from the triumph, fresh in the Golden Ball winner's mind.
Have you ever wondered why the rule that forces goalkeepers to keep a foot on the goal-line during a penalty kick exists?
Well, an old video of Jerzy Dudek saving a penalty in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan has resurfaced on social media, serving as a prime example of why that is.
Warning, it's a hard watch.
As Major League Soccer enters its 28th season, one example of the league's growing strength is just how difficult it is to determine which 10 stadiums you'd like to visit most.
Where is Soccer City, USA? Apparently, it's not Portland, Oregon, which has long laid claim to that title. According to a new study released last month, Los Angeles actually tops the list of best soccer cities in America.
Portland finished third overall in the rankings, just behind their Cascadia rivals to the north, Seattle.
Assists are often overlooked in favor of their more flashy and prominent neighbor, the goal. In many ways, they require more technique and ability than scoring a goal because finding the goal is easy. Knowing where to place a ball to find a teammate while avoiding defenders and keepers, and actually having the technical ability to do it, requires a soccer mind of the highest order. One of the greats, Andrea Pirlo, famously said, "Football is played with the head. Your feet are just tools."
FBref.com last week published a map of its most-viewed soccer teams by state in 2022 and the results show the incredibly varied interests across the United States.
Across the 50 states there were teams represented from the English Premier League, MLS, La Liga, USL, NWSL, the EFL Championship, the English fifth-tier National League – and the U.S. national team.
“There were definitely some surprises,” Jonah Gardner, product marketing manager for FBref, told The18 in an email.
Have you come down with World Cup fever? The only cure is more of the beautiful game. Thankfully, we've got new soccer shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus to watch this month.
Looking ahead to 2023, we know we'll have a third and final season of Sunderland 'Til I Die, a third season of Ted Lasso, a second season of Welcome to Wrexham and the release of Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins. I'm also still working on an original film about the life and badass times of André Villas-Boas.
Replace the batteries in your TV remote, set your alarm for way-too-early a.m. and get ready to watch the best month of sports of the year as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar runs from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch World Cup 2022 in the United States.