On the men’s soccer side of things, China hasn’t had much to cheer about in some time. They didn’t come close to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, and recent China Cup defeats to Wales and the Czech Republic by a combined scoreline of 10-1 tell you everything you need to know about the world’s 65th-ranked side.
Every four years, the footy community gathers together for one of the most famous, most important traditions in sports: goalkeepers complaining about the World Cup ball.
This is what three goalkeepers who will probably feature in Russia had to say about the ball:
David de Gea: "It's really strange. It could have been made a lot better."
Adidas has finally released the away kits for the World Cup squads it sponsors, inluding the Mexico World Cup away kit. Let's take a look!
Germany:
Brazil will approach the World Cup in the shadow of its catastrophic 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany from 2014, but the Seleção has gradually let the light back in with its gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and remarkable run through CONMEBOL qualifying.
After losing its opening match against Chile, Brazil went undefeated over the following 17 games, recording 12 wins and five draws while scoring 41 goals and allowing only nine. Accordingly, Brazil is worthy of its FIFA ranking of No. 2 and Elo ranking of No. 1.
Soccer players, for whatever reason, generally do not like wearing shin guards. It's weird. Many players go for the smallest possible shin guards in order to maximize unprotected shin surface area. Maybe it's like a weird masculine thing. I don't know.
What I do know is shin guards exist to protect one's shins from harm, and not wearing them is a fool's errand. Getting kicked in the shin hurts more than getting kicked in many other body parts, and soccer provides ample oportunity for getting kicked in the shins. You should wear shin guards so your shins don't get hurt.
In Antoine Griezmann, Alex Lacazette, Anthony Martial, Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet, Ousmane Dembele, Nabil Fekir, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin Gameiro and the ostracized Karim Benzema, France possess 10 forwards that, if hypothetically American, would waltz into the discussion of the greatest U.S. attacker of all-time.
It’s an embarrassment of attacking riches, especially when coupled with the dreamy midfield play of players like Paul Pogba, Thomas Lemar, Kingsley Coman and Corentin Tolisso.