Central America is a place full of magic and wonder. A first-division match in Honduras produced a moment that has to be seen to be believed.
My head is spinning. Where did he get the soccer ball? Did he forcibly remove it from a ballboy? Was it just laying around? Did he bring his own?
Remember Julian Green? The 21-year-old American who scored against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup never managed to make much of an impact with Bayern Munich, so he moved to Stuttgart at the beginning of January.
Green scored his first goal for his new club Monday in a 2-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf, and showed the type of skill that made him think he would make it at Bayern.
Audax, the surprise runners-up in last year’s Campeonato Paulista (Sao Paulo’s top professional football league), opened the 2017 season with a 4-2 victory over 21-time champions Sao Paulo.
When teams come flying out of the gate with goals like this, there’s not much you can do. Audax’s second goal screamed Brazilian football with a series of one-twos and back heels allowing Pedro Carmona to score from ten yards out.
Cameroon defeated Egypt 2-1 on Sunday to clinch their fifth Africa Cup of Nations title, and they booked their ticket to Russia for the 2017 Confederations Cup in the process.
A rocking Stade d'Angondjé in Libreville, Gabon was witness to a dramatic and excellent final between a resurgent Egyptian side and a heavily unfavored Cameroon team that many had predicted to fail at this tournament.
Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny gave Egypt the lead in the 22nd minute with a thunderous finish at the near post.
Here's a lesson for all you kids out there: if you ever have a free kick, just smash it. That's the lesson Brazilian great Rivaldo gives to prodigies at La Masia, so why not? Just approach the ball like Barca B's Gerard Gumbau like Rivaldo and utterly annihilate the thing. It'll fly into the corner, you'll be the hero and you'll get promoted to the Segunda Division. That's the theory.
Jerry Ortiz of Colombia’s Once Caldas scored one of the best goals you’ll see all year against Peru’s Universitario in a friendly match. The 24-year-old has just arrived at Once Caldas from fellow Colombian club Atletico Huila.
This is one way to introduce yourself to your new club. The goalkeeper isn’t even out of position, that’s just a swerving, looping bomb from Ortiz. My word, Jerry.
Peter Crouch became the 26th player to score 100 Premier League goals during Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Everton.
Of course, he did "The Robot" to celebrate.
Peter Crouch scores his 100th Premier League goal! pic.twitter.com/NU9ij10ATJ
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 1, 2017
Barcelona, the defending Copa del Rey champions, are on the cusp of being able to defend their title after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Madrid. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi put Barca up 2-0 by halftime, but Antoine Griezmann managed to pull one back for Atletico in the 59th minute.
Over 48,000 inside the Vicente Calderon witnessed a nightmare start as Suarez opened the scoring for Barcelona in the seventh minute. With Javier Mascherano returned to the defensive midfield role, his crunching tackle saw the ball roll free to Suarez.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez finally ended his goal drought dating back to October 1st by scoring against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. Chicharito’s sixth goal of the campaign arrived in his 17th league match amidst rumors of a possible January transfer exit.
Juventus defeated Milan 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday which, unfortunately for Italian football, isn’t really news. Juventus have won five straight Serie A titles, and, even with the higher likelihood of upsets in knockout football, they’ve managed to win the Coppa Italia two straight years.
Their hegemony of Italian football makes a neutral viewer more apt to turn to other competitions, like The Great British Bake Off. But the romance of Italian football can still be found if you know where to look. You should be looking at Carlos Bacca.