Most American soccer fans will remember Jay DeMerit for playing every minute for the USMNT at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but before DeMerit even dreamed of an international call-up, he overcame imposing odds just to become a Watford player.
The fighting spirit of Uruguay has enabled the country with a population of just 3.5 million (smaller than Connecticut) to collect two World Cup titles and the ninth-most wins in the tournament’s illustrious history. However, this combativeness has occasionally crossed the line, most notably in the collection of the fastest red card in World Cup history and Luis Suárez’s bite of Giorgio Chiellini.
The great grandson of former Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini is a member of Lazio’s U-19 team, it came to light this week. Romano Benito Floriani Mussolini is an 18-year-old right back for I Biancocelesti.
Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943, and there’s something troubling about his kin playing for a club with a history of neo-Fascist fans.
A historic event took place in a game between Boca Juniors de Cali (not the Argentinian one) and Valledupar FC, a match played on Matchday 3 of Colombia's Primera B.
This event is about Nelson Ramos, who became the first goalkeeper in the history of professional soccer to score goals from free kicks in three consecutive matches in official competitions.
January 17, 2021: Boca Juniors 1-1 Atlético FC. Goal by Nelson Ramos. Minute 35.
It's Super Bowl week, which means it's that time of the year when you learn way too much information about two teams that you don't really care about (what don't we know about Tom Brady as this point?).
How about learning a digestible amount of interesting information about some teams that you still probably don't care about — at least not yet. Because after you're done reading about some very unusual nicknames, you'll undoubtedly fall in love with one or more of these somewhat obscure soccer clubs.
While he may have been reluctant to admit it ahead of the game, Neil Lennon knows his Celtic side's aspirations for a 10th straight league title will come to naught.
Celtic is 23 points off of Steven Gerrard's Rangers in second place, and on Saturday dropped one of its three games in hand to sixth-place St. Mirren, 2-1. Poor defending from Brighton loanee Shane Duffy allowed Ilkay Durmus to put St. Mirren back in front in the 37th minute, five minutes after Odsonne Edouard had drawn the hosts back level.
AS Roma has today confirmed the return to the club of Italy international Stephan El Shaarawy.
El Shaarawy, who initially joined I Giallorossi on loan from AC Milan in January 2016, departed for China 18 months ago in a $17.6 million deal with Shanghai Shenhua. "Il faraone" enjoyed the most productive spell of his career in the capital, scoring 40 goals and assisting 26 in 139 appearances for Roma.
El fútbol lleno de talento y picardía de Antonio Cassano se vio poco en el Real Madrid. El italiano llegó a los merengues a comienzos de 2006 y dejó el club en el verano de 2007, sin dejar una huella muy grande. Oficialmente nunca pudo convencer totalmente al entrenador, Fabio Capello, pero confesó que en ese período sucumbió a otro inesperado enemigo: la Nutella.
Cassano narró la historia en Bobo TV, el programa de Cristian Vieri donde él es uno de los panelistas.
Soccer is one of the very few sports that boasts competitions where small, local sides are able to face off against the best teams in the country. These matchups capture the imagination while providing a sense of hope and magic to a small group of supporters.
Domestic cups have long provided smaller clubs with the opportunity to prove their mettle by facing nationally recognized sides, and while major upsets are rare, just the slightest hope of an improbable win is enough to cause local pandemonium and stir significant interest among neutral supporters.