Mascots — the oversized, creepy creatures controlled by people who can’t possibly have great relationships with their mothers — are widespread in American sports. But a lot of people wonder: do soccer teams have mascots?
For better or worse, they do.
Soccer mascots range from the weird to the cute, but they’re always weird. Did we mention they’re weird?
Have you ever noticed how a lot of internet articles love to ask a ton of questions in a single paragraph? For example a story on the UEFA Nations League will have a single paragraph with things like: What is the UEFA Nations League? What is the UEFA Nations League schedule? How does the UEFA Nations League work? Where can I find a UEFA Nations League guide?
In the footballing world, there are advertisements everywhere; soccer advertising is as ubiquitous as it is loud.
Soccer was one of the first sports to embrace ads on uniforms. Pitches are rimmed with advertising boards in stadiums named after sponsors. Pre- and postgame interviews are littered with logos. Many leagues now allow ads on jersey sleeves. One club even turned its bench into a giant beer advertisement.
Usain Bolt made his debut with the Central Coast Mariners of Australia’s A-League on Friday. He played 19 minutes, didn’t score and certainly didn’t show enough ability to be considered a professional footballer. But the Usain Bolt soccer trial was a smashing success.
In 2017, a study announced the existence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in four former footballers. Many have asked: Do soccer players get CTE? This was, according to media that pounced on the story, definitive proof.
However, a closer analysis of the study, one that doesn’t just take the findings completely out of context, as most media publications do when any new scientific study comes, shows it’s far more complicated than that.
One of the greatest soccer players the United States has ever produced called it quits on Wednesday. Clint Dempsey, the joint record holder for most goals in U.S. Men's National Team history, announced he was retiring from soccer, effective immediately.
There’s something about soccer players born in September.
While talent should in theory be equally divided throughout the world by players born in each month, soccer players born in September make up a hefty portion of some of the best players in the world right now and throughout history. In fact, nine of the following best soccer players born in September were born in 1989, apparently a great month in the history of the sport, which gave us the likes of Thomas Mueller, Daniel Sturridge, Alexandre Pato and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Jibril Rajoub, the president of the Palestine FA, was banned from all soccer activities for the next year by FIFA on Friday, a ruling stemming from words targeting Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
Rajoub had called on fans to burn jerseys and pictures of Messi ahead of a friendly between Argentina and Israel in Jerusalem this summer, saying one of the world’s biggest stars should not “whitewash the face of racism” by attending the match.
San Jose Earthquakes central defender Guram Kashia was honored with the inaugural UEFA #EqualGame Award on Wednesday for his public stand for the LGBTQ community while with Dutch club SBV Vitesse last season.
Kashia, 31, wore a rainbow captain’s armband with Vitesse along with other captains in the Dutch top division. Unlike most of his fellow captains, Kashia faced harsh criticism, threats and abuse back home in his native Georgia. Nonetheless, he took a stand for equality, despite calls for him to step down from the national team.
The Champions League has a long history of using uniquely designed balls for the world’s best annual sporting event. With stars taking the place of pentagons, the spheres are immediately recognizable — no other competition has a similar look. But the Champions League ball 2018-19 is something else entirely, taking the concept to a bold new level.