For many, especially in South America, the World Cup is everything. Every four years football fans tune in with hopes of seeing their country lift the trophy. For some (Germany, Brazil), this is a legitimate expectation. For others (England, the U.S.), it’s a mere pipe dream. The Colombia World Cup hopes are somewhere in between, but I really hope Los Cafeteros aren’t the last ones standing in Russia come July.
The haters said this concept would never work as an article. "You'll never find 10 footballers who could conceivably be compared to restaurant chains via different quirks that they have, and even if you did, Facebook's algorithm would do to that article what white American settlers did to the buffalo herds roaming the Great Plains in the 1800s. Sure, it worked with clubs but it will never work with players."
The haters, as usual, were wrong.
If you're like me, you've never found yourself standing in a wall facing a Lionel Messi free kick. But, unlike me, maybe someday you will. If this is the case, you need to mentally and physically prepare for the eventual moment when you stand facing down the left foot of one Lionel Andrés Messi, Esquire. Let's be honest, in this moment, you don't want something like this to happen to you.
Goalkeepers are a different breed from the rest of us. It’s bad enough they’re allowed to use their hands and train in the weirdest ways imaginable, but they also have a crazy fashion sense. In addition to being able to wear pants and oversized gloves, goalies with hats have long been a part of the game, though it’s not as common these days. So we thought it would be a good idea to look back at goalkeepers who wore caps to remind everyone of just how weird goalkeepers are.
Soccer teams mostly do soccer drills, but sometimes they do drills that don't involve soccer. And sometimes these non-soccer training methods are weird. Here are five such instances.
Batten down the hatches, because I am about to unleash the takestorm to end all takestorms.
Arsenal are in trouble. This much is obvious. They just conceded six unanswered goals to Manchester City in 180 minutes of competition. Manchester City are very good, granted, but Arsenal are one of the biggest, richest clubs in Europe. Arsenal have lost more matches in all competitions (seven) than any other Premier League club in 2018.
Roberto Firmino cemented his reputation as the most disrespectful, no-fucks-given player in the game when he scored Liverpool's third goal against West Ham this weekend with a no-look finish.
That was not the first time Firmino has scored a no-look goal this season. In fact, it has been a staple throughout his career, so much so that there's enough material available for a whole highlight video.
Roberto Firmino - Made You Look pic.twitter.com/LXlk94Kkod
It wasn't that Arsenal lost to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. That was to be expected. It was how they lost. At least, that's what the folks who get paid lots of money to unleash Hot Soccer Takes are saying. No word on what their Hot Soccer Takes would be if Arsenal had gamely hung in there and lost a close one.