Last weekend, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bagged his first goals in Barcelona's jersey. The Gabonese international scored a glittering hat trick over Valencia and brought to the culé universe his signature somersault celebration.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores his first goal for Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/BBun4C6NjP
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 20, 2022
Following the addition of expansion side Charlotte FC, Major League Soccer's opening weekend features all 28 teams in action with nine matches on Saturday, Feb. 26, and five on Sunday, Feb. 27.
MLS opening day 2022 has one match on FOX (Portland vs. New England) and one streamed on Twitter (LAFC vs. Colorado — also on Univision and TUDN), and play also takes center stage across the nation Sunday with one game on FS1 (Atlanta vs. Kansas City) and one on ESPN (LA Galaxy vs. NYCFC).
Heading into Sunday's A-League match between Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers, United left back Ben Garuccio hadn't managed a league goal in four years. The 26-year-old Australian admitted to wearing a new pair of cleats in today's game and that did the trick.
Garuccio got a brace in United's 3-2 victory, including the match-winner in the 68th minute with a beautifully improvised scorpion kick that beat goalkeeper Daniel Margush at his near post.
As the commentator says, "That's not a goal, that's a freak show! This is René Higuita on steroids!"
Casual soccer fans are probably unfamiliar with Bodø/Glimt, a Norwegian side located in the Arctic Circle. Knowledgeable fans will recognize the club as a promising side that has been gutted by recent departures. But real ones know that regardless of who Glimt puts on the field, they are an offensive juggernaut that can play with anyone in Europe.
Glimt went undefeated in the group stage of the Europa Conference League — including a forceful 6-1 victory over Serie A side AS Roma. Den Gule Horde is also coming off a second consecutive league title in the Eliteserien.
El pasado fin de semana, Puebla y Atlas brindaron uno de los mejores partidos del fútbol mexicano en lo que va del 2022. Fue un 1-1 con emociones para los dos lados y cuyo momento cúlmine fue el empate de La Franja: una chilena espectacular de Memo Martínez en el minuto 95 de juego.
Hello and welcome to one of the most difficult exercises of the year — the Champions League Round of 16 predictions.
It's always a fool's exercise since this stage of the competition is guaranteed to throw one shock at us (like Porto knocking out Juventus last year) while also delivering some matchups (Real Madrid vs. PSG, Man United vs. Atlético) that require very little imagination to see going either way. But all we do at The18 is watch an entirely unhealthy amount of this game, so we should be able to earn you a pretty penny* with these predictions.
One of the most important aspects of sports is impossible to quantify and nearly undefinable. Team chemistry is often underrated in professional sports, but there’s no doubt any team works better together when people like each other, whether it’s an office or one of the best soccer teams of all time.
To paraphrase the Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart when asked to define pornography, you know team chemistry when you see it. And we definitely see it with the U.S. women’s national team.
FC Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart is one of the more demonstrative managers in the Bundesliga. Forced to watch Cologne’s big game against Freiburg from home while self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, Baumgart brought his antics from the sidelines to his own living room on Saturday. Fortunately, he had a very good doggo to keep him calm.
Cologne beat Freiburg 1-0 on Saturday to move up to sixth place, within one point of Freiburg for Europa League contention and two points back of fourth-place Union Berlin, currently clutching to the final Champions League berth.
The Afghanistan women’s national team trained together on a field for the first time since August this week. The women on the team were forced to flee their country after the Taliban’s takeover.
Six months later the team is in Australia where A-League club Melbourne Victory is supporting the women. Afghanistan’s national team is expected to play in a senior competition in Victoria this year.
The United States men’s national team picked up a vital three points in the frigid Minnesota cold vs. Honduras on Wednesday courtesy of goals from Weston McKennie, Walker Zimmerman and Christian Pulisic.
Tim Weah had several chances in front of goal but couldn’t find the net. His best moment of the game came in the 59th minute when he kicked the ball out of bounds.