Inspiring

Parody in European football is a rarity. Typically, in domestic leagues there are several clubs that dominate the table and even fewer that are traditionally crowned champions. As of right now, Europe’s top five leagues consist of 98 teams. In the past decade those leagues have crowned 15 different champions. No one league has had more than four unique champions.

However, Turkish Super Lig club Sivasspor is on a historic run for its first-ever league title.

“Variety is the spice of life,” someone once said before doing something obviously stupid and dangerous. But with danger and stupidity comes ingenuity and joy, and that’s the common thread that connects the majority of these bastardized forms of soccer. Here are 10 variants of the beautiful game that are strangely captivating.  

10 Soccer Variations You Should Try Before Death Comes For You

#1. Eisfussball

Wildfires are raging so hot in Australia right now they dwarf those seen recently in California and Brazil. Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Mathew Ryan wants to help, even as politicians in Australia and around the world ignore the obvious effects of climate change. 

There’s no more compelling story than when a player like Jamie Vardy goes from being released by his club at the age of 16 to suddenly tearing up the Premier League at the age of 28, but the Leicester City striker’s path is a fit-for-Hollywood tale rather than the norm. The truth is that football is now a mega-industry and the reach of its tentacles knows no bounds — in the search for the world’s next great talent, no rock is left unturned and no YouTube highlight video is left unproduced.

There’s a handful of footballers on the planet that immediately demand your attention — when they speak, it’s time to stop what you’re doing and listen. Cesc Fàbregas is one of those players.

The eighth episode of The Players’ Tribune series “Bad as a Mother” starring USWNT forward Sydney Leroux and her husband Dom Dwyer dropped on Dec. 31, and it was a captivating finale with the proud parents bringing home newborn daughter Roux. (This actually happened on June 28, 2019.)

Megan Rapinoe’s remarkable 2019 didn’t come to a close without one more television appearance. Rapinoe made a cameo in a Dec. 22 episode of “The L Word: Generation Q” as a guest on the show “Alice,” talking about everything from locker room celebrations to her own coming out story.

On Friday, Kylian Mbappé celebrated his 21st birthday. On Saturday, it was Mbappé who was providing the gifts with two glorious goals during PSG’s 4-1 win over Amiens SC and a signed book for a young pitch-invader.  

Bored with dominating Ligue 1 with his natural hair color, Mbappé debuted a new color against Amiens while Neymar went with a clip-on Padawan braid. It was Neymar who provided the assist on Mbappé’s opener, and the Brazilian would add a goal of his own to double PSG’s advantage. Mbappé would make it three in the 65th minute by smashing one in at the near post. 

It's been nearly a year since Miguel Almirón made his big-money move to Newcastle United from Major League Soccer's Atlanta United.

In Atlanta, the Paraguayan scored 22 goals in 68 appearances over the course of two seasons. He was one of the attacking powerhouses of the league and one of the main reasons Atlanta's expansion season in 2017 and title-winning 2018 campaign were both large successes.

Sergio Ramos has had his best idea since deciding to pull a Panenka on Rui Patrício at Euro 2012. The Real Madrid captain said he believes there should be two Ballon d’Or trophies, thus eliminating that tiresome argument over whether the award should simply be given to the best overall player on the planet (always Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo) or to the player who performed most influentially over the strictly defined duration of a season (usually Messi or Ronaldo, but sometimes a little less clear).