With the K League and Bundesliga nearing their respective returns and players flocking to team training facilities across the world for individual exercise, what you see there is a glimmer of light breaking through the darkness. But as Samwise Gamgee once pondered, how can the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened?
WARNING: Classic Football Shirts is really fun to browse but you will go broke.
Before Puma decided that when it came to Per Mertesacker’s body, nothing should be left to the imagination, jerseys were essentially built for quarantine. Forsaking the modern urban fit for that of a parachute, these were shirts that you could grow into for years and years and years — perfect for the figure you’ve achieved over the last two months.
On May 3, 1998, legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar scored the first and only goal of his professional career. In recognition of those in net, this list of the five best goalkeeper goals has been made to celebrate goals scored from the most unlikely source. Before starting the list, let’s take a moment to appreciate a young Van der Sar scoring.
Now on to the good stuff.
No decade in the Bundesliga’s 57-year history has been as thoroughly dominated by one club as Bayern Munich’s reign over the last 10 years. Apart from Borussia Dortmund’s back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, the rest of the 2010s were steamrolled by Bayern.
Over this period, the club routinely landed players in the Bundesliga's top 10 scorers each season. The notable examples include Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller, Mario Gómez, Mario Mandžukić and Robert Lewandowski.
Despite the fact that no soccer is being played right now, our annual pre-game playlist is now ready for when the sport returns. The Fall 2019 playlist served us well, but 2020 has already produced some quality songs.
Most professional footballers adhere to strict regimens of training, eating, sleeping and playing. It’s a tried and true method to maintain peak fitness and focus throughout a long season.
But this season has been anything but normal, and stay-at-home orders have not gone down well for many footballers who are unable to cope with the break in routine. So of course soccer players have been doing dumb shit during quarantine.
Outside of the Pentagon recognizing the existence of UFOs, this week’s strangest saga has been the story of Mike Tyson’s weed company trying to purchase the naming rights to Barcelona’s legendary Camp Nou stadium.
Goal #100: An acrobatic side volley that’s made to look effortless. Goal #99: A velvety first touch loaded with purpose, a graceful cut beyond a defender and a curled finish inside the far post.
And now there are 98 superior goals?! As Ray Hudson once said, “The insane becomes the routine with this man.”
Once the formalities are out of the way, the Premier League will finalize the sale of Newcastle United from owner Mike Ashley to a consortium that’s headed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). In terms of the richest Premier League owners, Newcastle's jumping from 11th on this list all the way to the top.