Men

When I imagine what it must be like to play with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar, images of sandy beaches and brightly colored drinks with their very own umbrellas float into my head, but, you know, in a footballing sense. 

I think that their talents would make my job infinitely easier, allowing me to merely spray passes forward, because they are more likely than not to land at the feet of a world-class player, and have success. And, looking at Ivan Rakitic play, it is tempting to believe that this is the case. 

Lionel Messi has been raked over the coals by the Human Rights Foundation, a non-for-profit organization.

The German Super Cup, Germany’s equivalent of the Community Shield, finished in a fantastically surprising turn of events when “Lord” Nicklas Bendtner was substituted on for Wolfsburg. An equalizing goal within the last few minutes of regulation paired with a game winning penalty shot gave Bendtner the right to be called lord once again. 

We'll give Cristiano Ronaldo this: he's very opinionated about not being opinionated.

In a recent interview, Ronaldo was asked what he thought about the whole FIFA business.

"I don't care about FIFA, Qatar, I don't give a f***," Ronaldo said before getting up and walking out of the interview. It is here that we're contractually obligated to use the word "petulant" in regards to Cristiano. 

He's not required to care about any of the FIFA business, but come on, man. 

It was all sunshine and rainbows for PSG on the field Saturday. The reigning French champions defeated Lyon 2-0 behind goals from Serge Aurier and Edinson Cavani. Aurier in particular was a revelation at left-back.

Off the field, though, was a diferent matter for the club, who look like they might lose star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 

"It could be that this was my last game for PSG," Zlatan said after the game. 

We've had a few Messi-free weeks since the end of the Copa America, and it's been awful. He and his Brazilian wing-counterpart Neymar skipped Barcelona's USA tour because of the Copa, so we haven't seen the Argentine wonder in action in more than a month.

Luckily, that's coming to an end. Messi and Neymar, as well as countrymen Javier Mascherano (Argentina) and Dani Alves (Brazil) have come back to Barcelona training, serving as a welcome reminder that the new season is almost upon us. 

It takes more than talent to be a leader. Talent doesn’t make you responsible, diligent, or reliable. Talent can’t make you say what needs to be said in order to get something done. Talent is incredibly important, but it is only part of what matters when it comes to be a leader, and this is just as true in soccer as it is in any other vocation in the world. 

As hard as it might be to believe, it can be very easy to forget how charming Cristiano Ronaldo is. We read about his ex-girlfriend telling the world he made her feel insecure, or about how he had a birthday party after losing 4-0 in one of the year’s biggest matches. We hear about how arrogant he is, and how he represents so much of what people don’t like about athletes. We hear about all of this, and then we watch a clip like the one below and remember that, oh yeah, Ronaldo is still probably one of the coolest people alive. 

Earlier this week, Sepp Blatter took another important step along the road to transforming FIFA from a governing body of the world’s most popular sport into a comedy troupe with a penchant for the absurd. 

Nick Rimando looks like someone you'd want on your side in a bar fight. He's short for a goalie, but sturdy. He's friendly, gregarious even, but he gives off a subtle intensity, which loses its subtlety when he steps in front of a soccer goal. That's his territory, where he's made his living in MLS since 2000 with (now defunct) Miami Fusion, D.C. United and Real Salt Lake. At 36, he's an MLS lifer at this point.