Last Friday, 25-year-old Philly native Lil Uzi Vert released the third single off his highly anticipated second studio album Eternal Atake. The song is entitled “Futsal Shuffle 2020,” which gives us more than enough loosely-based license to discuss it here at The18.
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).
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is just saying what we’re all thinking, and, often, talking, writing and complaining about. Soccer in America is broken because of one key aspect: pay to play.
Ibrahimovic has left the United States, trading Beverly Hills for Milan after one-and-a-half years with the LA Galaxy. But his time in America left a mark on the Swedish striker.
It was hailed as a cruel slam by Oh My Goal; The Sun called it a dig; The World Game went further and called it a cheeky dig; SPORTbible proclaimed it a Face with Tear of Joy emoji masterpiece; Piers Morgan jumped on the social media bandwagon; Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister tipped over the wagon and set it on fire in defense of her dear brother.
The footballing populace hasn’t been this charged and incited into Twitter fervor since Megan Rapinoe proposed the outlandish idea of taking it upon ourselves to make the world a better place.
So what happened?
On Saturday, the impossible transpired: Miguel Almirón recorded his first major contribution for Newcastle United (an assist) in his 24th Premier League appearance. Also, EPL strugglers Newcastle recorded a 2-2 draw with the champions Manchester City.
Joking aside, it was another performance that showcased why Newcastle fans have been so patient with the 24-year-old Paraguayan (apart from the fact that the squad’s not exactly brimming with potential replacements).
Imagine you’re in Edinson Cavani’s shoes this morning, strolling around the streets outside the Bernabéu in search of that precious, caffeine-rich mate before tonight’s big Champions League encounter with Real Madrid.
You’re not in the best spirits. You’ve missed a good portion of the season through injury, and in your absence, that goddamn Mauro Icardi has scored 10 goals in 11 games to take your job. Now everyone wants to offer Icardi a permanent contract and is totally fine with yours expiring in the summer!
It was a surreal moment on Saturday when Gareth Bale entered Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad in the 67th minute to a torrent of boos and jeers from the Santiago Bernabéu. Los Blancos supporters are a notoriously demanding bunch — even Cristiano Ronaldo received his share of whistles inside the legendary stadium — but nothing comes close to the reception that Bale was given upon replacing 18-year-old Brazilian phenom Rodrygo.
When former USMNT manager Jürgen Klinsmann labelled the newfangled CONCACAF Nations League a “waste of time” back in October (rich enough coming from a coach that inspired his team to defeats against Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala by a combined scoreline of 8-1 during 2018 World Cup qualifying), it was easy to grasp the German’s point: If you limit the amount of big matches you have against quality opponents, you limit your growth.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has escaped any sanctions from the Football Association for turning himself into the Meme Lord during Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.
It was always going to happen eventually — it’s just that nobody could’ve predicted how insanely long it’d take for age and the grind of professional sports to somewhat catch up to Cristiano Ronaldo. The 34-year-old has played 982 matches for club and country over the last 17 years, and although he remains decisive, indomitable and a catalyst for one of the world’s best teams, he’s beginning to show signs of what Louis C.K. referred to as “incurable shitty ankle.”