Tricks

Behold, the most nonchalant double nutmeg of all-time. Like a video game hero encountering the first two nameless henchmen on level one, our beloved mad lad wastes these two opponents before they fade off our screen entirely.

All that’s left is our gallant No. 9, who looks like he could either kill you with subtle skills (as below) or just “Gonzalo Higuain Truck You” into the afterlife. He’s built like the nameless beast of AMC’s The Terror. He’s the thing that eats on two legs and four. The thing made of muscles and spells.

A few days ago, Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio was lamenting Croatia’s decision to send Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic back to Europe ahead of the two nations’ meeting on Tuesday night. Osorio was looking forward to playing one of Europe's most talented midfields, and the loss of those two exceptional talents appeared to have dumbed down the excercise.  

There is a massive divide in how different generations have come to view and use the video-sharing network known as YouTube. I’m an old man geezer kind of content boy, and when I first learned that people were using YouTube to do things besides watch Ronaldinho highlights, I stared off into space for 17 straight hours and whispered the word “vlogger” until my temporal lobes exploded in a cacophony of new age understanding. 

It never ends, this churning of prodigious soccer talent at Borussia Dortmund. One minute you’re the Magic Johnson of footballers, the next some 17-year-old Londoner is vigorously nutmegging you to no end in every training session. That, apparently, is the situation facing Christian Pulisic with the emergence of younger-than-thou Jadon Sancho at Dortmund.

Without reviewing the entire 2006 World Cup — or at least just France’s quarterfinal victory over Brazil — it’s difficult to get a sense of just how deserved a Golden Ball winner Zinedine Zidane was. 

Having announced his retirement from Real Madrid at the end of the 2005-06 season, the summer’s World Cup served as Zidane’s swan song on the pitch. He turned it into his personal testimonial, particularly when the knockout stages began. 

During Racing Club’s 5-0 defeat of Patronato in the Argentine Primera Division on Sunday, 20-year-old forward Lautaro Martinez — who just received his first Argentina call-up and is reportedly being heavily courted by both Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan — provided the play of the weekend with just two delicate touches of the ball. 

His intricate little tippy tap sent the ball through the legs of the defender, ending his life and sending his soul down the river Styx.