With the 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup beginning in September, qualifying for the tournament has begun in earnest in both Europe and Africa. While European qualification is a two and a half month process to determine which six countries will join the host nation Lithuania, the Africa Futsal Cup of Nations — played between Jan. 28 and Feb. 7 — determines which three African countries qualify.
There’s obviously no official record for the fastest shot in soccer. It’d be convenient if a man with a radar gun had been sanctioned to sit at every match played since the beginning of time, but that was an oversight on FIFA’s end.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about how Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool first team aren’t even going to bother showing up for the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town, instead sending its U-23 squad and coach. After all, when the Reds made a similar (albeit more necessary) move in the Carabao Cup, they were smashed 5-0 by Aston Villa.
We don’t know who this goalie is, but we want him on our team. We here at The18 are all for these types of goalkeeper mind games.
This keeper takes shithousery to a new level. He doesn’t give a fuck about decorum. He just wants to get in your head.
And it worked.
Facing a penalty kick, this keeper just hoofs the ball away before the opponent can take his kick.
Sure, he got a yellow card for his efforts — a slice of cheese per the Aussie lingo. But when the Mix Diskerud-wannabe finally took his spot kick, it was a tame attempt, easily saved by the keeper.
After all the acclaim and praise that Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde received for his tactical red card in the Spanish Super Cup final, it’s only right that we highlight this draw-preserving bit of the dark arts from Garforth Town’s Alex Low.
There’s a phrase for basketball players with prodigious 3-point shooting ability that says they’re within range as soon as they enter the arena. We may need to coopt that expression for soccer after this insane Florian Neuhaus goal vs Mainz on Saturday.
Borussia Monchengladbach maintained its spot in the top three of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win over Mainz. Alassane Pléa scored two goals after Robin Quaison opened the scoring for the visitors, but we only care about the Neuhaus goal scored in the 88th minute.
The world lost a comedic genius on Tuesday night as Terry Jones, founder of Monty Python, passed away at the age of 77 following a battle with a rare form of dementia.
Casemiro isn’t exactly known for his goal-scoring prowess. Before Saturday, the Brazilian defensive midfielder had scored 18 goals in 218 appearances for Los Blancos — about one goal every 12 matches.
Luka Jovic, meanwhile, has struggled since joining Real Madrid from Eintracht Frankfurt for $68.4 million over the summer. He came into the weekend with one goal and no assists in 13 LaLiga appearances.
And yet Jovic supplied what might be Real Madrid’s best assist of the season to set up Casemiro’s first of two goals in a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday.
“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.
#1. Eisfussball