When does a celebration get out of hand, forcing the referee to whistle for a restart and allowing the team that just conceded to race down the field and score a goal of its own? It’s an unwritten rule that the euphoria which greets a goal should be given ample time to manifest itself, but who’s to say when enough’s enough?
How do you feel about a short corner? If you’re a Barcelona supporter, you probably adore it; if you support Burnley, you probably think it should be outlawed. But regardless of whether you think it’s more important to keep possession or to simply get it into the damn mixer, we can all agree that this is one of the worst short corners ever.
During a match between the Juventus U-19s and their Sassuolo peers, a Juve youngster played a short corner out for a Sassuolo throw-in. Truly remarkable stuff.
What is the softest material in the universe? Is it a baby’s pure skin? The fur of your best dog/cat friend? A kiss from your mother? Your “My Pillow” that is more expensive than a pillow has any right to be? Or is it this Lionel Messi free kick vs Espanyol?
I’d argue it’s the latter.
Barcelona defeated Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday at the Camp Nou, moving at least temporarily 13 points clear of second-place Atletico Madrid in the LaLiga standings. Lionel Messi scored both goals, hitting at least 40 for a remarkable 10th straight season.
Heading into the season, there were legitimate questions over how Toronto FC would rectify its disaster of a 2018 MLS season. Sebastian Giovinco was shipped off to Saudi Arabia and Gregory van der Wiel was let go after a year by “mutual consent” from both parties, which is rarely a sign of good things behind the scenes.
Although England’s performance against the Czech Republic was thrilling and Scotland’s humiliation to Kazakhstan was funny, there’s not a lot to get excited about in Euro 2020 qualifying as nearly half of the competing nations will ultimately earn a place at the 16th European Championship.
On March 24, 2016, Johan Cruyff passed following a battle with lung cancer at the age of 68. As Gary Lineker said, football “lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history.” He revolutionized two of the game’s most storied clubs, Ajax and Barcelona (also the LA Aztecs), but his impact is still being felt around the globe.
The reigning World Cup champions were always expected to trounce little Moldova to open Euro 2020 qualifying on Friday. But the class and beauty on display in France’s first goal was another stunning reminder of the quality of the best team in the world.
France was marvelous in its run to the World Cup title last summer and pretty much the entire roster was back for the start of Euro 2020 qualifying this week. Chief among those were Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, who combined for the opener against Moldova on Friday.