Videos

More than a buzzer beater, more than a last second touchdown, more than a walk-off home run, a last second goal absolutely stuns you more than anything else in sports. Real soccer fans will understand how unbelievably difficult it is to score. The factors that have to align, the luck that has to be present to make a last second strike ring true is enough to make a atheist drop to his knees and look up to the skies with tears in his eyes. The crowd gets it; the players get it; the coaches get it as they collapse into each others arms: last minute goals make life worth living. 

Barcelona’s La Masia seems like an unstoppable, unending flow of talent, and this La Masia goal seems to reinforce that. 

The famed academy recently was forced to release several of its players, but that doesn’t seem to have made any difference in the slightest, because the goals are still flowing and the talent is still high-five-ing.  

Behold, the La Masia goal of the week, courtesy of the Alevin A (U12) squad.  

Here at The18, we are fully aware that most people who don’t like soccer can count the tendency of players to “make the most” out of contact among the reasons that they don’t like the game.

You know, someone gets a kick to the back to the leg — a foul definitely, but nothing crazy — and all of the sudden they are rolling 10 feet along the ground. It’s annoying, even for a seasoned fan. So, the following video probably won’t convert many people to the game…

If you have ever seen someone in the middle of a crisis, Jose Mourinho’s post-game interview after his Chelsea side lost 3-1 to Southampton will at be once inspirational, unbelievable, and familiar.

Chelsea were the 14/15 Premier League Champions. Now they are sitting just four places above dead last. His team has no identity; it is in full crisis mode, and so is Jose Mourinho. Losing to Southampton made that crisis unignorable, and forced Jose Mourinho to finally address it after the game. 

Sergio Aguero is a frustrating striker for Manchester City fans. He’s ridiculously good when he’s on form, but he just isn’t on form all that often. Injuries have often been to blame, but that doesn’t make him any less inconsistent.

When we were strapping young youth soccer players, our coaches would tell us not to argue with the ref. They were adamant about this: no arguing with the ref, under any cicumstances. No matter how bad the call was, no matter how wronged we thought we had been, we were not allowed to argue with the ref.

Now, we know why. Our coaches probably thought they were teaching us about sportsmanship or something, but they were really teaching us not to get shot, which, we think, is at least as valuable if, not more.