Long before that fateful day at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad, there was a glaring weakness in the USMNT that had been identified by Jurgen Klinsmann but had no real fix: essentially, an entire generation of players who should’ve been entering the prime of their careers had gone missing.
For the first time since 1982, 36 years later, Peru will be playing in the FIFA 2018 World Cup. But we all know that story and, frankly, defeating New Zealand isn’t that special. Sorry, Kiwis. What is more shocking than that is Peru’s latest streak of record-breaking success which, despite the country’s current political climate and doping national team captain, might earn them a decent spot in the World Cup. Or they could win it, why not?
Here’s Peru’s World Cup qualifying goal against New Zealand by Jefferson Farfan:
Please slow down, all of you. Be patient. Lower your expectations for a bit. You will be happier in the long run, I promise.
Americans spend a lot of time talking about how we are going to unearth the next Messi and be rocketed to soccer-superpowerdom. The reality is, even if the next Messi existed and was eligible for the USMNT and was convinced to play for the USA, the team would probably not be a soccer superpower.
Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic bicycle kick against Juventus yesterday was a flawless 75-minute performance from Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco.
When Barcelona drew Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals back on March 16, many penciled the LaLiga leaders straight through to the semis. This is, after all, Barcelona’s 11th consecutive appearance at the quarterfinal stage. For Roma, it’s their first in 10 years. If you want to place a bet on Roma winning the first leg at the Camp Nou, you’ll get 14-1 odds on that punt.
A few weeks ago, Lionel Messi reached the landmark of 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League, joining Cristiano Ronaldo as the only footballer to achieve the feat. The following comparisons between the two were inevitable, because for the last 10 years, it’s just been Ronaldo and Messi at the top of the world’s premier club competition.
In fact, you’d have to go back to the 2006-07 season and AC Milan’s Kaká to find the last Champions League top scorer by season not named Ronaldo or Messi.
Due to the dawning of the internet, increased globalization and the heavy concentration of players plying their trade in European club football, there are hardly any unknown quantities at the World Cup now. Years back, nations like Panama, Iceland and Peru would’ve left opposing managers scrambling for information, but in 2018, that’s hardly the case.
Juventus will definitely be without Miralem Pjanic and Medhi Benatia for the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Real Madrid. We knew that going in. That's not the problem. The problem for the Italians right now is they might also be without Sami Khedira, Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Sandro.
Historically speaking, things look pretty bleak for the five South American nations set to compete in Russia this summer. Over the history of the World Cup, the event has taken place in Europe 10 times. Collectively, if you break those tournaments down by how things finished, European nations have accounted for 34 of the 40 top four finishes (85%), leaving South America with only six success stories: