The J1 League came to a close on Nov. 30, and with it, Andres Iniesta’s first season with Vissel Kobe. Iniesta’s club finished 10th, but the 34-year-old was a huge success during his shortened, 14-game season — he scored three goals and added three assists, including this beautiful strike in Vissel Kobe’s final match.
During an extensive talk with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about why he deserves the Ballon d’Or every year, how he’s loving life in Turin and how he doesn’t like to be compared to other footballers . . .
Lionel Messi had one of those matches where you just can’t defend him, inspiring Barcelona to a 4-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday. Not one but two perfect free kick goals from Messi vs Espanyol highlighted another magnificent performance from one of the legends of the game.
Messi was voted the fifth-best player in the world on Monday and wasn’t in the squad for Barcelona’s Copa del Rey win over Cultural Leonesa on Wednesday. In his first match since the absurd suggestion that he isn’t among the top one or two players in the world, he reminded everyone of just how good he is.
In a case of voters once again getting it all wrong, Lionel Messi finished fifth in the Ballon d’Or voting earlier this week. But Messi won another award this week that might actually be more valuable than a record sixth trophy for being the world’s best player.
On Thursday, The YouTube Ad of the Year Awards (yeah, that’s a thing), honored Messi’s Gatorade commercial “Heart of a Lio” as the best ad of the year.
As first reported by Mundo Deportivo and now confirmed by Footy Headlines, FC Barcelona plans to revert to a yellow away kit with a Blaugrana (blue and deep red) sash. This away jersey was favored by the club in the mid-70s and early-80s, and yellow has long been a color of preference for the club with regards to the away kit.
We’re not saying this is the metaphorical equivalent of Ronaldinho assisting Lionel Messi for his first league goal back in October 2004, but Messi’s feed for Carles Aleñá’s first LaLiga goal today was pretty special.
Clàudia Pina was the best player at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. She made sure she played for the best team with a sublime performance in the final against Mexico.
Pina scored twice in the opening 26 minutes to propel Spain to a 2-1 win over Mexico in the U-17 Women’s World Cup final on Saturday in Montevideo, Uruguay.
¡¡¡SOMOS CAMPEONAS DEL MUNDO!!! ¡¡¡SIIIIIIIIII!!! ¡¡¡VAMOSSSSS!!! ¡¡¡SOMOS DE ORO!!!
While most of Europe (but not the U.S.) was fixated on PSG-Liverpool on Wednesday, Lionel Messi was creating his usual magic in the Netherlands.
Barcelona failed to score in the first hour against PSV Eindhoven, which had just one point through four Champions League matches coming into Wednesday. Then Messi took over and before you knew it the Blaugrana had a 2-1 victory.