Hi there.
If you're reading this, and you've read The18 in the past, you've probably noticed the website looks different. (If not, look around! Pretty cool, right?)
It looks different because we (and by "we" I mean upper management, not me) decided the old version of the website was not cutting the mustard. So we (and by "we" I now mean our web developers, not me) built a new version.
In celebration of Lionel Messi’s status as the greatest number 10 of all-time, sorry Maradona, Adidas have released an extremely limited edition boot in commemoration of his career.
The second time FIFA executives were arrested on corruption charges in Zurich, we laughed at them because they used the same hotel as the first time. If you're wanted for racketeering and corruption and the like, we reasoned, you shouldn't stay in the same hotel you were at when Interpol arrested all your buddies for the same thing.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Pestana CR7 hotel has opened in Lisbon, and, in the timeless words of Chingy, one thing leading to another let the party begin.
The Pestana CR7 Lisboa offers “total digital comfort, premium rooms and service, as well as a sophisticated ambience to spend a few days with a difference in a true CR7 lifestyle.”
If you're a video game fan, and, more importantly, a soccer fan, you already know that FIFA 17 comes out today, September 27th. Thinking back to its origins in the 1990s, I ask myself this question: is there a better sports franchise when it comes to video games?
Let's look at the competition. First up would have to be Madden NFL, the 'other' football. Another EA Sports series, Madden NFL began life in the late 1980s and is still going strong today.
The UEFA Champions League is supposed to be the best club competition in the world, and an elusive competition where the best of the best would compete. However, that hasn’t been the case for a while now. At least not in the group stage.
We’ve seen too many one-sided results lately, such as Barcelona putting seven past Celtic, Borussia Dortmund dominating Legia Warsaw by six, and Bayern Munich hammering FC Rostov by five. The competition was losing its appeal and UEFA had to do something about it.
We were just doodling along in soccer Internet land when we came across an item from the BBC concerning disgraced former FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter.
"Well!" we thought to ourselves. "That certainly is interesting! We wonder how the old boy's suspension, erm, retirement is going!"
Not well, as it turnsout. From the article
They came, they saw, they conquered. That’s the American plan for FC Barcelona and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu following the opening of a Barca office in New York on Tuesday.
The Empire State Building projected the Blaugrana colors, Ronaldinho completed the ribbon-cutting ceremony with a signature no-look pass into a mini-goal and the Barcelona flag was hoisted outside Barca’s new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has dropped the biggest hint yet as to where he believes the 2026 World Cup should take place. Following the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar, the venue for the 2026 version of the competition is to be decided in 2020.
Originally, the process was due to be completed in May of 2017, but FIFA experienced some minor setbacks that you might’ve heard about.