Here’s what happened between Bahia defender Lucas Fonseca and Flamengo striker Paolo Guerrero on Sunday night, as recreated by The Matrix. Fonseca came sprinting at Guerrero and said something like:
Fonseca proceeded to kick him, so Guerrero wasn’t pleased, and Guerrero said:
The Confederations Cup will play its eighth final on Sunday, July 2.
For the first time since 2003, Brazil will not be in said final.
The Brazilians have dominated this tournament, winning four of the seven editions and reaching the final another time. Only France (twice) has been to more than one final, winning in 2001 and 2003.
While the Confederations Cup can occasionally create some less-than-stellar matches in the group stage, the finals have been entertaining at the very least.
With one match left for each of the eight nations in the Confederations Cup and no team yet qualified for the semifinals, the competition is tighter than Andy Carroll's man bun.
Despite sitting atop Group A after its less-than-convincing win over New Zealand, Mexico could go home early if results don’t go El Tri’s way. And while Germany and Chile are, as expected, in comfortable positions in Group B after their sedate draw Thursday, Australia and Cameroon are both still alive.
Arsene Wenger has done something special with his most recent Gunners team.
Despite missing out on the Champions League for the first time in his career, Wenger has managed to instill a sense of team unity that’s the envy of Europe.
Five minutes into the Confederations Cup group B match between Chile and Germany, two Arsenal players combined for the game’s opening goal.
Gunners defender Skhodran Mustafi passed to Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez, who, after a one-two with Eduardo Vargas, fired home off the left post.
It’s not every day that you manage to sign one of Brazil’s most talented attacking players on a free transfer, but that’s exactly what Barcelona have achieved with Lucas Lima.
Golden generation. What does it mean? On the one hand, it can mean that you’ve got the likes of David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand all getting in each other's way while Steve McClaren holds an umbrella.
On the other, you’ve got Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Ze Roberto, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Kaka providing jobs for millions of Nike employees around the world and teaching us all that ginga isn’t a tower game for gingers.
Of all the dirty tricks in soccer, Argentinian defender Federico Allende, who plays for lower division Sport Club Pacifico, might have come up with the dirtiest.
From the BBC:
Allende gave Cordoba's Vorterix Radio an interview on Tuesday in which he said "you need to play dirty" to beat big clubs like Estudiantes de La Plata.
"I kept piercing the Estudiantes strikers with a needle," said the Pacifico defender.
Chile were the better side from the kick-off today in Moscow as Cameroon quickly found themselves setting up camp in their own half. Chile were eventually rewarded with a 2-0 victory, but not without the Video Assistant Referee system playing a role.
It’s an exciting moment for the Brazilian national team. Since the appointment of manager Tite back in June of 2016, the Canarinho have won eight straight qualifiers by a combined scoreline of 24-2. Victories over the likes of Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay saw them become the first nation — outside of the hosts, Russia — to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
History and Background
Chile started playing football very early, with their football federation founded all the way back in 1885 — the second oldest in South America. However, they struggled to produce to a dangerous side for a long time. La Roja participated in the first World Cup held in 1930, but failed to advance past the group stage. Their best ever record in the tournament came in 1962 when they hosted it, coming in third.