The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday recommended banning Russia from global sports for four years, including a ban on hosting major events. Oddly, any such ban will not affect the Russia Euro 2020 team, because it does not fall under WADA’s “major event” classification. But questions remain about the 2022 World Cup.
It was a surreal moment on Saturday when Gareth Bale entered Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad in the 67th minute to a torrent of boos and jeers from the Santiago Bernabéu. Los Blancos supporters are a notoriously demanding bunch — even Cristiano Ronaldo received his share of whistles inside the legendary stadium — but nothing comes close to the reception that Bale was given upon replacing 18-year-old Brazilian phenom Rodrygo.
Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday in an enthralling Premier League match that was ultimately decided by City’s midfield quality. While Jorginho failed to exert his influence for 74 minutes on the pitch, City showcased its style with commanding displays from Kevin De Bruyne, Rodrigo and deputizing center back Fernandinho.
Charged with shutting down one of the Premier League’s hottest strikers — Tammy Abraham entered the match with 10 goals and two assists in 11 games — it’s difficult to explain just how good the 34-year-old Brazilian is at reading the game.
Fresh off a hamstring injury that cost him six games, 37 days and a myriad of hot takes, Neymar returned to the pitch on Friday for first-place PSG’s encounter with seventh-place Lille in Ligue 1.
In the midst of it all, it’s unfortunate how much the off-the-pitch noise engulfs the 27-year-old Brazilian. He’ll certainly never be Mexico’s cup of tea, but notwithstanding tribal feuds, he remains football’s second-best attraction behind Lionel Messi (I have all the time in the world for the Cristiano Ronaldo G.O.A.T. argument, but he's really not that fun to watch anymore).
After getting hammered 4-0 by Bayern Munich before the international break, Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre was essentially coaching for his job during today’s Bundesliga match against Paderborn.
What’s more, Paderborn travelled to the intimidating Westfalenstadion in last place with only one win from 11 matches. Dortmund entered the match in fifth but the gap between BVB and surprise leader Mönchengladbach stood at only six points.
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup kicked off today in Luque, Paraguay, and we’re going to be all about it over the next 10 days.
There’s nothing like it — the way you can make a little tee for your free kick before smashing it off a sand dune to leave the keeper wrong-footed; the sight of a goalie slowly juggling it up the beach with one knee while looking the supreme image of concentrated paranoia and anxiety; the civil engineering majors giving it hell; the sound of “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe and Ashanti blaring out the speakers.
Racism in the Eredivisie — and indeed across Europe — is becoming too much to bear. The Dutch first and second divisions have a plan to try to curb racial abuse in football stadiums in the Netherlands.
This weekend, every Eredivisie and KKD (second division) match will kick off with an entire minute of players standing still, a nationwide protest to racism in the country.
After a disastrous 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign that ended with a playoff defeat to Sweden and the firing of manager Gian Piero Ventura, Italy’s just finished its UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying cycle in emphatic fashion: A 9-1 victory over Armenia gives the Azzurri a final record of 10 played, 10 won, 37 scored and only four conceded.
Following hot on the heels of the latest releases from adidas ahead of Euro 2020, Puma is now unleashing the latest threads for its stable of competitors at next summer’s competition. Italy, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic have all already guaranteed their places at the European Championship, and these are the away shirts they’ll be wearing.
Argentina’s 1-0 friendly victory over Brazil on Friday — thanks to Lionel Messi’s goal in the 13th minute — created quite the conversation on Twitter. From Messi telling Brazil manager Tite to shut up after he believed Messi should’ve been given a yellow card to penalty misses from both Gabriel Jesus and Messi, it was quite an entertaining match.