Count Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo among the legion of Parisians happy Neymar did not bolt the French capital to return to Spain this summer. But she’s not content with Neymar sticking with Paris Saint-Germain — she wants the big-eared trophy.
For the world’s 130th-ranked side, the sight of Cristiano Ronaldo “Ronaldo Chopping” and “SIUUUU-ING” his way around a 5,000-seat stadium was simply too much to bear. So Lithuania decided to stand off and give him 57 touches, seven shots and four goals in exchange for a substitution in the 79th minute of a 5-1 loss to Portugal. That’s a good trade.
The evidence for Belgium and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne being the finest passer of the ball on the planet is mounting. He’s opened his Premier League campaign with an assist in four straight matches — including two against Tottenham — while becoming the quickest player in EPL history to reach the milestone of 50 career dimes; it took him 18 fewer appearances than Mesut Özil.
Today, the Belgian recorded a hat trick of assists against Scotland in Euro 2020 qualifying, and it only took the 28-year-old 32 minutes to accomplish the feat in Glasgow.
Portugal’s excellent 2019 continued yesterday with an impressive 4-2 away victory over Serbia in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. The future looks incredibly bright for the defending European champion with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Gonçalo Guedes, Nélson Semedo, João Félix and João Cancelo (all 25 or under) all playing their part.
But the main story, as always, was 34-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored what would prove to be the match-winner in the 80th minute. It was Ronaldo’s 159th international appearance and his 89th goal.
SK Austria Klagenfurt, a second-division Austrian club, has temporarily been kicked out of its 32,000-seat Wörthersee Stadion.
This isn’t the case of a big rock band coming through or stadium renovations. Instead, Wörthersee Stadion has been turned into a temporary forest.
Sergio Ramos picking up a yellow card is about as newsworthy as Zlatan Ibrahimovic being narcissistic. This Sergio Ramos yellow card, however, was a bit different.
The 2019 Ballon d’Or will be presented in December, and the three front runners will all be confident of their chances at lifting the famous award. For both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, it could just be one of their final chances. They're each aiming for a sixth win. Meanwhile, for Virgil van Dijk it would be tremendous recognition of a fine season spent leading Liverpool to European glory and an incredible run in the Premier League.
It’s been over four months since we first caught wind of the Diego Maradona documentary that debuted in select cinemas worldwide back in June. Unfortunately, since America can be quite trash in the ways of appreciating soccer, the film hasn't been available to watch stateside. That’s all going to change on October 1.
Perhaps beginning with AC Milan’s historic Centro Sportivo Milanello and continuing to this day in previously undreamt of places like Atlanta and Utah, training facilities for the world’s most prestigious clubs have grown in importance as the most ambitious of organizations attempt to align the best in first-team training, sports science and academy development with a physical representation of an overarching ideology.
The 2018-19 UEFA Champions League technical report was released today, and it’s got 51 pages of highly entertaining and valuable information that analyzes specific tactical and technical trends at the very top of the world’s game. The comprehensive overview of last season’s competition includes some fascinating insights.