Since Barcelona unveiled its plans to renovate the Camp Nou (including expanding capacity from 99,354 to 105,000 and adding a roof to cover seats around the entirety of the stadium) back in 2016, the club has always maintained that a large portion of the cost (rumored to be around $700 million) would be footed by selling partial naming rights for the new ground.
Around this time last year, ESPN FC used an unnamed source to confirm that Christian Pulisic would reflect on his year at the end of the year.
Cristiano Ronaldo reported for his first day of preseason training with Juventus yesterday, and although the Portuguese legend looked pretty chummy in photographs with fellow striker Gonzalo Higuain, the arrival of The 120 Million Dollar Man obviously spelled the end of the Argentine’s two-year stay in Turin.
For those who grew up watching the Champions League in the early 2000s, the extended absence of 2009-10 champions Inter Milan has certainly been felt. Between 2002 and 2012 there was a 10-season period in which Inter always had a seat at club football’s most prestigious banquet, but the 2018-19 campaign will mark Inter's first appearance in seven years.
Had the head of Lindsey Horan not come to the rescue in the dying seconds of the match against Australia last night, the USWNT would have been handed its first loss in over a year. Though they salvaged a draw, fans of the game have seen this before and the message is loud and clear: the rest of the world is catching up.
With a squad comprised largely of players that led Portugal to glory at the 2016 European U-17 Championship, Portugal has now ridden what’s quickly becoming a golden generation to more international glory, this time at the 2018 European U-19 Championship in Finland. Portugal defeated Italy 4-3 in a madcap final that saw three goals scored in quick succession during the first period of extra time.
Joao Filipe opened the scoring just before halftime for Portugal. The Benfica youngster fired in a low drive after a brilliant piece of control at the top of the box.
It’s not quite the #MeToo movement, nor is it a Pokémon. But the #MeTwo movement in part inspired by Mesut Özil is evolving into something quite powerful, something that’s been building for decades.
On July 24, 2018, Barcelona celebrated 10 years of Lionel Messi wearing the No. 10 Blaugrana shirt. Messi is now synonymous with the number, but he spent his first four senior seasons at the club without it — that’s because some man named Ronaldinho sported that jersey.
For too many years already, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have absolutely dominated the discussion surrounding who is the best soccer player in the world. The Argentinean and the Portuguese have formed a hegemonic dynasty that's lasted since at least 2008. To find a Ballon d'Or winner other than Messi and Ronaldo, one has to travel all the way to 2007 when Brazilian star Kaká won the prize, and he's now retired.
The north of Ireland has been the epicenter of a religious struggle between Protestants and Catholics for centuries.