When it was confirmed that Russia would be opening the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a match against Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the general response was one of deep cynicism: here was a bit of home cooking on FIFA’s end; certainly this was the worst opening match in the history of the tournament.
After a “comprehensive examination” in Massachusetts General Hospital, it turns out Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius did indeed suffer a concussion during the May 26 Champions League final against Real Madrid. This report, however, isn’t going to clear our conscience on tearing Karius apart as a bad keeper, is it?
Roberto Mancini unveiled his first squad as the new coach of the Italian national side and the biggest indication that this was a new era was the inclusion of Mario Balotelli.
While other teams are preparing for the World Cup, the inclusion of Balotelli signals a major sea change in squad selection, bringing back into the fold a gifted, oft-maligned striker.
Having played for Deportivo, Valencia and Betis in La Liga, Mexico captain Andres Guardado has had the privilege (or perhaps the horror) of lining up against Barcelona’s Lionel Messi extensively over the past decade.
Germany’s “Snubbed XI” just added one of the most electric talents in all of world football. A few weeks ago, the “Snubbed XI” began assembling itself with a preposterously strong attacking core spearheaded by the dropped Borussia Dortmund duo of Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle (the two players who expertly combined to sink Argentina in extra time back in 2014).
Last August, we delved into Neymar’s absurd $265 million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain by comparing it to Amine Harit’s own transfer from Nantes to Schalke 04 for $9.5 million. The question, in essence, was how could the Brazilian star possibly be 28x more expensive than the precocious Moroccan?
World Cup rosters have 23 players on them. They’re allegedly the best 23 players the country has to offer. So it’s hard to imagine that the United States has over 300 million people but can’t seem to find 23 (or even 11) who are even capable of qualifying for a World Cup (yeah, I know it's not that simple).
The curtain has come down on club football for the season and the World Cup is just around the corner. But football never ends. Not really. Now, we get to start speculating about transfers.
Serie A has always attracted envious glances. Clubs in Italy have players of the highest calibre and, with certain teams not able to measure up financially to their Spanish and English counterparts, selling these assets is an essential part of balancing the books.
So which potential Serie A transfers should you be following closely this summer?
Alisson (AS Roma)