Feel Good

After a long time away from home, Mark Uth is thriving again in Cologne.

In the summer of 2018, Uth moved to Schalke from Hoffenheim, where a series of injuries saw him unable to maintain any sort of form. FC Köln manager Markus Gisdol, who worked with Uth for six months at Hoffenheim, decided to bring him to 15th-placed Köln on loan in January. Since his return to his boyhood club, no Schalke player has scored as many goals or provided as many assists as Uth (four apiece). 

Julie Ertz might just be the most dominant player in soccer right now — and the most magnanimous. 

The two-time Women’s World Cup winner teamed up with her husband to donate $100,000 to Philabundance, a Philadelphia-area food bank, to provide meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Ertz and her husband, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, announced the donation on Friday evening through their Ertz Family Foundation. 

LONDON — Manchester United and Manchester City are the latest Premier League clubs to spring into action to help their communities during the coronavirus pandemic, joining forces to donate 100,000 pounds ($117,000) to support local food banks.

Responding to an initiative already run by fans of both clubs, City and United will donate 50,000 pounds each to the Trussell Trust, a support network of more than 1,200 food banks.

Borussia Moenchengladbach's players and coaching staff became the first in Germany to accept pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis to support the club as revenues dry up due to halted matches, sports director Max Eberl said on Thursday. 

The Bundesliga suspension is due to last until at least April 2 though few believe it will resume soon after that date. All continental competitions have also been suspended with the virus's current epicenter in Europe. Germany has recorded about 11,000 cases with 20 deaths. 

Great news for people who love football and are bored senseless: Sega has announced Football Manager 2020 is now free to play on Steam until March 25 on PC/Mac. That gives you one week to take Gateshead from National League North to the Premier League and European glory.

And if you find yourself hooked come March 25, you’ll be able to continue with your saved file after purchasing the game. 

MADRID — LaLiga side Real Valladolid has formally rejected the Spanish league’s offer of coronavirus test kits for their players on ethical and medical grounds, the club said on Wednesday.

“La Liga offered them to us (the tests), but we have not taken them for medical and social reasons,” club spokesman David Espinar said in a statement. “No player has presented any symptoms and we believe that there are people out there who are much less well off than we are who need them far more than we do. It is those (people) who should have priority.”