Fitness

Looking at North Macedonia's obscure warmups heading into its match against Ukraine, there is no surprise it later lost. As fun as it looked, with the players racing up the pitch and passing the ball between each other using upturned cones, it didn't seem like the appropriate warmup for the Euro 2020 Group C match on Thursday. 

Cristiano Ronaldo caught the world's attention this Monday, off the field. The Portuguese superstar had a surprising gesture before Portugal's press conference at the Euros. Ronaldo took two bottles of the famous brand Coca-Cola off the table and put a bottle of water in their place. Then, he said, "drink water!" in front of the cameras.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Coca-Cola vs Water Video:

Cristiano Ronaldo's body is a temple pic.twitter.com/zTnIgMwda5

It's the first week back at pickup soccer after nearly a year off. Maybe you got some touches in at the local field or in your backyard, maybe you didn't. But whatever workouts you did (or didn't do) are no substitute for actual game play.

That first pickup session or game after the spring thaw is always painful after the lack of cardio in the winter. You come in expecting pain, but somehow the pain is always worse than you imagined.

The U.S. men's national team defeated Mexico in a highly contested match on Sunday to win the CONCACAF Nations League, marking the country’s first competitive victory over its rivals since September 10th, 2013.

The fruitless streak continued so long that I personally graduated middle school, high school and was just one year away from graduating college before the U.S. was victorious again. Christian Pulisic, the American captain who scored the go-ahead goal, was just 14 years old when the U.S. last claimed victory. 

As the world heals from the pandemic, pick-up matches are on their way back as well. Pick-up matches exemplify all the best parts of soccer: intense rivalries, healthy competition and the opportunity to sharpen your skills.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola criticized the lack of rest this season and said that UEFA and FIFA are "killing the players."

"It's too much. They are human beings, not machines. I know some of them are sad because they always want to play every game, but that's not possible," said Guardiola, who made six changes to his side in Saturday's win over Leicester City.

"To be good in all competitions this year without spectators, in the shortest season in history, if you don't rotate your players you can't compete and you couldn't be in the position we're in," he added.

If you frequently use Twitter, then you know that a little Papillon dog named Gabby is trending once again. This speedy little dog stunned the world with her pace in 2019 and is once again on my timeline. The question must be asked, how fast is Gabby and is she faster than Kylian Mbappé?

The first thing to do in answering the question of how fast is Gabby is to review her 2019 footage. Gabby put on an electrifying performance at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Dare I say this performance was equally as impressive as Mbappé's game against Argentina at the 2018 World Cup?