Imagine kicking soccer balls at an 18-foot-tall dart board, dodging giant exercise balls while dribbling through a maze of cones, a catapult launching soccer balls from 40 yards away and shooting through seemingly peanut-sized targets. Daunting, sure, but add in a teammate and it becomes an exhilarating afternoon of cooperation.
The big news out of Barcelona on Wednesday was confirmation of Raphinha's $58.5 million transfer from Leeds United, but the team also opened its preseason campaign 60 miles north of home against fourth-tier side UE Olot at the club's modest Estadi Municipal in Catalonia.
Amidst the failed performances of the women's national team in the Concacaf W Championship, Liga MX Femenil started a new tournament this weekend. And the top highlight of week one was a filthy backheel goal from Querétaro forward Edna Santamaría.
Santos Laguna won the match 4-3 in a very entertaining game, but the conversation revolved around Santamaría's mischievous touch.
After conceding in the first minute of its opener against Finland last week, Spain knew it couldn’t afford a similar slipup in its second match against Germany on Tuesday. And yet, it happened again thanks to an awful howler in the third minute.
An errant attempt from Spain keeper Sandra Paños to play out of the back resulted in a gift of a goal for Germany in a 2-0 win for Die Nationalelf on Tuesday in London. In a tale of two keepers, Spain’s Paños had a night to forget while Germany’s Merle Frohms was unbeatable.
Mexico needed a miracle to keep its World Cup hopes alive.
It never came.
Kristie Mewis scored a controversial goal in the 89th minute to finally break the deadlock as the U.S. beat Mexico 1-0 to officially end La Tri’s 2023 World Cup aspirations on Monday in Nuevo León. The USWNT claimed first place in Group A having already clinched World Cup qualification on Thursday at the Concacaf W Championship.
In Norway, this sort of sporting crisis is typically only reserved for news of Sweden making inroads on Olympic medals in cross-country skiing. But on Monday, Norway's proud women's national team — one of the few to have won a continental title, a World Cup and Olympic gold — suffered the worst defeat in European Championship history: an 8-0 capitulation to England in Brighton.
It was supposed to be one of the standout matches of the Euro 2022 group stage. If it had been boxing, the referee would have called the match off in the first half.
England flexed its offensive muscles with a barnstorming win over Norway, eviscerating the 11th-ranked team in the world by a startling 8-0 score line on Monday at Amex Stadium. It was one of the most impressive performances in recent Euro history, with England scoring six in the first half alone. Beth Mead had a hat trick, Ellen White netted a brace and three other players scored to tear Norway to shreds.
Brace yourself for the sequel, Bend It Like Beckham 2: Going Bottom Bins On Orlando City B, because 19-year-old Romeo Beckham, son of Old Golden Balls himself, has curled home his first set-piece goal for Inter Miami CF II in MLS Next Pro.
Romeo's first foray into football was back in 2014 with Arsenal's Academy, but he was released and briefly pursued a fledgling tennis career while training alongside Andy Murray. However, he returned to the sport last year by joining Miami's reserve team and it looks like the correct decision.
The Canadian Premier League has gone viral and perhaps entered the history books with the greatest miss of all time.
In a match between Valour FC and HFX Wanderers at IG Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Valour went on the attack in the 18th minute and looked to have the opening goal after Alessandro Riggi forced the ball under goalkeeper Christian Oxner.
We've gotten early glimpses of what makes England, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands favorites at Euro 2022, but the final fixture of the opening round of matches produced a clear frontrunner Sunday after France stormed to a 5-0 halftime lead on Italy — including a h