It’s been five years since Real Madrid defender Marcelo showed up at an Alevín A training session (La Fábrica’s U-12 category) and watched on in disbelief as Takuhiro “Pipi” Nakai, then age 11, dribbled in a style that the Brazilian admitted was beyond his level of understanding.
Pipi showing his qualities to Marcelo . pic.twitter.com/5jaFj8pWP3
Mexico salvaged a 2-2 draw against 10-man Algeria on Tuesday with Jesús Corona’s beautiful opener pegged back by goals from Ismaël Bennacer and Riyad Mahrez before Diego Lainez provided one final flourish to the script in The Hague.
A beautiful aspect of international football is that it allows you to sample the vibe of a far-flung locale from the comfort of your own living room. Today, I took a trip to Riga, Latvia, to watch a UEFA Nations League D Group 1 meeting between the host nation and visiting Malta.
With Faroe Islands pacing the group on seven points from three matches, this was effectively a must-win game for both 137th-ranked Latvia (three points off three draws) and 186th-ranked Malta (two points).
Introducing Shaqueel van Persie, the 13-year-old son of Robin and Bouchra van Persie. Like his father, Shaqueel is moving through the youth ranks of Feyenoord and currently playing for the U-15 team. Like his father, Shaqueel van Persie is a scorer of outlandish goals.
Here he is scoring an incredible volley against Ajax’s youth side…
Timing, accuracy, skill & power
Wonder where Shaqueel van Persie got that from...pic.twitter.com/4woHx39nHG
Erik Hurtado's airborne goal lifted Sporting Kansas City past Nashville SC 2-1 Sunday night at Children's Mercy Park in the first match ever between the clubs. Sporting Kansas City is now 10-3-4 in first meetings with expansion sides.
Sporting (9-5-2, 29 points) earned its first three-game winning streak this season. Nashville SC (4-6-6, 18 points) allowed more than one goal for only the sixth time this season.
Norway showed Brendan Rodgers levels of character by rebounding from Thursday’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Serbia in the Euro 2021 playoffs with a 4-0 win over Romania in Nations League play on Sunday.
It’s obviously small consolation for the nation’s failure to qualify for a first major international tournament since Euro 2000, but today’s victory showed why qualifying for the 2022 World Cup might be within this current generation’s reach.
Marcus Rashford's penalty and a lucky strike from Mason Mount helped England come from a goal down to overcome top-ranked Belgium 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday and climb above them in their UEFA Nations League group.
Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring for the visitors from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after being brought down by a lunging tackle from England's Eric Dier. It was the Inter Milan striker's 13th goal in his last 11 matches for his country.
Eduardo “Chofis” López is reportedly looking for a way out of Guadalajara after seven years with the senior side. The 26-year-old has only appeared in seven of Chivas’ 13 Torneo Guardianes matches so far, and he’s had to make due as a substitute in each — totaling just 122 minutes to go with zero goals and zero assists.
In his MLS debut, 17-year-old Caden Clark scored shortly after halftime to lift the New York Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Clark's goal, his fourth in the pros after scoring three times for the New York Red Bulls II of the second-tier USL Championship, came on the match's first shot on target.