2014 saw the deaths of some prominent figures in the soccer community. We here at The18 thought it would be a good idea to honor those who passed away this calendar year with mini bios on each of the departed. The soccer community already misses these individuals.
Much to the distress of many a mother around the world, the holidays and sports go hand-in-hand like Santa Claus and whatever jolly elf is in vogue this year.
If it wasn’t for the Premier League, we can honestly say that we would have absolutely no idea what or when “Boxing Day” is. But, because of the glory of soccer, we now understand that Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and we celebrate it by watching hour after hour of the English Premier League.
Neymar got a little more than he bargained for when he played in an exhibition game with UFC champion Jose Aldo.
In a moment reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane's epic headbutt against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, Arsenal's Olivier Giroud headbutted QPR's Nedum Onuoha on Boxing Day. So whose was better?
Neymar doesn’t get to execute his usual flair while playing for FC Barcelona in La Liga. But, in a Brazilian charity match, the former Santos star has more chances to reach into his bag of tricks.
Last week, Neymar showed off his skills to fellow Brazilians after he embarrassed a defender before scoring a goal from a “tornado twist.” We do want to point out that the defender marking Neymar clearly looks out of shape and stood no chance against the world class footballer, but that’s besides the point.
Alexandre Lacazette is having a breakout year for Olympique Lyon in Ligue 1, the French first division. He has scored 17 goals in all competitions, far and away the most in Ligue 1, and two more than the walking legend that is Lionel Messi.
According to WhoScored.com, Lacazete is the fourth highest-rated player in the world this season, and after watching this video, you will understand why.
Head injuries are nothing to be trifled with. With all of the new information that has arisen concerning concussions and their long term effects, watching a player get knocked unconscious, or suffer any sort of trauma to the head, can be a very troubling experience.
So when the camera showed Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel on the ground on Sunday, blood pouring from his head, it was hard not to fear the worst. Replay did not help.
The Dutch Eredivisie is known for its attacking play, and this past weekend proved to be no exception. In one of the most thrilling come-from-behind wins of the season, FC Twente beat Willem II 3 to 2 Sunday.
After defender Renato Tapia was sent off with one of the softest red cards we have seen in a long time, FC Twente was down a man and a goal heading into extra time. A miracle was needed, and Jesus Corona provided the piece of play that inspired FC Twente to victory.
Leo Messi is practically Superman when it comes to scoring goals. But we think we've discovered his Kryptonite - and it's the crossbar.
This video is going to be the best 12 minutes of your day. The Premier League is touted as the best league in the world, and this video makes it hard to disagree with that. The quality of goals throughout this video is astounding.
This compilation has it all: volleys, bicycle kicks, solo runs, chip shots, thunderbastards...we could go on, but that would take away from the sheer surprise that some of these goals elicit.
You may be thinking to yourself, they couldn’t possible have 12 minutes of amazing goals, could they? Well yes. Yes they could.