Roberto Mancini unveiled his first squad as the new coach of the Italian national side and the biggest indication that this was a new era was the inclusion of Mario Balotelli.
While other teams are preparing for the World Cup, the inclusion of Balotelli signals a major sea change in squad selection, bringing back into the fold a gifted, oft-maligned striker.
Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has dropped some serious allegations against Pep Guardiola, who managed the Ivorian at both City and Barcelona, in a recent interview with France Football.
Having played for Deportivo, Valencia and Betis in La Liga, Mexico captain Andres Guardado has had the privilege (or perhaps the horror) of lining up against Barcelona’s Lionel Messi extensively over the past decade.
Last we saw Neymar on the soccer pitch he was crying as he was stretchered off the field in a Ligue 1 match. But the Brazilian is back, and if the Neymar goal vs Croatia is anything to go by, he’s ready for the World Cup.
England won its penultimate World Cup tune-up with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria on Saturday at Wembley Stadium. But the win was marred by an indefensible Raheem Sterling dive early in the second half.
The first-half performance was strong for the Three Lions, though they faded a bit in the second half as Nigeria sought a result. London-based players scored all three goals in the match.
MasterCard announced a campaign to donate hundreds of thousands of meals to starving children in Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to Lionel Messi, Neymar and the upcoming World Cup. It should’ve been a slam-dunk publicity stunt, raising awareness for kids going hungry and feeding them. Instead, the Messi MasterCard campaign is getting torched on social media.
If you haven’t heard already, Zinedine Zidane recently quit his role as manager at Real Madrid. The news comes just after he guided Los Blancos to their third Champions League final victory in three years — an incredible feat for a manager who was thrown into the deep end.