Cristiano Ronaldo turns 34 on Tuesday. Usually strikers start fading at that age. Maybe they lose a step of pace or that passion burns a little less. But three days shy of another Ronaldo birthday, the Juventus forward is still as hungry as ever for goals.
Stadiums are part of a club's identity. They are the embodiment of the history, past and present of any club, contribute to the atmosphere of a match and add an aesthetic value to to the game.
The stadiums of top level teams are usually the most developed and have the highest capacity. They also get the most love. Stadiums like Old Trafford, the Santiago Bernabeu and the San Siro are world renowned, because some of the best teams play there.
Krzysztof Piątek isn’t a household name just yet.
He should be.
Six months ago, Genoa bought Krzysztof Piątek from Cracovia in Poland for $5 million.
Last week AC Milan shelled out $40 million for Piątek.
At this rate, Piątek might soon be sold for $100 million.
When Milan made Piątek the most expensive Polish footballer of time with his $40 million move from Genoa, those who haven’t been following Serie A this season might have raised some eyebrows. So just who is this 23-year-old striker, the replacement for Gonzalo Higuaín?
This is Giancarlo Favarin, manager of Serie C club Lucchese. You’re not going to see much of him anymore, because he’s been banned for five months for unloading his cranium straight into the face of an opposing team's assistant coach. During the 2-2 draw between his side and rival Alessandria, Favarin also instructed one of his players to break an opponent’s legs. That’s also a big no-no when it comes to touchline etiquette.
It was around this time last year that we introduced Bruno Zuculini to you, our weary audience, as the maddest lad of them all. The Argentine spent the first half of the 2017-18 season at Hellas Verona, collecting three red cards and four yellows in just 15 starts. He was promptly sold to River Plate before he could build on his phenomenal record over the following months.
According to the Deloitte Football Money League 2019 study, Real Madrid is now the richest club in the world after generating a record revenue of $867.7 million over the course of the 2017-18 season. Last year’s number one, Manchester United, has fallen to number three in the rankings and been overtaken by Barcelona as well.
In the soccer world, one of the best sights for sore eyes is the return of the Champions League.
Sometimes, watching Champions League teams playing league cup matches against weak opposition can be really dull after a while. For example, Manchester City’s 9-0 drubbing of Burton Albion a few weeks ago. In a lot of ways, European soccer without Champions League becomes kind of monotonous. At some point between the last Champions League group stage match and the start of the Round of 16, soccer fans will be wondering when the tournament will start up again.
Quick, who’s the most expensive transfer of the January window so far? You should know this — it’s the $75 million Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for Christian Pulisic. Now what about the second-most expensive? Any ideas? It’s the $41 million AC Milan paid Flamengo for 21-year-old Brazilian Lucas Paquetá.
I hope you can kick these balls with some of the world's best players. Here's a brief guide to the balls used in some of the world's most popular leagues and how much they cost.
English Premier League: The Nike Merlin, at a cool $160. Looks and feels like a classic professional ball.
If you’ve paid attention to internet trends over the past few days or so, you will notice something known as the #10YearChallenge. The basic premise of it is that people post pictures of themselves from 2009 and another from 2019 to show the world how much they’ve changed — in appearance or otherwise.