Those watching Barcelona throttle Sevilla 3-0 Wednesday may have noticed Lionel Messi's curious celebration following the first of his two goals.
Messi slid two fingers across his cheek like he was putting on war paint.
The celebration was intended to help raise awareness and money for a pediatric cancer center in Barcelona.
Now that's what I call squad goals.
As a 24-year-old, the sky was the limit for Italian American forward Giuseppe Rossi. Having come through the youth ranks at Parma and Manchester United, he was now flourishing in La Liga with Villarreal. In four seasons, he’d seen his goal totals gradually increase with the club: 13, 15, 17 and then a staggering 32 in the 2010-11 season.
It’s safe to say that Spain has been the most dominate footballing country over the past decade at both the club and international level. Since 2005, a team from La Liga has won the UEFA Cup/Europa League seven times and the Champions League on six occasions. Of those 13 titles won by Spanish clubs, four of those finals have pitted Spanish clubs against one another in the final.
At the international level, the Spanish national team has won two European Cups (2008, 2012) and a World Cup (2010).
UEFA Cup/Europa League
Another match day, another performance that left many questions over Barcelona’s ability in a season that still has them fighting for the treble, which is a ridiculous thing to say. At times, this Barcelona side looks as good as any from the past 13 years, but they’re also more than capable of ringing their own death knell and signaling a need for transformation.
Against relegation certainties Granada, anything less than a comprehensive victory, even without the suspended Lionel Messi, would’ve had Blaugrana supporters looking towards Sevilla’s midweek visit with angst.
Djalminha was capped by Brazil only 14 times (still managing five goals). That's less than what Freddy Adu, Conor Casey, Break Shea, Chris Wondolowski, etc. have accumulated with the USMNT. It's with this realization that you begin to understand the enormity of the gulf in talent between Brazil and the United States.
Djalminha was the precursor to Ronaldinho. He had a pretentious amount of skill, but he also made Ronaldinho’s, at times, questionable behavior look like grounds for canonization into sainthood.
Former Real Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez Blanco, known as Raul, looks to have outraged Los Blancos supporters once again after an interview with Catalan-based newspaper Sport. When asked if he could see himself working for any club other than Madrid, including Barcelona, his response was “I like to take things step by step. The first thing is to go back home, which is to Real Madrid, when the moment is right.
If everything continues the way it is, the 2018 World Cup will be a 48-team tournament instead of the 32-team format we have now.
Now, how exactly will this expanded world cup tournament work?
Obviously the addition of all of these teams will have to result in reformatting the World Cup process, so the group stage will have 16 groups of three teams each, with the top team moving on from each group. From there on out, the knockout stage will be the same.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is in soccer limbo. He's caught in-between Manchester United, who do not want him, and the Chicago Fire, who want him but cannot have him until his visa clears.
So Schweinsteiger is left to his own devices, which have brought him to Mallorca to train until he's legally allowed to enter the United States.