Vintage

When you think of great left feet, you think of Gareth Bale golazos, Arjen Robben curlers, John Arne Riise smashers, Robin van Persie volleys or anything Lionel Messi does. 

But the best left foot in the history of Major League Soccer doesn’t conjure images of spectacular goals. Heck, most people probably couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. 

There have been a fair number of fantastic left-footers to grace MLS, perhaps none greater than Preki. Ashley Cole spent a few seasons with the LA Galaxy and more recently Carlos Vela obliterated the MLS single-season scoring record. 

In recent history, the USWNT and World Cup glory go hand in hand. The last time the USWNT didn’t make it to a World Cup final was in 2007. The team has only lost four of 50 World Cup matches it has played. The 2007 World Cup in China was also the last the USWNT lost a World Cup game in regular time. A 21-year-old Brazilian superstar led the demise of the USWNT.

When Christian Pulisic scores or DeAndre Yedlin showcases his pace on a recovery run, the highlights are available for consumption across the United States almost instantaneously. 15 years ago, that was certainly not the case.

This was a time without Twitter, YouTube and Reddit — a time when you had to visit yanks-abroad.com for news while scrounging up money to pay for Fox Soccer Channel because your parents sure as shit weren’t expensing it. 

Have you ever wondered how Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo compare at every single stage of their lives with regards to appearance (in this particular timeline, not in the one where we all have dorsal fins)? No? Then I’ve wasted my time.

But if you're interested, here are the two amigos aging at a disconcerting rate. With Ronaldo three years the senior, we’ll just have to wait and see how Messi's mid-30s play out. But don’t you worry, I’ll be diligently updating this photographic journey until I’m in the grave. 

Most USMNT fans fondly remember the Snow Clasico of 2013, but how many fans remember the USWNT’s first-ever snow game, in which Alex Morgan made her national team debut?

Almost three years before the men’s national team beat Costa Rica 1-0 in a ridiculously snowy World Cup qualifier in Colorado, the USWNT played Mexico in a friendly in front of 3,732 fans on March 31, 2010, at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. 

The Americans prevailed 1-0 that blustery night, and Morgan made her USWNT debut at the age of 20. 

It’s crazy to think it has been two years now since MLS was graced with the first taste of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. March 31, 2018, was a day the LA Galaxy and the league may never forget with a classic El Trafico and the beginning of Ibrahimović’s short reign in MLS.