Lionel Messi broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most LaLiga hat tricks with three goals in a 5-2 win over Mallorca on Saturday at the Bernabeu, the same week Messi won his record sixth Ballon d’Or.
Sports are often divisive in nature. It’s your team vs. my team, us vs. them, Messi vs. Ronaldo.
But sports can also bring people together like nothing else in the world.
Son Heung-min can bring people together.
Son, Tottenham’s 27-year-old dynamo, plays on a team that many in London would rather discount, Arsenal fans in particular. But it’s impossible to ignore this player’s charisma and, more importantly, endlessly impressive footballing ability.
Two stats stood out ahead of today’s Premier League match between Sheffield and Newcastle United at Bramall Lane: (1) Andy Carroll was handed his first Newcastle start in almost nine years and (2) Martin Dúbravka was busy making his 65th straight EPL appearance for the Toon, a run which began directly following his move from Sparta Prague back in January of 2018.
Both players played massive roles in Newcastle’s bizarre 2-0 victory.
Just another day at the office for PSG sensation Kylian Mbappé on Wednesday. The 20-year-old scored his sixth goal in nine Ligue 1 games to keep PSG’s lead over second-place Marseille at five points. He also performed a shifty elastico and was asked by an opposing player to exchange shirts at halftime.
After finishing sixth in 2019 Ballon d’Or voting on Monday, the prodigy delighted fans inside the Parc des Princes by looking very much like El Fenomeno with this trick.
Two momentous matches, two heavenly touches.
In the 31st minute of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby with Everton, Divock Origi gave the Reds a 3-1 lead after cushioning a long ball from Dejan Lovren straight into his own path. His second touch was a looping effort over the despairing Jordan Pickford.
Origi’s first touch was softer than Charmin.
Divock. Origi. pic.twitter.com/ltWk97jtGb
The 2010s has been a decade. I can’t say it was great nor will I say it was bad. It was 10 years and as I write this it’s almost over.
In 10 years, the soccer world saw Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo absolutely dominate the Ballon d’Or, winning all but one since 2008. Real Madrid won a bunch of big-eared trophies, Spain finally won a World Cup and few teams played more beautifully than Barcelona. Perhaps most shocking, England actually fielded a decent team at a World Cup, but Liverpool still hasn’t won a Premier League title.
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup came to a close on Sunday with Portugal lifting the trophy following a 6-4 victory over Italy in the final. The Azzurri’s Gabriele Gori finished as top scorer for the second-straight tournament with 16 goals in six games, but it was Japan’s Ozu Moreira who received the Golden Ball award as the World Cup’s best player.
On Saturday, the impossible transpired: Miguel Almirón recorded his first major contribution for Newcastle United (an assist) in his 24th Premier League appearance. Also, EPL strugglers Newcastle recorded a 2-2 draw with the champions Manchester City.
Joking aside, it was another performance that showcased why Newcastle fans have been so patient with the 24-year-old Paraguayan (apart from the fact that the squad’s not exactly brimming with potential replacements).
Y’all remember Terrence Boyd?
At the start of the decade, Boyd, a German-born striker with an American father, was part of the influx of German-Americans brought into the fold of the USMNT under then-coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
Tuesday’s Champions League Group A encounter between Real Madrid and PSG at the Santiago Bernabéu was pretty much meaningless. Both teams entered the match with Round of 16 qualification secured, and even a Real victory would do little to wrest top spot from PSG due to the Parisians’ perfect record thus far.