The year is 2009. Argentina, under the direction of Diego Maradona, is on the verge of missing the 2010 World Cup after back-to-back-to-back defeats to Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay. The loss to Brazil had been particularly horrifying — a 3-1 humbling in Rosario that clinched the Seleção’s place in South Africa and left midfield warrior Javier Mascherano disconsolate in the dressing room.
Meet the best Mexican to ever play in the Premier League, Raúl Jiménez.
Raul’s first steps in soccer were in the lower ranks of Club América, where he stood out at an early age.
Raúl Jiménez was part of the Tri Olímpico in the 2012 Summer Olympics, taking home a gold medal.
In 2013, Jiménez won the CONCACAF Goal Of The Year Award for his bicycle kick goal against Panama.
Jimenez moved to Europe in 2014 when he signed for Atlético de Madrid.
In 2018, Wolverhampton signed Jiménez for 30 million euros.
Speed is an unteachable attribute that every athlete, no matter the sport, desires. Everyone wants to know who is the fastest. When it comes to women’s soccer, finding the answer to this question isn’t so simple. Top sprint speed is a niche statistic that isn’t tracked too often in the women’s game. With the data that is available, here is a list of some of the fastest women's soccer players.
Riyad Mahrez scored an absolute stunner in Algeria’s 2-2 draw with Zimbabwe to ensure his country’s qualification for the African Cup of Nations on Monday. The Mahrez goal vs Zimbabwe even has some people daring to utter the word “Puskás.”
This goal might not be the best of 2020, but you won’t see a better goal scored this week.
With Algeria leading 1-0 midway through the first half, the Desert Foxes only needed one long ball to their star player to spring the counterattack. The rest, and one Zimbabwe defender’s ankles, is history.
San Marino, ranked last place in the FIFA World Rankings, recorded a historic 0-0 draw against Gibraltar in UEFA Nations League play on Saturday. The tiny minnows of the world recorded consecutive draws in competitive play for the first time in their history. The moment made defender Dante Rossi cry tears of joy during a post-match interview.
To Group C4 of the UEFA Nations League we go for a meeting between promotion hopeful Albania and relegation candidate Kazakhstan.
Sokol Cikalleshi opened the scoring in the 16th minute for Albania before Ardian Ismajli doubled the advantage in the 23rd, but Kazakhstan’s response was literally immediate. Straight from the ensuing kickoff, Aybol Abiken pulled one back with a spectacular effort that left Etrit Berisha — a 31-year-old veteran with 59 caps who’s played for Lazio, Atalanta and now SPAL — flailing between the posts.
We have ourselves a potential Puskás candidate. An insane moment took place in the Danish Cup on Wednesday when Lyngby defender Nicolai Geertsen scored a goal that words can not describe.
OK, maybe words can describe this goal. Geertsen defied all the odds as he self-assisted himself with a bicycle kick that hit off the crossbar which he then volleyed into the goal. Quite a mouthful, no?
A stat crossed my timeline the other day showing that Lionel Messi has 35 goals from direct free kicks for Barcelona over the last decade. That in and of itself is impressive, but perhaps even more extraordinary is the fact that Messi's free kick total is higher than any other club in Europe's top five leagues during that span.
This Messi stat is insane pic.twitter.com/RZpCyf5tXl
Georginio Wijnaldum captained the Netherlands in a friendly against Spain on Wednesday, the day he said goodbye to his 20s. The now-30-year-old played 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw, which was in all fairness a fairly drab exhibition. In fact, the most notable moment was watching Wijnaldum left hanging by teammate Memphis Depay.
Memphis was subbed out in the 79th minute and gave fist bumps to all his teammates as he made his way to the socially distanced benched. Well, all but Wijnaldum.