Amazing

Sergiño Dest knows how to make an entrance. Dest became cap-tied to the USMNT as the Americans romped over Canada 4-1 on Friday night in Orlando, Florida. Despite the four goals, an electric Dest elastico was easily the highlight of the night for the U.S.

The worst part about Vlatko Andonovski’s new-look USWNT is probably the absence of right back Kelley O’Hara. There’s nothing Andonovski could do to change that — O’Hara is still dealing with an ankle injury that forced her to miss a significant portion of the NWSL season. 

So the Utah Royals defender is currently continuing her recovery in Washington, D.C., where her partner lives. Last we saw of O’Hara, she was chugging Budweiser in Paris…

The below video is footage of Estudiantes celebrating a return to Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in La Plata, where the club played between 1907 and 2005 before a 14-year stay at Estadio Único. 

I can’t confirm anything, but I’m pretty sure the construction workers — much like the dwarves of Moria — dug far too deep during their renovations of the stadium and unleashed a Balrog. I have no other explanation for this demonry. 

Scoring a hat-trick in Europe’s premier club competition is no mean feat, especially so as an adolescent teenager between the ages of 13 and 19. The list of players to have accomplished the goalscoring achievement reads like a who’s who of the world’s greatest talent since the tournament’s adoption in 1992. 

In fact, only 19 players have multiple Champions League hat-tricks to their name, with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having accomplished the task a staggering eight times. Nobody else has recorded more than three.

New USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski begins his reign tonight with a friendly against Sweden at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and I’ve got to say, he’s already impressed me with his training methods. 

Let me show you Exhibit A and then I rest my case. 

We’re just six days away from the 2019 MLS Cup Final between the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC at CenturyLink Field, and although the entire capacity of the 68,740-seat stadium will be open, the match is already a sellout and the cheapest tickets you can find on the resell market are for $300 up in the 300-level. 

There was an ad I saw on Twitter today starring two really, really good-looking people. Oh my. You may know them as Sir David Beckham and Lady Gaga. I know what you’re thinking, “Lady Gaga? Isn’t that the sister of Garry Gaga?”

Yup, that’s the one. 

But here’s Garry’s sister talking with Golden Balls in an ad for . . . I don't know what. Regardless, I think they're doing a great job. 

Nutmegs — alongside cross-field rakers, back heels and an inordinate amount of step-overs — constitute one of the greatest forms of artistry in our beautiful game. The act of the nutmeg is equal parts illusion and imagination; it transcends the simple reality of moving the ball from Point A to Point B and replaces it with something sublime. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, a nutmeg tells us of beautiful, untrue things. (After all, a nutmeg is rarely ever a decisive moment.)

The weather in Boulder, Colorado, where The18 is headquartered, has been nothing short of miserable this week. Since a snowstorm blew in on Sunday, the temperature hasn’t gone above freezing, with windchills dipping below zero. Boulder has received 16 inches of snow since Sunday in an unusually cold end to October. (Thanks climate change!)

But soccer stops for no Old Man Winter.