Brazil clinched qualification into the final stage of the South American U-20 Championship with a 1-0 victory over Bolivia on Friday afternoon in Chile.
The win completed a difficult group stage for the young Seleção, who have a prodigious amount of talent at their disposal, including Real Madrid-bound Rodrygo, who scored twice in a win over Venezuela earlier in the competition.
Last week, the South American U-20 Championship kicked off in Chile, with the top four finishers earning qualification to this summer’s U-20 World Cup in Poland.
Quick, who’s the most expensive transfer of the January window so far? You should know this — it’s the $75 million Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for Christian Pulisic. Now what about the second-most expensive? Any ideas? It’s the $41 million AC Milan paid Flamengo for 21-year-old Brazilian Lucas Paquetá.
A meeting between runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain and last-place Guingamp went exactly as you’d expect on Saturday with the Parisian side romping to a 9-0 victory. (Fun fact: Guingamp has scored 16 goals all season, so PSG recorded more than half that total in just one match.)
The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior — a cup competition between Brazilian U-20 teams — was the scene of some more medical-team-on-footballer violence last Sunday, a growing plague on the world’s game.
A Brazilian may age, but they never lose their touch.
Zico, one of the greatest footballers to ever play for the Seleção, played his last match as a professional 24 years ago. But at 65, he’s still got the velvety touch and incredible shot that helped him bag more than 500 goals for Flamengo and 48 more for Brazil.
Let’s be honest, divers ruin a lot of what’s great about soccer. Flops slow the game down, they win undeserved free kicks and generally just create more annoyance than enjoyment.
But sometimes, the diver’s acting is so unbelievably poor that the dive itself becomes a work of art. Usually, it’s some of the best players in the world that are doing the diving, which seems counterintuitive.
It’s not been a great month for Ronaldinho’s PR team. Back in October, it was reported that the Brazilian legend would have his role as an ambassador for FC Barcelona significantly reduced — including his presence at Legends games — due to his political backing of Brazil’s President-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.