CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying grew in legend with another improbable incident during Thursday’s match between Ecuador and Chile.
With Ecuador holding a 3-0 advantage over Chile at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa in Quito, Ecuardorian international Enner Valencia, who plays his club football for Everton in the Premier League, allegedly faked an injury to evade police capture in the 82nd minute.
Ronaldinho is coming back, at least for one more game. The Brazilian attacking midfielder hasn't retired fro soccer yet, and he says he wants to play one more year. He claims to have offers in MLS and China, but before he goes to either of those places 'Dinho is going to make an appearance for Mexican third-division club Cinco Estrellas in a friendly against Monterrey in December.
He announced his apearance in a video on the Cinco Estrellas facebook page.
Remember when Daft Punk released their magnum opus Random Access Memories in 2013, heralded with a genius marketing campaign combining new school strategy and old school nostalgia? By slowly teasing the album’s release, the electronic masters created a buzz that engulfed social media.
It has been three years since those seminal moments in the music industry, but we appear to be on the verge of another musical zeitgeist. The sound of 2016 is going to be provided by none other than Neymar, his aptly titled #Neymusico already causing a Twitterstorm.
Carlos Ruiz played his final match for Guatemala on Tuesday night, the 36-year-old striker hitting St. Vincent and the Grenadines for five goals in Los Chapines 9-3 victory. Unfortunately for Ruiz and Guatemala, it still wasn't enough as they were eliminated from 2018 World Cup contention, resulting in Ruiz's international retirement.
For the first time in about ten years, it must finally be relaxing to be a fan of the Brazilian national team. At the 2005 Confederations Cup, Brazil merrily captured the title with a squad containing the assurances of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Lucio and the phenomenal talents of Adriano and Robinho. That was the end of the fun.
The folks attending El Salvador's press conference before their World Cup qualifier against Canada got quite a surprise when the team played a tape of a man trying to bribe them to play well.
The man, alleged to be Honduran businessman Ricardo Padilla (if El Salvador draws or beats Canada, Honduras is guaranteed advancement to the 'Hex'), is probably the worst match-fixer of all time.
Adenor Leonardo "Tite" Bacchi might not be a name as widely known as Pep Guardiola or most European managers. But have no doubts that under Tite’s guidance Brazil has all of the tools to turn a struggling national team back into the powerhouse it used to be.
If his first match ahead of the squad proved anything, it was that the talent has always been at Brazil’s disposal. All they needed was someone to pick the right pieces and make them tick.
Venezuelan goalkeeper Dani Hernandez stopped two penalties against Colombian stars Carlos Bacca and James Rodriguez in less than 15 minutes in a World Cup qualifier Thursday. Colombia beat Venezuela 2-0 in Barranquilla.
Hernandez, who plays for Tenerife in the Spanish second division, is the first goalkeeper to stop two penalties in a World Cup qualifier in CONMEBOL history, according to @OptaJavier.
It just had to be, didn’t it? Lionel Messi announced his return to the Argentina fold by scoring the game-winning goal for La Albiceleste against Uruguay, catapulting his country to the top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table in the process.
While Messi’s international retirement resulted in him missing zero action for Argentina, it was still an emotional return for the Barcelona man at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, Argentina.
Sunday, the Uruguayan Primera Division finally started play. The league is currently changing the Uruguayan football season from the European format to a calendar year format.
After 11 seasons in the European format, in 2017 the league will be play from January to December.
The change has had several delays, first because cameras and increased security measures at stadiums were required, and then by storms that occurred Saturday, August 27.
The Uruguayan Primera Division will end on December 4. The 16 teams will play a round robin, totaling 15 games.