Week after week, Jaime Escandar proved his talents as a striker in Club Aparición, a small amateur squad in Paine, a town a few miles south of Santiago, Chile. In the words of his teammates, he was a natural. He could score goals with his right foot, with his left foot, with his head. He just scored goals for every taste.
But last weekend, his goal was a bit different.
Se suponía que Lionel Messi debía tomar un vuelo privado desde Rosario a París, junto a Angel di María y Leandro Paredes. Sin embargo, el "30" del PSG se quedó en tierra, aislado en su casa por culpa del Covid-19, el mismo virus que había maldecido horas antes en redes sociales para despedir el 2021 y darle la bienvenida al 2022.
En Instagram, el argentino subió un post agradeciendo todos los logros personales conseguidos el año pasado, consciente de todas aquellas personas que no lo pasaron tan bien debido al "virus este de mierda que nunca se termina".
Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi and three other players have tested positive for COVID-19, the French Ligue 1 club said on Sunday.
Argentina international Messi joined PSG from boyhood club Barcelona in August and the 34-year-old has scored six goals in 16 games in all competitions for the Parisian side.
Aprovechando la pausa en la Ligue 1, Leo Messi escapó del frío y los cielos grises de Europa para pasar las fiestas de fin de año en su natal Rosario. Y ahí la vida es simple: con la familia, al lado de la piscina y con una buena dosis de cumbia y flúor.
No tengo un cronograma de lo que hace a diario, pero por las migas de pan que quedan en redes sociales, es claro que mientras haya sol Messi comparte con su esposa, Antonella Roccuzzo, y sus tres hijos junto a la alberca.
ROME — Napoli paid tribute on Tuesday to Hugo Maradona, younger brother of the Italian club’s former great Diego, following his death from a heart attack at the age of 52.
RIP to Hugo Maradona who passed away today at the age of 52
He was a midfielder for Ascoli in the 1987/88 season. pic.twitter.com/tqwBlq2eGy— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) December 28, 2021
After months of continually fanning the flames in Paris, it looks like the tabloids have finally gotten their wish: a frosty, passive aggressive relationship between PSG goalkeepers Keylor Navas and Gianluigi Donnarumma that's threatening to divide the dressing room.
Soccer fans have a different circadian rhythm than others. They're up early to see what's going on in Europe, they're in bed late to follow along with Liga MX, they reach an emotional peak on Wednesday afternoons and frequently block off entire month-long periods in the summer for international festivals of footie. It's a delicate balance, but the 2022 soccer tournaments calendar is a disruptive year with the Qatar World Cup falling between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18.
Here's all the major action between January and December of 2022.
The draw for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League took place on Friday, but that wasn’t the biggest Nations League news by a longshot. A massive announcement was made that in 2024 we will see a Neymar and Lionel Messi Nations League crossover. That’s right, South America is joining the UEFA Nations League. All 10 South American members will be joining Europe's best.
Montreal drew Liga MX power Santos Laguna for the most high-profile Round of 16 pairing in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, as the four MLS teams from the United States randomly drew first-round matches with clubs from Central America.
The two-legged first-round pairings will take place in the last two weeks of February, with quarterfinals scheduled in the windows of March 8-10 and March 15-17, semifinals April 5-7 and April 12-14 and the final April 26-28 and May 3-5.
Sergio Agüero had an emotional farewell to the sport on Wednesday after being forced to retire at the age of 33 due to a heart condition. Fans of all clubs — even those who had Agüero as a bitter rival for so many years —fondly remembered Agüero’s career that was ended far too soon.