In a moving and heartfelt article for The Players’ Tribune entitled “Letter to My Younger Self”, Ronaldinho has recounted the remarkable stages of his globetrotting career; from the death of his father as an eight-year-old to the highs of representing the Brazilian national team and winning the Ballon d’Or with Barcelona.
There's no easy way to say this: someone sawed a statue of Messi in half.
Seriously, a statue of Messi in Buenos Aires was found with the top part missing because someone, or a group of someones, sawed it off.
What does one do with the top half of a Messi statue? I hope they didn't just throw it away. That would be such a waste. I assume they had it mounted on something, but if they haven't done that yet I will be so bold as to suggest they find a horse statue, remove the head and replace it with the top of Messi's statue. CENTAUR MESSI.
The Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior (Sao Paulo Youth Football Cup) is Brazil’s prime youth tournament, showcasing the next generation of young Brazilian stars.
Names like Lucas Moura and Gabriel Jesus played the tournament as youngsters.
For many, 2016 will be remembered as a year of loss. For all the remarkable gains, achievements and creations that sprung from 2016, it’s often the hurt derived from defeats and casualties that reverberates most poignantly. Here are 10 things we’ve lost in football over the course of 2016.
A country's awarding of their footballer of the year award ultimately says a lot about the state of the game within that nation. For example, knowing that Argentina are loaded with talent but that one man has managed to win this individual prize on 10 occasions speaks to his standing as one of the greatest of all time.
For other nations, a player sweeping the prize time after time shows that he’s single-handedly carrying that nation to new heights à la Gareth Bale. These are the players that’ve utterly dominated their country’s player of the year award in recent times.
Nearly four weeks after the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which claimed the lives of 71 people on board, including 22 players on the Chapecoense football squad, the Brazilian club has been formally awarded the trophy for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Final.
According to the University of Bristol, 88 percent of people who set a New Year’s resolution ultimately fail. Worryingly, that total comes despite the fact that 52 percent of people set out with the utmost confidence in their ability to achieve their goal. This should tell you a lot about the human race.
If you are a Real Madrid or Club America fan you better fear the deer, and I’m not talking about the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since the dawn of the FIFA Club World Cup over a decade ago, there have seldom been semi-final upsets. In most Club World Cups, the decision of who takes the trophy has featured the UEFA Champions League winner and the Copa Libertadores champion.
Still, Japanese side Kashima Antlers just joined Congo’s TP Mazembe and Morocco’s Raja Casablanca as the only three teams to knock out a South American representative in the semifinals.
Apparently Chapecoense player Neto has woken up from his coma following the team's tragic plane crash in Colombia. That's the good news. The bad news is what happened after he woke up. It will rip your heart out.
Per ABC News:
Upon gaining consciousness after almost two weeks, Neto asked who won the final of the Copa Sudamericana and why he was unable to play, team doctor Edson Stakonski said.
Oh God.
Danilo, one of 19 Chapecoense players killed in a plane crash that took the lives of 71 total, has been named Brazil's Player of the Year.
A goalkeeper, Danilo made a stunning save in the Copa Sudamerica semifinals against San Lorenzo to help keep Chapecoence in the competition. The team was on their way to the final against Atletico Nacional when their plane crashed into a mountainside outside Medellin, Colombia.