Failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup was hard to digest, very hard, so our hot soccer-blooded hearts make us feel that everything is wrong, and our soccer is the worst. That’s just the heat of the moment; truth is that U.S. soccer is pretty good, and it has gotten better and better over the last couple of decades.
The English Premier League is the richest soccer league in the world. Only the NFL in the U.S. can compare to the EPL in revenue, though the latter has a larger global audience. Millions of fans around the world watch every week as some of the best soccer clubs in the world battle for supremacy. Whether you’re a new fan after the 2018 World Cup or you’ve been watching since the league’s inception, if you want to know how Premier League works, you’ve come to the right place.
Who invented soccer or football or — the more diplomatic approach — association football (soccer for short)? It’s a history lesson that’s often summed up or bastardized with a simple answer: England invented it.
Immigrant players and sons of immigrants largely make up World Cup rosters. Welcoming immigration has proven to be the secret to having success at the World Cup. Out of the four teams still remaining in the tournament, France, Belgium and England feature squads composed of players from very diverse origins.
When Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli announced his final 23-man roster for the World Cup, he didn't call on one of the hottest strikers on the planet. Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi tied Lazio's Ciro Immobile for golden boot honors in Serie A, scoring 29 goals in 34 games during the 2017-18 season. Instead of being rewarded for a stellar season, Icardi joined the unenviable list of World Cup snubs.
Viewing a soccer match for your first time without knowing the rules and regulations may seem extremely daunting. Watching the clock run without stopping while players are on the ground or when the ball goes out of bounds seems unnatural compared to other sports. Because the clock counts up, you'd be right to ask: How long is a soccer game?
If you want to turn your child into the next Brian “McHead” McBride, at what age should you start sand wedging some crosses at their malleable dome piece? Well, in America, we have rules for this sort of thing.
Back in 2015, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that children 10 years or under should abstain from heading the ball. Additionally, players from the ages of 11 to 13 were now limited to practicing the skill in training with headers still outlawed in games.
Haters think Cristiano Ronaldo is just lucky.
You might not, but plenty of people do. So many, in fact, that it's fair to say that the collective "you" of the Internet hates on Ronaldo almost constantly because he is lucky, a poacher, and many other things that don't have much to do with skill. Apparently, like so many super models, Ronaldo has bedded Lady Luck and now she plays exclusively in his favor.