Thinking back over the first six months of the Premier League season, it has seemed like an unusually poor year for goalkeepers. This has been evident from the opening weekend, when a plethora of minor goalkeeping errors led to a forgettable start to the season.
David de Gea has been sensational, but aside from the Man United keeper, who has stood out between the posts this year?
Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney said he was not prepared for the pressure that accompanied his rise to elite level soccer as a teenager and he turned to drink to cope with his problems.
Derby County manager Rooney began his playing career with boyhood club Everton, scoring his first Premier League goal in spectacular fashion as a 16-year-old against Arsenal in 2002.
British police said on Sunday they had arrested a man on suspicion of rape and assault, hours after Manchester United suspended footballer Mason Greenwood following online accusations that the 20-year-old had assaulted a woman.
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement that a man was arrested after social media images and videos were posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence.
"An investigation was launched and following enquiries we can confirm a man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault," the police said.
After a decade-plus of domination by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, fans expected Ballon d'Or voting to bring some different results in 2021.
The obvious choice was Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who was coming off a record-breaking 41-goal campaign in the Bundesliga.
Instead it was Messi — seemingly entering the twilight of his career — who won the award for the seventh time. "Surely something must be done," the people exclaimed at this perceived injustice. "He still can't be the best player in the world."
England defender Harry Maguire defended his goal celebration during Friday's World Cup qualifying victory over Albania which former players described as over the top and unnecessary following his poor performances for Manchester United.
England thrashed Albania 5-0 to all but qualify for the World Cup after Maguire opened the scoring with a ninth-minute header, celebrating with a knee slide while putting his fingers to his ears as if to shut out his critics.
Reece James to Harry Maguire!
Three Harry Kane goals vs Albania likely has Tottenham fans royally pissed. Last season’s EPL Golden Boot winner only has one goal in 10 league appearances this season and has been underwhelming to say the least.
Barring a catastrophe of monumental proportion against San Marino, Kane and England locked up a spot at the 2022 World Cup with a 5-0 victory against Albania thanks to a Kane hat trick.
All five goals came in the first half with Harry Maguire grabbing the first in the ninth minute. Go get them slab head!
It's not uncommon for England-born footballers to represent other countries. The Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Jamaica are just a few of the national sides with a decent proportion of English natives in their squads.
But a player from the outskirts of London suiting up for Poland? Now that's a new one. Yet that's exactly what happened to Matty Cash, who earned his first Poland call-up this week. Is Matty Cash Polish?
England have been ordered to play their next two home games in UEFA competition without supporters present after disturbances during their Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley in July, European soccer's governing body said in a statement on Monday.
The ban on fans attending the second game has been suspended for a probationary period of two years, while the English FA has been fined 100,000 euros ($116,000), UEFA added.
FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings looking into the clashes at Wembley Stadium between police and Hungarian supporters at Tuesday's game against England, saying it has "zero tolerance against such abhorrent behaviour."
World soccer's governing body added on Wednesday that it has also started investigating incidents during the game between Albania and Poland in Tirana, where bottles were thrown on the pitch after Poland scored.
En medio de los estrenos del FIFA 22 y eFootball se apareció la nostalgia y el recuerdo del videojuego que más disfrute en la vida, el International Superstar Soccer Deluxe.
Las tardes de mediados de los noventa eran mágicas cuando alguien sugería jugar Super Nintendo y lograba reunir a cuatro o cinco amigos, convirtiendo casas en estadios con un ambiente similar al Teatro de los Sueños o el Infierno de Estambul, pero también con padres de semblante preocupado, preguntándose si aquellos quinceañeros que tenían frente a sus ojos harían algo con sus vidas algún día.