Europe

The story of the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship so far has been the play of Romania, which is participating at the tournament for the first time since 1998. After finishing above Portugal in qualifying, there was a sense that this could be the finest Romanian generation in 20 years, but no one could’ve predicted the start they’d make at this U-21 Championship.

Romania began play last Tuesday with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Croatia, including goals from the highly touted Ianis Hagi and Tudor Băluță. 

The opening goal from today’s Women’s World Cup Round of 16 match between England and Cameroon was an epic tale involving back passes, indirect free kicks and saliva. Yeah, that kind of goal. 

The story begins in the 12th minute, when Cameroon’s Augustine Ejangue cushioned a cross straight towards her own goalkeeper. Instead of clearing it, Annette Ngo Ndom picked it up, putting Cameroon in violation of the back-pass rule. 

Real Madrid legend Raúl moved another rung up the coaching ladder today, as he was announced as the new manager for Real Madrid’s second division side Real Madrid Castilla.

BREAKING: Real Madrid legend Raul will coach the club’s Castilla side through 2019/20 pic.twitter.com/KHQipZgHFd

— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 20, 2019

Luis Enrique has just announced that he will step down as manager of the Spanish national team for "family reasons." 

Enrique was coach of the Spanish national team for 11 months, replacing Fernando Hierro, who was fired after Spain performed poorly in the 2018 World Cup.

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It appears 27-year-old superstar Neymar has spent enough time away from Leo Messi and Barcelona.

Reports have surfaced that Neymar has made it clear he wants to go back to Barcelona and that he never should have left in the first place. 

This comes less than a day after Messi told the team he would prefer the return of Neymar over the potential addition of French star Antoine Griezmann.

With the transfer of French star Antione Griezmann appearing imminent, Barcelona boss Josep Maria Bartomeu has denied any contact whatsoever. 

This comes just days after reports of Atletico president Gil Marin claiming the club has known of some sort of transfer since March.

Other reports came out saying it was a done deal.

By holding World Cup host France to a draw today, Nigeria could’ve secured passage to the Round of 16 for the first time since 1999. For close to 80 minutes, that looked like the Super Falcons destiny. 

Step forward the VAR.

First, the referee looked at the monitor to review a collision in Nigeria’s box between Ngozi Ebere and Viviane Asseyi. The ref decided it was a penalty and sent Ebere off for her second bookable offense. 

Up stepped Wendie Renard for the spot kick. Her initial attempt clipped the outside of the post and went directly behind for a goal kick. 

According to recent reports from Spanish daily MARCA, Atlético Madrid is planning on making a massive $135 million bid for Benfica wonderkid João Félix. The 19-year-old attacker tore up the Primeira Liga last season, scoring 15 goals while adding seven assists in 26 games.

The fee would double Atlético’s previous transfer record, set when purchasing French winger Thomas Lemar from Monaco last summer for $67 million.

It's been a weird year for Chelsea fans. After finishing third in the English Premier League and winning the Europa League, manager Maurizio Sarri has left the club to return to Italy. He will be coaching Juventus. 

As that news is settling down, one rumor won't go away: Blues legend Frank Lampard is set to take over at Chelsea.