Evergreen

“Firing one into Row Z” is a common expression you hear when a free kick flies over the crossbar and into the stands. That’s as bad as it gets. But what can be said about a free kick that actually clears the stands in an enclosed ground?

We’re not talking about some high school stadium; we’re talking about a facility that seats over 10,000 and is home to a club in Denmark’s top division. 

Soccer is a sport that is very different from others, it's rare to find another sport where the feet are the most fundamental role and where the talent has to be from that part of the body. However, a soccer player must not only have "magic feet", but must also possess other physical and mental qualities to shine in this game.

LCD Soundsystem’s song “tonite” begins with a lyric that could be applicable to every UEFA European Championship anthem ever written. “Everybody’s singing the same song,” James Murphy laments. “It goes ‘tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight.’ I never realized these artists thought so much about dying.”

San Marino gets plenty of attention and scrutiny for being the worst national team in the world according to the FIFA men’s world rankings. I even wrote about San Marino the other day after the team scored its first goal in over a year.

If FIFA gave out an award each year for the least-hated player, then N’Golo Kanté would win every year. The Al-Ittihad midfielder simply has no haters due to how humble he is. With the man being so loved worldwide, it makes the Kanté birthday story even sadder.

Felipe Saad, one of Kanté’s former teammates on Ligue 2 side Caen, told Brazilian outlet Uol Sport a heart-tugging story about one of his interactions with the Frenchman.

History is written by the victors. When you reminisce about the biggest finals of recent times, you’re likely thinking of players like Megan Rapinoe at the 2019 World Cup, Kylian Mbappé in 2018, Carli Lloyd in 2015 or Mario Götze in 2014.   

But there are those rare instances when an individual’s performance on the losing team — for better (Zinedine Zidane in 2006) or worse (Loris Karius in 2018) — lives just as vividly in the memory. 

“Deep, dark secrets” may be a slight stretch, but there’s an answer for why do players cover their mouths when talking. The players in question are sometimes discussing topics that they wish to stay private, hence the mouth covering.

The phenomenon of players covering their mouths isn’t only seen in soccer. In nearly every sport, opposing players and teammates can be seen having covered-mouth discussions during and after the game.