Fans

Journalist Rasim Aliyev of Azerbaijan was killed after being beaten by a fan for criticizing Javid Huseynov, also of Azerbaijan.

According to the BBC, Aliyev accused Huseynov of being "immoral" and "ill-bred" in a Facebook post after Huseynov made a crude gesture at a reporter who asked why Huseynov waved a Turkish flag at the supporters of a team from Cyprus. The gesture came following a Europa League qualifier between Gabala FC and Apollon Limassol.

The Premier League has renewed its deal with NBC for the right to broadcast its games, according to New York Times columnist Richard Sandomir. 

NBC renews Premier League deal for six years

— Richard Sandomir (@RichSandomir) August 10, 2015

This lady really likes Pedro.

Don't get us wrong, we're sure he's a nice guy and all, but this lady waited outside Barcelona's training facility for Pedro to come out, held a sign for him, had him sign it, and posed for a picture with him.

And did we mention that in the middle of all that she asked him if he was going to transfer somewhere, he said he didn't know and then she started cryting? Not, like, sniffling either. Weeping. Sobbing. Boo-hooing, if you will. We hope Pedro doesn't actually leave, for this lady's sake. She might never recover.

As hard as it might be to believe, it can be very easy to forget how charming Cristiano Ronaldo is. We read about his ex-girlfriend telling the world he made her feel insecure, or about how he had a birthday party after losing 4-0 in one of the year’s biggest matches. We hear about how arrogant he is, and how he represents so much of what people don’t like about athletes. We hear about all of this, and then we watch a clip like the one below and remember that, oh yeah, Ronaldo is still probably one of the coolest people alive. 

The temptation to believe that Karim Benzema will leave Real Madrid is at an all time high. As the team continues its preseason exhibition tour in China, the French international has posted a photo to Instagram of himself in a plane separate from the rest of the team, with the caption “let’s leave the past in the past.”

Guys, Raheem Sterling might be a stone cold gangster. 

We always say that soccer can bring the truth out of people. If someone feels bad, or guilty, or if a crowd is really getting to them, then they tend to play bad too. It’s not exactly scientific. It can be quietly frankly wrong, but it just makes a certain kind of sense. If a player screws over a fan base and then proceeds to play poorly, or get injured, we tend to say to ourselves, “Good.” It’s as if some kind of universal balance is being maintained. 

They say women are the taste makers of every generation. If that is true then maybe this video has something to do with why so many people took a metaphorical dump on Gareth Bale in the 2014/15 season. 

For anyone who follows Real Madrid, you’ll know that Bale was the greatest thing since sliced bread at Tottenham the year before he moved to Real Madrid, and for his first year at Madrid, that continued: he scored the game winning goal in the 2014 Champions League Final, and did this to Barcelona: 

Dear Liverpool fans,

Not to go all Britney Spears Youtube guy on you, but y'all need to leave Mario Balotelli alone. 

It is my belief that one of the major difficulties Americans have with soccer is that they don’t understand how the different leagues and tournaments work.

Generally, Americans understand that the best soccer leagues are in Europe and can grasp the promotion/relegation system the leagues use, where the best teams from a league get promoted to a better league and the worst get relegated to a lesser one.