History and precedent crumbled Wednesday as free-scoring Bayern Munich travelled to Villarreal, currently Spain's seventh-best side, and came up entirely empty-handed in a 1-0 defeat that occasionally threatened to turn into two or three for the home side.
There comes a time when every footballer experiences defeat on a totally embarrassing level. Lionel Messi has lost 8-2; Cristiano Ronaldo has twice been defeated 5-0. Fortuna's wheel is always turning.
But the great wisdom imparted by this game is to "meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same." One must be gracious in victory and defeat, but this old cliché is always put to the test when you're on the receiving end of a thrashing.
While everyone's been wasting their time arguing over the tactical masterplans of Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone in the build-up to Manchester City and Atlético in the Champions League, a better philosophical discourse has been raging in the bottom half of the Premier League table, where Brighton manager Graham Potter is urging supporters to stop yelling "shoot" at his players while Burnley boss Sean Dyche is playing the devil's advocate by instructing his men to "kick it in the net."
One of my first memories of watching soccer with a non-soccer fan involves a friend asking why one team just kicked the ball out of bounds for no reason. The answer, of course, was sportsmanship. For decades, players who saw an opponent injured would kick the ball out of bounds so they could receive treatment.
In February, we learned USWNT stalwart Julie Ertz wouldn’t play in the NWSL in 2022. On April 4, we learned why. Julie Ertz is pregnant.
Ertz announced she is pregnant on social media on Monday, saying she and husband Zach Ertz, a professional American football player, are “adding to our starting lineup.”
After setting the women's soccer attendance record of 91,553 last Wednesday in a thrilling Champions League quarterfinal victory over eternal rival Real Madrid, Barcelona is aiming for a similar turnout Friday, April 22, when the club hosts Wolfsburg in their semifinal first leg.
When it comes to the most underrated players in the English-speaking world, you could certainly make a case for Brazil's Rivellino — a fantasy footballer with pioneering dribbling skills, an outrageous free kick arsenal and a left foot like a field howitzer. Rivellino was hugely admired by Pelé and inspired both Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, but these names have largely superseded Rivellino's own in football lore.
Since joining Liverpool in January to play under former manager Matt Beard, American striker Katie Stengel has been an unstoppable force in the FA Women's Championship, scoring six goals in 10 games and adding another in the FA Women's Cup.
Over those 10 league matches, Liverpool has won eight and drawn two, including a 4-2 victory over second-place Bristol City on Sunday that clinched the second division title and a return to the Women's Super League following relegation in 2019-20.
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