Erling Haaland is back ladies and gentlemen. The 22-year-old Norwegian superstar has spent the last month patiently waiting for the club season to resume. His last game for Manchester City was on Nov. 12 in which he failed to score.
That wouldn’t be the case against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Thursday.
No guys, that won’t count as an assist for Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman helped set up an amazing game-sealing goal during France’s 2-0 World Cup semifinal win vs. Morocco on Wednesday.
Trailing 1-0 late in the game, Morocco looked to be getting closer and closer to finding an equalizer until Mbappé produced a moment of magic in the 79th minute.
Receiving the ball at the top of the Moroccan box, Mbappé quickly glided past Soyfan Amrabat and then slithered away from Achraf Dari. In the blink of eye there were five Morocco players converging on the 23-year-old.
Lionel Messi's recent World Cup past has been synonymous with infamous performances from Argentina's strikers.
In the 2014 final, Gonzalo Higuaín was Argentina's worst player, slicing a glorious opportunity wide and failing to check his run on an offside goal. In 2018, Sergio Agüero fought with manager Jorge Sampaoli and got dropped.
Youssef En-Nesyri will never have to pay for anything in Morocco again after scoring a goal that Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of. His finish was the difference as Morocco won 1-0, sending Portugal home from Qatar early.
MOROCCO TAKES THE LEAD VS PORTUGAL pic.twitter.com/X9qbiJeCBP
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 10, 2022
Portugal must have seen Brazil’s emphatic drubbing of South Korea on Monday and thought, “that’s it?”
Without Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting 11 for its knockout round tie against Switzerland, Portugal was allowed to breathe going forward and discovered its creative side, without having the attacking muzzle that is Manchester United’s newest abdication.
Portugal manager Fernando Santos made the incredibly bold decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for his team’s 6-1 victory vs. Switzerland in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. Taking Ronaldo’s place was 21-year-old Benfica talent Gonçalo Ramos.
The rest is history.
Ramos scored a hat trick and added an assist in a dominant performance. Ronaldo who?
The rumor for why CR7 was benched is for a spat he had with South Korea’s Cho Gue-sung when being substituted out of Portugal’s final group stage game.
"Baila Brasil, Baila"
Brazil got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over South Korea, but the Seleção, and especially manager Tite, stole the headlines for what they did after each of their four goals.
DOHA - Thirteen years separate France strikers Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud but their devastating double act in the 3-1 last-16 defeat of Poland at the World Cup on Sunday showed the age gap is no barrier to a flourishing relationship.
Giroud, at 36, brings experience and guile to France's attack, while Mbappé, 23, is blessed with pace so explosive that the screens at the Al Thumama Stadium showed him hitting a top of speed of 22 mph as he tormented Poland's defense.
And just like that, it's over. The United States is sent packing after a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the first game of the knockout stage. The first World Cup since 2014 for the Americans gave fans much reason for hope, but it exposed the team's weaknesses as well.
The USA’s 2022 World Cup run ended in the Round of 16 on Saturday with a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands. It’s a game that could have ended differently for the Stars and Stripes who simply weren’t at their best.
This youthful American team will be disappointed in the loss but should be proud of their performances in the tournament. This team went undefeated in the group stage, outplayed mighty England and was the only Concacaf team to advance to the Round of 16.
For one last time let’s look at the three takeaways from the USA’s final game.