Neymar’s return to the Seleção for a pair of September friendlies against the USMNT and El Salvador brought forth the requisite questions concerning his World Cup antics, and the Paris Saint-Germain star was measured in his response to being labelled a diver before meeting the U.S. in New Jersey on Friday.
Mascots — the oversized, creepy creatures controlled by people who can’t possibly have great relationships with their mothers — are widespread in American sports. But a lot of people wonder: do soccer teams have mascots?
For better or worse, they do.
Soccer mascots range from the weird to the cute, but they’re always weird. Did we mention they’re weird?
When Carlos Saguier was announced as head coach of Paraguayan second division side Club Sporting 2 de Mayo back in July, he probably knew he was consigning himself to what Dick Advocaat called “the loneliest job in the world” — that of the football manager.
The player ratings for FIFA 19 will be revealed over the next week with EA Sports counting down the game’s top 100 footballers each morning.
If you follow college football, you’ve probably heard of 37-year-old University of Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck. He rose to prominence at Western Michigan after leading the unfancied program to a 13-1 record in 2016 and a trip to the Cotton Bowl, but it was his approach to coaching (hyper energy, hyper millennial-approved, hyper “elite”) that won him both fans and detractors in equal measure.
Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. set the Italian youth league on fire this weekend, bagging four goals in the Juventus U-9’s 5-1 win against Lucento. The youngster, repping the No. 7 shirt of course, notched two goals in each half, darting past the legs of outstretched defenders in seamless fashion, much in the way his old man does.
Raúl Jiménez is enjoying a fine start to his Premier League career. Was.
The former Club América forward spent a year at Atlético Madrid and three at Benfica before joining Wolverhampton on loan ahead of this season. He scored a late equalizer against Everton in Wolves’ first match back in the Premier League and has started every league match so far.
But Saturday’s match against West Ham and fellow Mexico international Javier Hernández did not go so well for Jiménez.
Borussia Dortmund, without the injured Christian Pulisic, traveled to face Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga’s Friday night fixture. It was, if we’re being honest, a bit boring, with just three shots on target the entire match. Not even the second-half introduction of American Bobby Wood could spice things up, with the teams finishing in a 0-0 draw and few Dortmund vs Hannover highlights to speak of.
Usain Bolt made his debut with the Central Coast Mariners of Australia’s A-League on Friday. He played 19 minutes, didn’t score and certainly didn’t show enough ability to be considered a professional footballer. But the Usain Bolt soccer trial was a smashing success.
Former USMNT midfielder Stu Holden took a break from pulling double duty with Fox Sports and B/R Live to focus on daddy duty, taking his daughter, Kennady, to Disneyland on Thursday.
The former Houston Dynamo and Bolton Wanderers player decided to do a little cosplaying, dressing up as Elsa from Frozen (I assume; I’m the only one who hasn’t actually seen the movie). Kennady dressed up as well.
Both looked absolutely stunning.
Only one was told to take off the dress.