Human Interest

South Africa Has More Swag Than Any Other Footballing Nation

The late 19th century to the end of the apartheid era in South Africa saw the rise of townships, urban living areas, built on the periphery of towns and cities. Reserved for non-whites, these sprawling and often underdeveloped slums were contrived as separate living spaces for working class and unemployed black, colored and Indian inhabitants. 

Townships were also referred to as locations or lokasie in Afrikaans. Lokasie gave way to the colloquial term kasi, a word which now encompasses the flavor and distinct style of the townships. 

The Incredible Irishman Who Saved FC Barcelona Only To Be Forgotten

Everyone knows the names of the greats who have taken the field for FC Barcelona over the years, from Messi to Cruyff, from Ronaldo to Iniesta, from Luis Suarez (both of them!) to Neymar, just to name a few. But all too few know the name of the man to whom these legends and all fans of Barcelona owe a huge debt of gratitude: Patrick O’Connell.

The Best Football Commentator In The World Will Call The Next 2 World Cups For Telemundo

Andres Cantor is the best soccer announcer in the world this is not up for debate, although we do allow we have not seen/heard every single soccer announcer in the world. It's kind of like how we haven't seen every single soccer player in the world, but still recognize Lionel Messi as the best. 

Andrés Guardado Is Never Finished. His Entire Career Proves it.

Andrés Guardado simply will not stop. He’s the epitome of hard work, strength of character and desire for all of the Americas. 

A born fighter, Guardado does not keep his battles solely on the field. He inspires others to work towards the betterment of themselves and the world around them.

He tackles the battle against breast cancer, pushing for global awareness and activisim, in the same way he'd fly into a tackle for El Tri.

Pele Released From Hospital

Pele has been released from the hospital in good health after undergoing surgery on his back. He was admitted into the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after suffering from a trapped nerve.  

Hulk Warns FIFA Of Russian Racism At World Cup

The question of whether or not Russia should host the 2018 World Cup still remains in the air after recent stories of corruption from Sepp Blatter and FIFA have risen. Should plans for the next World Cup stay the same, more issues besides corruption will come to light during the summer tournament. 

How Were These Top Players Ever Relegated From The Premier League?

Ballon d'Or winners, Champions League victors and multiple Premier League medal holders, it's hard to believe these players have all been relegated from the EPL.

In Memoriam: A Look Back At The Soccer Stars Who Died In 2014

2014 saw the deaths of some prominent figures in the soccer community. We here at The18 thought it would be a good idea to honor those who passed away this calendar year with mini bios on each of the departed. The soccer community already misses these individuals. 

Ronaldo Has A New Statue. And Something Is In Its Pocket (Or It Is Pretty Excited To See You).

Cristiano Ronaldo is from Madeira, a little island off of the coast of Portugal and it is not surprising that his persona is probably the biggest export to come from the petite island. The Real Madrid goal-scoring machine (who has 25 goals in 15 La Liga matches) has a museum dedicated to his likeness on the island, and this past weekend they added another memento to honor the Portuguese star: A statue.  

Except there are two problems with this statue.

#1: It looks nothing like Cristiano Ronaldo:

Who's Been Naughty And Who's Been Nice? A 2014 Christmas Countdown.

With Christmas just around the corner and Santa putting his final touches on his naughty and nice list, we here at The18 thought we’d put together our own list of soccer’s naughtiest and nicest personas of 2014. 

Naughty 

Luis Suarez


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