Inspiring

History is written by the victors. When you reminisce about the biggest finals of recent times, you’re likely thinking of players like Megan Rapinoe at the 2019 World Cup, Kylian Mbappé in 2018, Carli Lloyd in 2015 or Mario Götze in 2014.   

But there are those rare instances when an individual’s performance on the losing team — for better (Zinedine Zidane in 2006) or worse (Loris Karius in 2018) — lives just as vividly in the memory. 

It was a foggy Saturday morning soccer match and I was defending the goal spectating the action going on the field. I had stopped a few shots earlier in the match and my confidence was quickly rising. Thoughts raced through my head, realizing that I was about to officially record my first clean sheet of the season. Then as clear as day the ball was passed to me, and as I went to stop it with my foot it slowly but surely skipped right below my outstretched foot and into the awaiting net behind me.

After Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez both suffered season-ending injuries within the span of two weeks this past fall, Liverpool's title defense appeared to be over.

Joel Matip was left as the only healthy first-team center back, but soon the Cameroonian — who himself battled his share of injuries in the first half of the campaign — succumbed to a season-ending groin injury in January.

On Sunday, beIN SPORTS broadcast its final LaLiga matches. Next season, ESPN will take over the U.S. TV rights to Spain’s top flight, ending a nine-year stretch where beIN SPORTS was the only way to watch Lionel Messi every week in the States. More than that, it’s the end of an era for Ray Hudson, who remains the only person who has yet to run out of words to describe Messi’s indescribable brilliance. 

Ted Lasso continues to steal our hearts, even when Jason Sudeikis isn’t around. The recent exploits of Lasso’s AFC Richmond caught the eye of an oblivious reporter, and many people are actually wondering: Is Dani Rojas real? 

Rojas, the starlet who captivated as AFC Richmond’s Mexican striker last year, was spotted with his Richmond teammates outside Wembley Stadium after Saturday’s FA Cup final. Asked to do an interview by a local reporter, the entire squad joined in to promote the lad. 

I’m not a podcast person. I listened to Season 1 of Serial on a road trip and only finished it because I was on a road trip. I then avoided the format for like six years until Grant Wahl’s American Prodigy: Freddy Adu, because I need to know where my son Freddy is and what he’s doing at all times. 

But I’m back at it with The Crack Podcast, which I started simply because I love DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu, but I continue because it’s hilarious, informative and generally fucking excellent.

LONDON - Last November, players of Venezuelan first division football team Trujillanos took to the pitch with a banner demanding their long unpaid salaries and then stood still for a minute in protest once the game kicked off.

Since then, the head coach has left to manage the U-20 national team and their three best players moved to clubs in Brazil, Colombia and Canada for next to nothing.