Memes

For those that've experienced relegation, it forever stings like the lasting memories of a once passionate love affair that only serve to propel you through the final months of simply going through the motions. 

You know it's ending, you refuse to accept it's ending, it ends. It crumbles into nothingness — just nightmares of a disinterested Michael Owen trodding around the halfway line of your heart and all your good intentions deflecting off Damien Duff and into your own goddamn net at a gleeful Villa Park.

The USMNT all but clinched a spot at the World Cup by hammering Panama 5-1 on Sunday night in Orlando, although a trip to Costa Rica remains on Wednesday with the smallest possibility that the American's passage could be delayed via a six-goal defeat.

Christian Pulisic was involved in an awesome charity event from the USMNT's training base in Houston, Texas, before the team's crucial World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Thursday night. Partnering with PUMA and the Champions Chess Tour, Pulisic played against a 10-year-old version of reigning five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen using the "Play Magnus" mobile app. 

For every move that Pulisic made before his inevitable demise, PUMA donated $500 to UNICEF. Very few people reading this article will appreciate how difficult a task that truly is. 

Launching fireworks outside a team’s hotel before their big game is a common tactic seen around the world. One of the most iconic instances of this was when Iranian fans threw a party outside the hotel where Portugal’s national team was staying for the 2018 World Cup and Cristiano Ronaldo asked for some sleep.

Portugal plays Iran today. Last night Iranian fans partied outside the Portuguese hotel waking up CRISTIANO RONALDO. This is amazing.pic.twitter.com/VdrQbUF0pv

During a 10-minute prematch segment on CBS ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Round of 16 second leg between Real Madrid and PSG at the Bernabéu, Thierry Henry dissected what makes Kylian Mbappé "just a freak." 

Henry said that while speed kills and is what strikes fear into defenders, Mbappé — while consistently being the fastest man on the pitch — combines that pace with control, technique, balance, composure, power, accuracy, left foot and right foot, making him "virtually impossible to defend."

In a turn of events that no one could've predicted, Super Bowl LVI is the closest we'll ever get to an NFL championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions (it's Matthew Stafford's Los Angeles Rams, but you can pretend it's Detroit if you want).