The AP reported that Lionel Messi is set to undergo medical tests related to a kidney problem he suffered in December that seems to have recurred. Naturally, we as a soccer website are handling this news with the trademark reserve and calm of the worldwide soccer community. We are not panicking at all.
Do not sit in front of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the Paris Saint-Germain bench. He will put a shoe on your head.
Seriously, he will. We're not making that up. He'll do it. We've seen him do it.
Want proof? Here's proof:
ibra c'est un enfant pic.twitter.com/p2s7xOYjqc
We don't know if anyone noticed this, but Lionel Messi is pretty good at soccer. He scored a hat trick in Barcelona's 7-0 demolition of Gary Neville's Valencia side Wednesday.
¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
La pulga con un 3-0 de playstation pero nivel leyenda. Barça golea en 30'. #CopadelRey https://t.co/mQV3UtS8ad
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the game for so long we can barely remember who dominated the game before them. A statistic that really puts this feeling into perspective is this: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo now have 1,000 goals combined in their careers.
Goal number 1,000 came via La Pulga Saturday againt Atletico Madrid.
Everybody loves Ronaldinho, and everybody especially loves him on Ecuador.
Ecuadorian team Barcelona (no we are not making that name up) brought Dinho in to be the guest of honor at their big season kickoff celebration thingy, and the person who loved the former Barcelona (the Spain version) man the most there might have been the referee.
If you watched the Milan derby this past weekend, you may have seen this olive tree ceremony before the game.
The Milan derby was the latest game to see the ceremony take place. Photo: @waatp | Twitter
Ronaldinho is one of the best attacking midfielders of the modern era, up there with Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, Andres Iniesta, Pavel Nedved and others. That's exceptional company to be in, and he has now anointed a player he believes will join that group: fellow Brazilian and Liverpool man Roberto Firmino.
From The Mirror:
"I didn't ever question if he would be a great player for Liverpool, I knew that he would be," said the World Cup winner.
Remember this kid? The one with the heart-wrenching Messi jersey made out of a plastic bag? Well, now that your heart has been wrenched, prepare for it to be warmed.
Lots of people have been working to find this kid. After a hiccup or two, it looks like they've found him. And now a meeting with Lionel Messi himself is in the works.
The little boy's name is Murtaza Ahmadi. He's five years old and lived in a small village in Afghanistan.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez continues to surprise. The CONCACAF 2015 Player of the Year continues to shine in Europe, scoring a brace for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga against Hannover Saturday.
The former super-sub turned super-starter at the German club is in great form, scoring his 13th goal in the league out of 16 appearances, demonstrating his importance to the German club and highlighting the reason why big clubs are looking to sign him during the winter transfer window.
The MLS regular season doesn’t begin play until March 6, but preseason preparations have begun around the league. Scavenging the social media accounts of all 20 clubs, we’ve compiled the best photos and videos from the 2016 preseason for your viewing pleasure. Smiling faces, southern sunshine and a tangible excitment surrounding the growth of MLS make the 21st season of the league the most anticipated to date.
The Best Photos and Videos from the 2016 MLS Preseason:
Andrea Pirlo doing what only Andrea Pirlo can: