France defeated Australia without entirely convincing, and the same sort of analysis could be applied to its myriad of attacking talent. Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe are both absolute spectacles in full flight and Antoine Griezmann is the spice that is the variety of life, but the three just couldn’t combine with the sort of intricacy and understanding that fellow frontrunners Spain and Brazil enjoy.
It was a wild ride for American midfielder Dax McCarty in 2017. In January, McCarty was recalled by the national team for the first time since 2011, but he was subsequently shocked to learn that after five and a half seasons with the New York Red Bulls, he’d been dealt to the Chicago Fire before the start of the new campaign.
McCarty then helped the USMNT triumph at the Gold Cup, starting in two group stage games and appearing in five games overall, including a late substitute appearance in the final against Jamaica.
Having played for Deportivo, Valencia and Betis in La Liga, Mexico captain Andres Guardado has had the privilege (or perhaps the horror) of lining up against Barcelona’s Lionel Messi extensively over the past decade.
Yesterday, Italian legend Andrea Pirlo played one final match before retirement — his testimonial at the San Siro. After a career spent with Brescia, Inter, Reggina, Milan, Juventus, New York City FC and the Italian national team, a world-class selection of former teammates came together to celebrate the career of the midfield maestro.
Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.
Today — Friday, April 27, 2018 — Andres Iniesta confirmed in a press conference at Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva that this would well and truly be his final season at the club.
Aside from the more technical aspects of U.S. youth soccer development, there’s a very real and very obvious significance in having players worthy of serving as inspirations to young Americans in MLS. While Lionel Messi and Neymar will always be accessible via YouTube highlights, there’s something much more tangible and effective with regards to seeing an otherworldly talent live.
A top of the table clash in the Primeira Liga between first place Benfica and second place Porto went a long way toward deciding the title on Sunday. Thanks to Hector Herrera’s 90th-minute strike at the Estadio da Luz, Porto dramatically leapfrogged Benfica in the table, going two points clear with four matches remaining.
Let’s just get this straight — we don’t know what we just saw, but we know we liked it. Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win over CSKA Moscow in the Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday thanks to an absolutely absurd Aaron Ramsey goal.
To set the stage, Ramsey had already put the Gunners ahead with a goal in the ninth minute only for Aleksandr Golovin to equalize six minutes later with a brilliant free kick. Alexandre Lacazette restored Arsenal’s advantage with a penalty kick but the Gunners weren’t done.
Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic bicycle kick against Juventus yesterday was a flawless 75-minute performance from Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco.