Midfield

Antoine Griezmann shows off the skills with a backheel goal and backheel assist five minutes apart

MADRID — Antoine Griezmann grabbed a goal and an assist as Atletico Madrid returned to winning ways with a 3-0 home victory over Real Valladolid in LaLiga on Saturday.

First-half goals from Griezmann, Alvaro Morata and Mario Hermoso earned fourth-placed Atletico just their second win in their last seven league games, while a fifth straight defeat for Valladolid leaves them one point above the relegation zone in 17th place.

Atletico are 10 points adrift of leaders Barcelona, who have two games in hand and next face Getafe on Sunday.

Rose Lavelle is cooking and will be a menace at the 2023 World Cup if she keeps up this form

Alex Morgan was pulled from the starting XI prior to the USWNT’s friendly vs. New Zealand on Friday after experiencing tightness in her lower leg. Her injury meant that the captain’s armband was transferred to Rose Lavelle. 

The 27-year-old put in quite the captain’s performance during the USWNT’s 5-0 victory vs. New Zealand scoring two goals, providing one assist and bossing the midfield.

Let’s skip straight to the good part and look at the sensational volley Lavelle scored in the 39th minute.

Yunus Musah to Liverpool for $20M? American excels vs. Real Madrid to drive up value

According to the latest reports, Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp are leading the race to sign 20-year-old USMNT and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah for a modest transfer fee of just over $20 million.

On Wednesday in Valencia's Supercopa de España semifinal against Real Madrid, Musah only added to his value with a defensive performance not unlike the rousing displays he gave against England and Iran in Qatar. 

Open-top bus parade time: Newcastle United reach a cup semifinal!

It'd been 18 long years since Newcastle United had advanced to the semifinals in one of England's cup competitions, but their supporters can once again dream of breaking a major trophy curse that's lasted since 1955 after beating Leicester City 2-0 in the League Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night at St James' Park.

Clausura 2023: Los 10 mejores mediocampistas de la Liga MX

Antes del inicio del Clausura 2023 de la Liga MX nos lanzamos en la aventura de elegir a los mejores del torneo en distintas funciones del juego:

Man-mark Messi? Croatia's three-headed midfield monster ready to immobilize entire team

DOHA - Croatia will not attempt to stop Argentina superstar Lionel Messi by man-marking him but instead will focus on immobilizing the entire team in their World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, they said.

Croatia are bidding to make it to the final for the second World Cup in a row after losing in the 2018 showcase match to France.

They stunned tournament favorites Brazil in the quarterfinals after going a goal down in extra-time but dug deep to bounce back with a late equalizer and force a penalty shootout that they ended up winning.

Not even Brazil gets to decide when Luka Modrić's finished

With less than five minutes to play in extra time and Croatia trailing Brazil 1-0 in Friday's World Cup quarterfinal, it looked like Luka Modrić's 160th appearance in that famous checkered shirt would be the captain's last after an inspirational 17-year international career.

But only Modrić gets to decide when he's finished.

Casemiro's strike of rare purity confirms Brazil's place in the round of 16

DOHA - Doha’s Stadium 974 thrummed to the samba beat on Monday night as Brazilian fans brought Latin American swagger to this patch of Qatar and Casemiro fired Brazil into the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup finals with a 1-0 victory over Switzerland.

The midfielder’s spectacular 83rd minute goal sent Brazil through with a game to spare and lit a touch paper to a contest that up to then had struggled to smolder.

Tunisia's Aïssa Laïdouni is my new favorite player

You'll hear the sentiment over and over again during tournament coverage: There are no mysteries at the World Cup anymore — modernity and globalization have combined to eliminate the past thrill of the complete unknown showing up on our TV screens and taking over.

The making of Weston McKennie: How America's most unique talent reached the top — and the team behind the scenes who helped him along the way

Weston McKennie is one of soccer's most unique talents. Even on the world's biggest stage, the 24-year-old American stands out in the middle of the pitch with his all-action style, covering every blade of grass, arriving first to every contested ball and occasionally looking like a one-man midfield out there.

But Weston would be the first to admit that his meteoric rise to playing for Italy's biggest club and representing his country on the world’s stage is grounded in the help, commitment and sacrifice of teammates, family, friends, and coaches.

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