National Teams

When The Attacker Reacts Like This, You Just Made The Greatest Save Ever

You know in FIFA when you strike the perfect ball and the goalkeeper really shouldn’t even have time to react but instinctively leaps sideways and backwards and claws out your shot with a preposterous bit of animation that makes your blood curl? Well that just happened to Poland’s Kamil Grosicki but in real life.

The Polish attacker really should’ve scored with this perfectly placed header, but Japan’s Eiji Kawashima sprinted across his goal-line, went full extension and pawed it out with a monstrous right claw. This is what’s referred to as slamming the door shut.   

The Myth Of The Argentina World Cup

After Argentina versus Nigeria, a journalist approached Lionel Messi and asked him a question. A few days previous, the same man had given the player a piece of red thread, a good luck charm passed along by his wife. In the aftermath of the forward’s fantastic goal, helping Argentina to qualify for the next round, the journalist asked whether Messi remembered the gift.

Heroes And Villains Of The World Cup: Matchday 14

We will have no back-to-back champions. We will have no Germany 7 — Brazil 1. We will have no Thomas Muller doing silly things at the Munich Hofbräuhaus. Everything is different now. 

Mexico’s Round Of 16 Curse Just Got More Demonic: It’s Neymar, Coutinho And Brazil

The great news for Mexico is that South Korea’s shock upset of Germany kept El Tri in the tournament. The bad news is that it’s Brazil lying in wait in the Round of 16. The even worse news? That right-hand side of Mexico that just got torched by Emil Forsberg and Ludwig Augustinsson now has to stop Neymar and Philippe Coutinho. The only real news of comfort for the backtracking Miguel Layun is that Marcelo might not be there. 

Costa Rica Goes Out With Heads Held High Thanks To Hilarious Own Goal

Costa Rica lost two tough matches to start the 2018 World Cup. The 2014 quarterfinalist was a few moments away from earning two draws but instead took two losses. But the Switzerland vs Costa Rica match finished 2-2, giving Los Ticos a deserved point from their stay in Russia, even if it came thanks to an odd own goal.

There's A Bar Drinking For Every Neymar Flop; They Are All Dead

There’s a bar that is giving out shots every time Neymar takes a dive. After the absurd Neymar roll against Serbia, they’re probably all dead now. 

For the second straight match, Neymar has made a fool of himself. Against Costa Rica he made this horrible dive. It inspired a bar in Rio de Janeiro to offer free drinks every time Neymar falls over. 

Germany Completes Epic Collapse With Pathetic Defeat To South Korea

Who could have foreseen this? Germany, the defending champion, had never been knocked out in the group stage, advancing in its previous 18 tournaments. Die Mannschaft won the 2017 Confederations Cup with ease. All that was needed was a win for Germany vs South Korea and Joachim Low’s men would have moved on to the next round. 

Instead, it was a tepid 2-0 loss for Germany vs South Korea, sending the 2014 World Cup champion home with a last-place finish in Group F.

So, who could have foreseen this? Anyone who learns from history.

'San Zusi' Has Been Replaced By 'San Cho,' South Korea’s Godly Keeper

Mexico’s deserved 3-0 spanking at the hands of an exceptional Sweden side doesn’t matter. El Tri’s through to the Round of 16 thanks to one of the greatest upsets in the history of the World Cup. The defending champions are out, and they’ll long have nightmares of South Korea goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, who made six saves on the day.

Mexico Crushed By Sweden But Who Cares Because South Korea Beat Germany

El Tri fans will likely not want to watch the Mexico vs Sweden highlights from Wednesday’s World Cup Group F finale. The 3-0 defeat for the Concacaf side had few redeeming qualities for fans of Mexico. But hey, South Korea stunned Germany and El Tri advanced anyway, so who cares, right?

Mexico started the match out with the right attitude, not sitting back but not pushing too far forward. But that changed in the second half, when Sweden took the lead with three goals in 24 minutes. 

If France Can’t Figure These 3 Things Out, Argentina Just Might Do This

As frustrating as it was to watch (the 78,000 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow deserve a refund), France’s scoreless draw against Denmark — our first of the tournament — wasn’t hard to predict. Les Bleus wanted top spot in Group C and Denmark loves nothing more than an amicable bit of chumminess, and so that’s how it played out.

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