Opinion

Heading into Sunday's A-League match between Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers, United left back Ben Garuccio hadn't managed a league goal in four years. The 26-year-old Australian admitted to wearing a new pair of cleats in today's game and that did the trick.

Garuccio got a brace in United's 3-2 victory, including the match-winner in the 68th minute with a beautifully improvised scorpion kick that beat goalkeeper Daniel Margush at his near post.

As the commentator says, "That's not a goal, that's a freak show! This is René Higuita on steroids!"

Real Madrid’s Casemiro will miss the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain for yellow card accumulation. The Brazilian picked up a yellow card in the first half at the Parc de Princes for a hard tackle on Leandro Paredes. Casemiro should consider himself lucky to have not seen a red card for what happened after the tackle.

Casemiro Chokes Paredes

While the incident is brief, Casemiro clearly grabs a hold of Paredes’ neck after the challenge.

The commercials for Super Bowl 56 were the high quality, humorous advertisements everyone hoped for. Michelob’s “Superior Bowl” was a fan-favorite with its superstar cast. While some call it the Michelob commercial or the Big Lebowski commercial, we here at The18 are legally required to call it the Alex Morgan Super Bowl commercial.

Alex Morgan Super Bowl Commercial

A bad-blooded Liga MX clash between Pumas and León on Sunday ended with both sides having 10 men on the pitch, but Pumas could've gone down to nine in the final minutes if not for an incredible piece of sportsmanship from León's Luis "Chapo" Montes.

The two sides entered matchweek five separated by just a point, and the first half at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City was finely poised with Santiago Colombatto giving León the lead in the 20th minute with a left-footed strike from 17 yards out before Rogério brought Pumas level just four minutes later.

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). 

As a Newcastle United supporter, you might be curious (you're not) who my favorite player is. It's a tie between Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton. 

ASM represents everything that's beautiful about this game. He's a wizard on the dribble, capable of conjuring something out of nothing and always worth tuning in for. 

Big Joe isn't really any of those things. He's all heart, perseverance in the face of unmitigated failure and the inventor of the $54 million striker-turned-inside-midfield-destroyer position. 

The Campeonato Pernambucano — the state football championship of Pernambuco, Brazil — was the site of an unbelievable goal on Sunday from 21-year-old Salgueiro AC defender Lucão.

Up 1-0 shortly before halftime and facing pressure from Sete de Setembro, Lucão showed everyone that the quickest transition from defense into attack is simply an 80-yard volley from the middle of your own half that touches down inside the opponent's net. 

It's an effective way to beat the high-press that should be taught in academies across America — if Brazil's doing it, we should do it too.

The United States men’s national team’s victory against Honduras in the freezing Minnesota cold is going to be a game talked about for years down the road.