There’s no going back. Soccer no longer relies on its history, tradition and tribal lines for meaning. While those aspects are still appreciated, they are now the means to an end defined by business, industry and global reach — and there’s always so much more to be done on that front. That’s the monster of commercialization.
Tottenham could be left without star striker Harry Kane until the start of next season, according to manager Jose Mourinho. Kane left Spurs' 1-0 New Years Day defeat to Southampton with an injury, revealed after scans to be a ruptured tendon in his hamstring. The North London side was initially hopeful Kane would be able to resume training in April, but Mourinho has now suggested that may be too optimistic.
Disgraced former USMNT manager Jürgen Klinsmann has doubled down on his belief that he had the nation “in a good place” and on track for “the final four” at the 2018 World Cup despite his final game in charge — a 4-0 defeat to Costa Rica in San José — echoing through time as the second-most abject, clueless performance in the history of the program (the nadir being that night in Couva).
To coincide annually with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 239 experts from 63 different nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last few years. There are no experts involved, there’s no rhyme or reason for anything, but we do hope you’ll join us on this adventure into the bowels of the beautiful game.
After an incessant 19-month news cycle that began on Mar. 31, 2018, with an incredible brace against LAFC and concluded on Oct. 24, 2019, with a playoff defeat to the same team, we’ll admit that we’re already feeling pretty empty without Zlatan Ibrahimović in America.
Liverpool won its first Club World Cup title with a 1-0 extra-time win over Brazil’s Flamengo on Saturday. It was Liverpool’s first intercontinental title but few in the U.S. were afforded an opportunity to watch it live.
Because Fox still shows a hatred for soccer, as we’ve lamented for more than two years, the American broadcaster chose to show three different college basketball games instead of the Club World Cup on Saturday.
Sergio Ramos has had his best idea since deciding to pull a Panenka on Rui Patrício at Euro 2012. The Real Madrid captain said he believes there should be two Ballon d’Or trophies, thus eliminating that tiresome argument over whether the award should simply be given to the best overall player on the planet (always Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo) or to the player who performed most influentially over the strictly defined duration of a season (usually Messi or Ronaldo, but sometimes a little less clear).
For fans of Major League Soccer, the offseason is entirely too long. It’s a point that Vancouver Whitecaps manager Marc Dos Santos was recently fined for expressing with some decidely colorful language.
“Players at the top level, they have three weeks, one month maximum, on break,” Dos Santos said. “I’m telling you, three months and a half of a break in a soccer season is Mickey Mouse. It’s amateur. It doesn’t happen in the world.”
The biggest news of the Major League Soccer offseason so far has been the Chicago Fire’s new logo. For many, it was a bigger shock to the system than seeing Giovani dos Santos score goals for Club América.
Named for the greatest story our city can tell - its own legend.