Passing

Watch: Serbia briefly turn into prime 2010 Spain and score beautiful tiki-taka goal

Serbia and Cameroon arguably played the best game of the 2022 World Cup on Monday with a six-goal thriller that ended 3-3. The game also saw a Serbia tiki-taka goal that honestly looked like it could have been scored by that legendary 2010 Spain squad.

The Eagles of Serbia were soaring after scoring two goals in first-half stoppage time to take a 2-1 lead. Playing with supreme confidence, Serbia scored one of the prettiest team goals of the tournament in the 53rd minute.

Look at this string of passes from the Serbs.

Spain scores 7, takes 82% possession and completes 1,043 passes to end Costa Rica

Tiki-taka (the lethal variety) is back. Spain was greatly helped by Costa Rica's decision to grant mobile brain-in-a-jar Sergio Busquets freedom of the park Wednesday, but to downplay La Furia Roja's 7-0 World Cup victory over Los Ticos is like throwing mashed potatoes at a Van Gogh.

This was always the danger for Old Man Costa Rica: 35-year-old Keylor Navas, 34-year-old Celso Borges and 33-year-old Óscar Duarte getting torn apart by 22-year-old Ferran Torres and Barcelona teenage prodigies Pedri and Gavi. 

Beware Spain! Costa Rica beat Nigeria with fantastic display of TICO-taka

Barcelona and Spain's national team popularized tiki-taka in soccer. But their hypnotic passing style — when a squad tries to control the ball and dominate its opponent — is not alone . In Costa Rica there exists the tico-taka, which was on full display during a 2-0 win over Nigeria on Wednesday night. 

It's true we're used to seeing Costa Rica with a more rough and raw style of play, but from time to time they show they can produce beautiful and poetic moments of fútbol. And that's when this tico-taka appears. 

Pulisic returns to Chelsea XI and plays big role in reaching UCL round of 16

Chelsea travelled to Red Bull Arena and beat Salzburg 2-1 Tuesday night to clinch passage to the Champions League Round of 16 for the fourth straight year.

Christian Pulisic, making his first start since scoring against Wolves on Oct. 8, played a role in both goals, although they were spectacularly finished by Mateo Kovačić and Kai Havertz.   

Rafael Leão Has Turned A Simple Stepover Into The Game's Most Devastating Move

Another match, another $10 million added to Rafael Leão's constantly rising market value.

On Wednesday in AC Milan's Champions League group stage encounter with Dinamo Zagreb at the San Siro, Leão was again the Rossoneri's catalyst in a 3-1 victory. The 23-year-old drew the foul that led to Olivier Giroud's opener from the spot, and then he burst past his marker and clipped a cross into the area that was met by Alexis Saelemaekers for Milan's second.

Australian Semi-Pro Team Goes Full Arsenal To Make History And Reach Cup Final

Sydney United 58 FC — a semi-professional club that plays in the third divison — made history Saturday by reaching the Australia Cup final with a dramatic 3-2 extra time victory over the A-League's Brisbane Roar.

In a back and forth affair, Riku Danzaki opened the scoring for Brisbane, but Sydney's Matthew Bilic leveled before halftime. 33-year-old Englishman Charlie Austin restored normality with a 63rd-minute penalty, but Patrick Antelmi kept the "cupset" alive with one in the 71st to knot the match at 2-2.

Watch: Unreal Linkup Between Messi, Neymar Gives PSG 1-0 Win

PARIS — Paris St Germain forward Neymar scored his eighth Ligue 1 goal of the campaign as the champions overcame Brest 1-0 at Parc des Princes on Saturday to extend their unbeaten start and reclaim top spot in the standings.

The result, secured after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved a late Islam Slimani penalty, means Christophe Galtier's side have 19 points from seven matches, two more than second-placed RC Lens who led the table after a 1-0 win over Troyes on Friday.

Olympique de Marseille can go level on points with PSG if they beat visitors Lille later on Saturday.

Megan Rapinoe Shows Exactly Why She Still Has A Big Role To Play For The USWNT

Megan Rapinoe is no longer a starter for the USWNT. Mallory Pugh has made the left flank her own, and it was the 24-year-old Chicago Red Stars forward who forced the opener on Tuesday night against Nigeria at Audi Field with a low cross that resulted in an own goal from the Super Falcons.

However, after Nigeria had surprisingly found an equalizer in the 50th minute through Tigres forward Uchenna Kanu, it was Rapinoe's introduction in the 65th that brought the crowd back to life before her quality in the final third restored the USWNT's advantage just one minute later. 

Arsenal's Perfect Start Ended By Marcus Rashford's Deadly Double

MANCHESTER, England - Marcus Rashford struck twice as Manchester United made it four wins in a row and ended Arsenal's perfect start to the Premier League season with a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.

A high-tempo, top quality game was decided by two Rashford goals on the break after Bukayo Saka had cancelled out United debutant Antony's opener.

My God, It's Beautiful: Riqui Puig Picks Out Chicharito For All-Time LA Galaxy Goal

When highly regarded Masia product Riqui Puig recently left Barcelona for the LA Galaxy in search of a leading role, the preposterous idea of the 23-year-old Spaniard elevating Javier Hernández's game to the point where Tata Martino had to include him in Mexico's World Cup squad might've crossed our minds.

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