Philippe Coutinho

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. 

The United States is not in the 2018 World Cup and Costa Rica just showed the world why. No matter how skilled a team is (or isn’t), it is extremely difficult to beat a Concacaf side like Costa Rica, Panama or Honduras. But a stoppage-time Philippe Coutinho goal vs Costa Rica was just enough to get Brazil a vital three points with a 2-0 win and knock Los Ticos out of the tournament on Friday in Russia.

The original game plan for Brazil had to have been work an opening with Neymar on the ball, twist and turn into some space and then put it in the net. That almost happened in the game’s opening stages, but Paulinho somehow missed from a couple yards out. This is probably the miss out the tournament so far (from open play). 

SO. CLOSE.

Paulinho *just* misses wide for Brazil! pic.twitter.com/vxIPwa4wVr

Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.

While there’s still work to be done to secure its historic “Invincibles” status (most notably Sunday’s El Clasico at the Camp Nou), Barcelona took time off to celebrate its league and cup double on Monday with an open-top bus victory parade through the heart of the city.