Paris Saint-Germain and the Riyadh All-Stars put on a magnificent show on Thursday as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and Kylian Mbappé all found the back of the net in PSG's 5-4 victory. The stars showed out and one Ronaldo nutmeg vs PSG received enormous applause from the fans inside King Fahad International Stadium.
The lasting feeling from Thursday's 5-4 friendly between PSG and a Riyadh All-Star XI in Saudi Arabia is that Cristiano Ronaldo, on the verge of his 38th birthday, and Lionel Messi, 35, could play forever. Neymar, 30, looks like he's got a year or two left in him.
It was Ronaldo who scored Riyadh's first two goals while Messi opened the scoring for PSG in the third-minute. Both provided moments of dazzling skill, much to the delight of the businessman who paid $2.66 million for a single ticket.
Messi opens the scoring off Neymar's pass
We have discovered the next Alisson Becker — it's 18-year-old Braga prospect João Carvalho, who makes Alisson look about as talented as Loris Karius in comparison.
On Tuesday, in Portugal's Liga Revelação U-23 division, Carvalho took possession in the 89th minute with his Braga side holding a slender 2-1 advantage over Rio Ave. In this situation you're supposed to "GET RID!" by smashing the ball 30 yards out of play, but Carvalho is built different.
Celso Borges might have pulled off one of the filthiest nutmeg sequences of the year. Yes, I'm aware we're in January.
The 34-year-old central midfielder is one of Costa Rica’s all-time greats (playing a vital part in the Ticos’ 2014 World Cup run) and to this day, he keeps showing us why he’s regarded as such, even in a charity match.
If you've played indoor soccer before, you've undoubtedly been left mad as hell at your goalkeeper for making a total mess of harmless balls smashed off the walls. The corner is a particularly dangerous area for keepers with zero foot skills, but we've also all probably seen a traditional outfield player being forced into the keeper role and getting beat by the softest of efforts.
What I've never seen before is this: a player understanding all the angles, all the realities, and purposefully hammering one off the wall to outfox a keeper coming out to usher away a chance.
La cartelera de la tercera ronda de la Copa Rey este martes prometía acción para varios mexicanos en España.
El número central era el debut de César Montes en el Espanyol vs. Celta de Vigo. Pero la oferta también daba la rara oportunidad de ver al mediocampista Luis Fernando Télles del humilde CP Cacereño enfrentando al todopoderoso Real Madrid, mientras que el Sporting de Gijón visitaba al Rayo Vallecano con Jordan Carrillo en su arsenal.
Y de los tres, fue Carrillo el que más impresionó.
Antes del inicio del Clausura 2023 de la Liga MX nos lanzamos en la aventura de elegir a los mejores del torneo en distintas funciones del juego:
Marseille returned to action after the World Cup break Thursday and hammered Toulouse 6-1 to climb to third in the Ligue 1 table. Marseille's third straight league win was secured with goals from Valentin Rongier, Rasmus Nicolaisen (OG), Sead Kolašinac, Dimitri Payet, Cengiz Ünder and Nuno Tavares.
El PSG volvió a la acción de la Ligue 1 tras el parón que significó el Mundial, enfrentando al RC Estrasburgo, en un partido que básicamente fue una cápsula de exhibición de las mejores virtudes y los peores defectos de Neymar Jr.
La estrella brasileña brilló con una asistencia en la victoria por 2-1 del PSG y dejó a todos boquiabiertos al dejar en el camino a un rival con un movimiento que incluyó elástico y túnel. ¿Lo malo? Se fue expulsado luego de una terrible simulación.
Emiliano Martínez didn’t have a single shot come toward his goal until the 71st minute. From that moment on he became one of the key figures in Argentina’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory vs. France in the World Cup final after the game finished 3-3 at the end of extra time.
Martínez was one of the most polarizing characters at the 2022 World Cup. His haters despise him for his gamesmanship, taunting and excessive celebratory body gyrations. Martínez’s critics have one other thing to deal with: he’s a DAMN good goalkeeper.