The annual All Japan High School Soccer Tournament is a big deal. It's like, well, you don't really need a metaphor, do you? It's not that hard to imagine another country also enjoying youth sports. It attracts large viewership at the stadiums and on television, and I have a sneaking suspicion that among those watching are all the set-piece coaches at Europe's major clubs.
The best moments in rec league aren't often unbelievable goals or incredible displays of skill. They're things like batshit crazy tackles that aren't even whistled, own goals scored from the top of your own area and that 24 pack of beer in the cooler.
But all the hoofing, chasing and getting blasted in the face combine to make those rare moments of technique stick out all the clearer, like a Monet in a wastewater treatment plant.
The emergence of 17-year-old Pablo Páez Gavi for both Barcelona and Spain during the 2021-22 season has been criminally under-appreciated in the English-speaking world. It's a serious offense because just putting the La Masia product through the 90-minute eye test is enough to reveal a footballer of supreme talent, which is exceptionally rare when considering all the nuance and subtlety that comes with the midfield position.
Barcelona played Boca Juniors in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in a friendly dubbed The Maradona Cup, with all proceeds going towards paying Philippe Coutinho's salary. The match also served as a second club debut for 38-year-old right back Dani Alves, who signed as a free agent after last playing for São Paulo with nothing but goodwill in his heart and a somewhat good feeling in his feet.
As glorious as Andy Carroll's return to Newcastle United in 2019 originally felt, it eventually only served as a reminder of the toll that time effects on us all. There was something poetically symmetrical about his final 19 Premier League games for the Toon back in 2010 producing 11 goals of the rough-riding and swashbuckling variety, while his return season yielded the same amount of appearances but zero goals.
It turns out the passing of a decade leaves us all, either literally or metaphorically, mutton-chopped, grumpier (throwin' elbows) and with a lot shittier ankles.
To Argentina’s reserve league we go for a Thursday morning match between Racing and Huracán, the site of two very good goals for the Avellaneda-based club.
The first was scored by 18-year-old Nicolás Meaurio. It’s a scorpion kick that takes on the form of a BMX Superman trick. It might lose a style point since the goalkeeper got his hand to it, but you can tell that the total unreasonableness of the effort caught him completely by surprise.
Benfica’s Futsal team defeated Hungarian side Haladás 8-3 in the Futsal Champions League on Wednesday. The real talk of the town is the incredible goal scored by Benfica’s Hossein Tayyebi. The Iranian pulled out some exquisite trickery to score Benfica’s third goal. Check out this Tayyebi goal.
It wasn’t a convincing win but Real Madrid defeated Athletic Club 1-0 on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabéu to open a seven-point lead over Atlético at the top of LaLiga (although los Colchoneros maintain a game in hand).
Athletic doesn’t make it easy for anyone — the Basque side entered this match with the division’s best defensive record after conceding 10 goals through 14 matches — but they came up against two of the planet’s most in-form players in Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior, and it was ultimately that duo that made the difference.
For the second time in the men’s program’s history, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats have reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. The feat was accomplished Sunday after a 4-1 victory over North Carolina with every goal being scored in the first half.
New Hampshire defender Bridger Hansen opened the floodgates in the 23rd minute with one of my favorite bicycle kicks of all time. I’ve seen hundreds over the last few years — each one exhilarating in its own right — but I’ve never seen one that begins with the high-stepping of a prone defender. Style points achieved.
After 18 years representing Portugal and a club career that included three triumphs in the Champions League, Ricardinho, the six-time Best Futsal Player in the World, has decided to call it a career at the age of 36.