As we approach the beginning of the 22nd season of MLS and fifth of NWSL, now’s as good a time as any to reflect on how far soccer has come in North America. Another gorgeous soccer-specific stadium in being opened in Orlando with additional stadia planned for Washington, D.C.
Some pictures are worth a thousand words, some pictures tell a story and some are just unexplainable. So, if you're looking for pictures that will leave you as confused as ever, then you've come to the right place. We found a collection of soccer related photos that will just make you say WTF. So just keep scrolling, here are 28 photos that you won't want to miss...or do you?
Falkirk captain David McCracken found himself stranded on a highway in the middle of a traffic jam caused by UK’s latest snowstorm. Storm Doris prevented McCracken from attending his club’s morning training session. Despite the snow covered highway, the 35-year-old decided to make the most out of the problematic situation.
Determined to get his workout in, the Scottish footballer ditched his vehicle and started stretching in-between the surrounding cars, which we're now calling the David McCracken Snowstorm Workout.
Partizan's Brazilian midfielder Everton Luiz was seen leaving the pitch in tears after his side’s match against local Belgrade rival FK Rad. After being subjected to monkey noises and an insulting banner during the game, Luiz approached Rad supporters at the end of the match and gave them the finger after Partizan clinched a 1-0 victory.
Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce and Besiktas met in the Turkish Cup round of 16 on Sunday, and Robin van Persie took center stage to make the match entirely about himself.
Just before halftime, Van Persie clashed with Besiktas defender Dusko Tosic. The Dutch striker appeared to knee and elbow the Serbian, and the two then squared off face to face. They might’ve brushed noses, but it was Van Persie who had the idea to start screaming and fling himself at the ground. The referee bought what Van Persie was selling and sent Tosic off.
Match fixing has rocked international soccer to a disturbing degree. The 2006 Italian football scandal will forever remain a dark mark on the histories of clubs like Juventus and Fiorentina, among others. Portugal, Germany and Brazil have also had their league's sporting integrity compromised by corrupt referees.
More than two years after the 2014 World Cup, the excess of $3 billion spent on building new stadiums and renovating existing ones across Brazil is looking more and more like an unmitigated disaster. With the government unable to pay teachers, medical personnel and pensions, the extreme costs of up keeping these gargantuan white elephants are rightly the last thing on the country's priority list.
Last week, British magazine Coach published what they contended was an exclusive interview with Lionel Messi, in which the Barcelona star supposedly said he would like to stay at Barcelona.
It turns out they published nothing of the sort.
The "interview" has been taken down and replaced with this message:
We’ve shown you some of the best and most amusing moments the Copa Sao Paulo has had to offer over the past few weeks. However, the latest news coming from Brazil’s top youth competition is nothing short of disturbing. Age fraud has been present in soccer ever since the conception of youth competitions.
What’s your most embarrassing story? Khadim N’Diaye, goalkeeper for the Senegal national team, has a pretty good one. It involves his right leg, his left leg and a degree of shamelessness that’s enough to make the rest of humanity feel humiliated.
N'Diaye performed an atrocious bit of playacting to shave a few seconds off the clock at the end of Senegal’s match versus Algeria at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.