David Villa’s first two seasons in MLS with New York City FC were remarkable, but his third season with the club is poised to be his finest yet. Fresh off being selected for his third consecutive All-Star Game and having just received the 2017 ESPY Award for Best MLS Player, Villa took his league-leading tally to 17 goals from 22 games with his first-ever hat trick in America.
If Reiss Nelson played for Monaco, he’d probably be worth $60 million. But Nelson, 17, is on the Arsenal books and hasn’t seen much first-team playing time. Until this preseason.
Nelson impressed during preseason friendlies and sent Emirates Stadium into a frenzy on Thursday during an open training session. The winger scored an absolutely filthy goal that included a nasty nutmeg.
Easy 1-2 pic.twitter.com/72sfwHitf5
It probably goes without saying, but Rivaldinho is the 22-year-old son of Brazilian legend Rivaldo. The two even managed to play together for Mogi Mirim in the Brazilian Serie B in 2015, actually scoring in the same game in July of that year.
Now, little Rivaldo plays for Dinamo Bucuresti in Romania, and his side were handed a difficult draw in the third qualifying round of the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao.
Now, some shenanigans from the Brazilian lower leagues.
Jaja, a forward for Tupi, danced around the America Miniero keeper and instead of a simple toe poke, he went for glory, winding up for a back-heeled finish. Fellow forward Flavio Caca-Rato had other ideas, however, and decided to completely steal his teammate’s thunder. Watch him ruthlessly rob poor Jaja of a goal.
Romelu Lukaku is slated to be the next big thing at Manchester United. The former Everton striker has been one of the most dominant players in the Premier League for the last few seasons, and he finally got his move to a mega club.
At Manchester United, Lukaku will be expected to score bucketfuls of goals, without much support. He has Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata as his pipeline, but Manchester United's midfield really needs work.
Fortunately for United, Lukaku is really, really good:
Alex Morgan undoubtedly has a special relationship with the soccer ball. Her ability to fire shots in the back of the net over the years is clear proof of that fact. However, this goal from last spring shows just the kind of mesmerizing soccer sorcery the forward is capable of.
For those not old enough to have witnessed Pele’s pomp during the late 50s, 60s and early 70s, our understanding of the Brazilian icon is almost conditioned. We know he was great for three main reasons:
The long-range specialist. No defensive tactic in the world can stop Johnny Howitzer from beaming up that special sauce and unleashing his fury from 30 yards out. Goalkeepers hate them, video editors love them and your parents wish you could be them.