Believe it or not, the NCAA has been home to some of the brightest stars in the soccer world. Here, we take a look at NCAA soccer players in Europe, with a focus on college athletes who made the top flight.
LaLiga club Real Betis officially announced the transfer of United States men’s national team midfielder Johnny Cardoso on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old defensive midfielder became a regular starter for Brazilian club Internacional where he made 144 appearances. Cardoso mostly played as a defensive midfielder but still managed to tally seven goals and five assists with Internacional.
Real Betis paid $6.3 million for the American according to ESPN as Cardoso signed a five-year contract.
Johnny Cardoso Real Betis transfer
An Atlético Madrid Christmas video has pulled at the heartstrings of soccer fans everywhere. The LaLiga club wished fans “a Happy and Red and White Christmas” this year and shared a video that checks all the boxes for an emotional Christmas classic.
The two minute and 45 seconds long clip shares that humanity and kindness triumph over rivalry and division.
We’ll provide an explainer for the video just in case it’s needed.
Atlético Madrid Christmas video
If you think back to some of your angriest moments in life, what did you do? Throw something? Kick a wall? Take your anger out on someone else? Luis García, the manager of LaLiga club Alavés, did all three of those on Thursday during a furious temper tantrum.
Alavés sit just three points clear of the relegation zone and were minutes away from securing a big 0-0 draw vs. Real Madrid at home. García’s side had performed admirably and had a man-advantage after Nacho was given a red card in the 54th minute.
BARCELONA — High-flying Girona reclaimed top spot in LaLiga after beating champions Barcelona 4-2 away on Sunday, condemning Xavi Hernandez's side to their second league defeat of the season.
Artem Dovbyk and Miguel Gutierrez both scored for Girona in the first half, either side of Robert Lewandowski's equalizer, before Girona's Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani added two more goals after the break with Ilkay Gundogan netting another for Barca.
The LaLiga game between Granada and Athletic Bilbao was abandoned on Sunday after a supporter died having suffered a cardiac arrest in the stands, both clubs said.
The game was initially suspended in the 17th minute as paramedics tried to resuscitate the fan and it was eventually abandoned an hour later.
LaLiga fan dies during Granada vs. Athletic Club
Breaking: The LALIGA match between Granada and Athletic Club was suspended after a fan died at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes.
Barcelona drew Rayo Vallecano 1-1 on Saturday and a moment from the game many fans are talking about was seeing Robert Lewandowski thrown to the ground.
The game was a feisty one that saw several hard tackles and a total of seven yellow cards given out between the two teams. There arguably should’ve been an eighth yellow or possibly a red card for Rayo Vallecano’s Florian Lejeune.
During the game Lejeune and Lewandowski clearly weren’t getting along. When the ball was away from the two players, Lejeune threw the Polish striker to the ground.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are undoubtedly the two most popular players on Earth. When it comes to who the third most-known player is people will typically cast their vote for Brazilian star Neymar.
Critics love to discredit the Brazilian as he’s never won the Ballon d’Or nor reached the heights of Messi and Ronaldo. The highest Neymar ever finished in the Ballon d’Or rankings was two third place finishes in 2015 and 2017, behind Messi and Ronaldo both times.
Vinícius Jr’s direct and now classic on-field battle with FC Barcelona’s Ronald Araújo transcended from the pitch and onto social media, with the Brazilian winger clapping back at the Barça defender’s controversial and famous phrase after an El Clásico win. All it took was a cold Instagram caption.
BARCELONA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Real Madrid battled back to win 2-1 at Barcelona in a nervy LaLiga 'El Clásico' on Saturday thanks to a brace by top scorer Jude Bellingham in the second half.
Barcelona produced a performance full of verve and skill, with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan opening the scoring from close range in the sixth minute by taking advantage of a bad defensive mistake by the visitors.
What a start for Barcelona!