Sometimes a miss can be just as beautiful as a goal. I once compiled a list of my favorite almost goals (which you can find here), but a lot of them include the football cracking off the post in a totally satisfactory way (large ping included) or Zinedine Zidane “Zidane Turning” his way beyond defenders before languidly spooning a shot into the heavens.
You know what they say, ridiculous backheel flicks usually come in threes. This past weekend, we were treated to three outlandish finishes of the tacquito sauce variety — one in Amsterdam, one in Nuevo León and one in Poland.
Let’s take a look at all three in descending order.
#3. Kasper Dolberg (Ajax vs. NAC Breda)
Pepsi recently launched a new global marketing campaign to more than 100 countries. Its new "For The Love Of It" slogan reached both Argentina and Egypt's finest.
Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah showed off why they are two of the world’s best target strikers. They took Pepsi’s challenge with ease as Messi double dipped by kicking the ball through the target, while also hitting a perfect bottle flip.Talk about raising the standards for bottle flipping.
Quick, who’s the most expensive transfer of the January window so far? You should know this — it’s the $75 million Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for Christian Pulisic. Now what about the second-most expensive? Any ideas? It’s the $41 million AC Milan paid Flamengo for 21-year-old Brazilian Lucas Paquetá.
A meeting between runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain and last-place Guingamp went exactly as you’d expect on Saturday with the Parisian side romping to a 9-0 victory. (Fun fact: Guingamp has scored 16 goals all season, so PSG recorded more than half that total in just one match.)
With Lionel Messi given a rest and role as a substitute for Barcelona’s match against Leganes on Sunday, Ousmane Dembélé moved into the Argentine’s customary position on the right-hand side of Barca’s front three and spent the opening 45 minutes making the Camp Nou forget all about the man they were missing.
Dembélé opening run of the match led Leganes on a merry dance. He nutmegged one defender and then was millimeters away from dicing another.
It’s been said before, but Paul Pogba, at his best, is akin to a Medieval English siege tower. He’s unassailable in possession, and he’s here to decimate your last line of defense while preying on that most primitive of human emotions — fear.
He’s a contortionist with the ball at his feet, a skill set made all the more bewildering by his imposing 6-3 frame.