Virgil van Dijk might have to get a tear drop tattoo after he obliterated Argentina’s Leandro Paredes on Friday during the Netherlands 4-3 penalty defeat against the South American giants.
Friday’s quarterfinal was an intense and feisty affair as there were several skirmishes and shoving matches throughout the night.
Brazil’s loss is a reminder that life is not fair.
Making the right decisions does not guarantee success. Like some sort of natural disaster, Croatia has taken that which is entirely good and reduced it to rubble. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Despite their best effort and the world’s wishes, Brazil has been sent home prematurely from Qatar after losing on penalties.
With less than five minutes to play in extra time and Croatia trailing Brazil 1-0 in Friday's World Cup quarterfinal, it looked like Luka Modrić's 160th appearance in that famous checkered shirt would be the captain's last after an inspirational 17-year international career.
But only Modrić gets to decide when he's finished.
Neymar Jr. tied Pelé’s record for the most goals scored for Brazil’s national team on Friday during his side’s 4-2 defeat on penalties vs. Croatia. Neymar’s go-ahead goal in the 106th minute was a classic display of his silky footwork and his 77th for Brazil.
Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic put in a nearly flawless shift denying and frustrating the Brazilians all game. It was going to take something truly special to put the ball in Croatia’s net, and Neymar was just the man to do it.
Portugal manager Fernando Santos made the incredibly bold decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for his team’s 6-1 victory vs. Switzerland in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. Taking Ronaldo’s place was 21-year-old Benfica talent Gonçalo Ramos.
The rest is history.
Ramos scored a hat trick and added an assist in a dominant performance. Ronaldo who?
The rumor for why CR7 was benched is for a spat he had with South Korea’s Cho Gue-sung when being substituted out of Portugal’s final group stage game.
In front of a partisan crowd of 9,531 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC, the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels stormed to a 2-0 lead over the top-ranked UCLA Bruins in the 2022 NCAA Women's College Cup Final on Monday night.
After a goalless first half, Avery Patterson opened the scoring for UNC with a header off Emily Colton's cross in the 59th minute.
58 ' I THE TAR HEELS STRIKE FIRST IN CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY ‼️
AL WAKRAH, Qatar - Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković saved penalties from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida before Mario Pašalić netted the winning spot-kick in their 3-1 shootout win over Japan on Monday to reach the World Cup quarterfinals.
BLOCKED! The first penalty from Japan is saved!
Japan: ❌
Croatia: pic.twitter.com/NBvPsYulJo
The United States qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. It had been over eight years since the men’s team had last reached this stage, only to fall in overtime to a strong Belgium side in 2014. This time, the Netherlands stood between the United States and a place in the quarters.
The Dutch side was no stranger to making it all the way to the final match. Their world-class team was headlined by one of the top defenders in the world, Virgil Van Dijk, along with Frenkie de Jong, a speedy midfielder in his prime. Netherlands were clear favorites to win.
England was clinical in dispatching Senegal 3-0 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup with defending champion France awaiting on Saturday, Dec. 10.
Senegal was playing with confidence after back-to-back wins over Qatar and Ecuador to reach the Round of 16, and the Lions of Teranga were the better side in the opening 35 minutes by forcing England into mistakes at the back. But the African champions couldn't make the Three Lions pay with Jordan Pickford keeping it level at 0-0.
Atop a mountain of French icons, Olivier Giroud stands alone. The AC Milan forward officially beat Thierry Henry’s France goal-scoring record with a great finish against Poland in the World Cup Round of 16 for his 52nd goal for Les Bleus.
GIROUD DOES IT
With this goal Olivier Giroud becomes the France men's national team all-time leading scorer pic.twitter.com/YFm8503bKq