It’s storybook time with East Bengal FC.
Supporters for East Bengal, which competes in India’s I-League, unveiled a unique, record-setting tifo before its home match with Real Kashmir on Wednesday at the Kalyani Stadium. The tifo featured a book of sorts, with six pages venerating the club’s accomplishments.
Founded 99 years ago, East Bengal has no shortage of history. The East Bengal tifo on Wednesday leaned into that.
Y’all remember Terrence Boyd?
At the start of the decade, Boyd, a German-born striker with an American father, was part of the influx of German-Americans brought into the fold of the USMNT under then-coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
There’s something deeply visceral about the Premier League. When the wind’s swirling, the temperature’s dropping and a legendary old ground like Anfield or Stamford Bridge is rocking, it’s all equal parts blood and thunder in England. This sort of environment lends itself perfectly to some truly violent screamers, the likes of which we’ve witnessed over the years from famed goal scorers such as Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Thierry Henry.
At the age of 25, Paulo Dybala’s already conquered much of the footballing world — fitting for a man that celebrates his goals by donning a figurative gladiator mask. This season marks his fifth with Italian power Juventus, and every previous year has finished with a Serie A title to go along with three Coppa Italia triumphs.
It’s not been the best week for Neymar. On Monday, the Brazilian missed out on the 30-player shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award. On Tuesday, he missed PSG’s 5-0 beatdown of Club Brugge due to a hamstring injury he picked up on international duty.
Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City played to a 0-0 draw to open the A-League campaign on Saturday, but it was a goal that was was called back that drew our attention.
Elvis Kamsoba, a 23-year-old Burundi international who has already played for six different clubs, thought he had scored his first A-League goal in the 56th minute for Victory. Played in brilliantly by former Sweden international Ola Toivonen, Kamsoba slid his first-time shot past onrushing keeper Dean Bouzanis.
Cristiano Ronaldo would, reluctantly, admit that most of the time he needs his teammates to score. The 699th career Cristiano Ronaldo goal, however, was all of his own making.
With Portugal struggling to break down UEFA minnow Luxembourg — Bernardo Silva’s 16th-minute strike was all that separated the two sides after an hour — the team captain showed the rarely seen defensive side of his game to give his side a little breathing room.
Hailed as one of the best defenders in the world right now, Virgil van Dijk is also one of the more likable figures in world soccer. Just don’t tell that to the poor 8-year-old Everton fan he teased in a recent sit-down with some Liverpool U-8 players.
LFC’s stellar social media department released a YouTube video of VVD taking questions from Liverpool youth players in a mostly adorable segment.
Van Dijk answered questions like “Do you pick your nose?” and “Who smells the most in the team?” in a delightful 6:46 video (embedded above).
Sunday marked the 21st time in Luis Suárez’s six-year Barcelona career that he’d hammered a ball flush in the air — be it a volley, scissor or overhead kick — and into the back of the net. Frankly, there’s no one better on the planet with this demanding technique. Here’s that strike against Sevilla.
Things are not going well for Tottenham on the pitch, to the point many Spurs fans are calling for drastic changes in the team. Meanwhile, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium pitch is undergoing some pretty awesome transformations of its own.