"My obligation as Mexico head coach is to make the national team be respected."
Tata Martino's words echoed through the press conference room right before his first match against Chile. Mexico would go on to win that thrilling game 3-1, and he's since gone on to defeat Paraguay 4-2. But this summer, his team will be pushed to the limit.
It’s here: the 64th edition of the European Cup (and the 27th since it was rebranded the Champions League). It’s an all-English affair pitting Liverpool, a five-time winner, against Tottenham, making a first-ever final appearance. Here’s what you need to know about the match in Madrid, including Champions League final TV USA information, streaming options, team previews, injuries and predicted starting lineups.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool FC
When the 2019 Copa América kicks off on June 14 with a match between Brazil and Bolivia at the Morumbi in São Paulo, all eyes will be on the hosts, led by captain Neymar, before attentions turn to Salvador the following day for a match between Colombia and Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
As the Premier League season wound down, polls such as this indicated that neutrals preferred to see Liverpool win the title. Some pundits claimed that this tendency was owing to sympathy that Liverpool hadn't won the title in 29 years, or perhaps to an affinity for Liverpool’s playing style or their affable manager Jurgen Klopp.
There is another explanation that has received no attention whatsoever, namely that spectators judge Liverpool’s record to actually be superior to Manchester City’s.
The Premier League title race doesn’t seem like it will be decided until the final matchday. Liverpool and Manchester City both picked up a vital three points this past weekend, with City winning 3-1 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Liverpool with an emphatic 2-0 win against Chelsea at Anfield.
Statistics can and will be used to deceive you. For example, I could tell you that with 12 goals from 52 shots, Romelu Lukaku is the most clinical finisher in the Premier League behind Raheem Sterling. That’s the truth when using those parameters. However, I could conversely tell you that Lukaku has missed 14 big chances this season, joint-fifth most in the division, and he’s one of the worst finishers in the Premier League. It’s hard to know where the truth lies, but it’s probably somewhere in the middle.
While the statistics that attackers generate greatly lend themselves to the formulation of lists such as this, things get a little more ambiguous where defenders are concerned.
Real Madrid stayed at the top for 1,012 days. That’s probably at least 1,005 days more than any of us have managed (I’m not forgetting that week you found $20 in a rarely-worn coat pocket and someone brought bagels into the office). But now the great Real Madrid Crisis of 2019 is upon us, and HEADS WILL ROLL!
Coming off yet another obliterating defeat on the road, Chelsea is facing a potentially horrendous end to the Premier League season.
The club has been shutout in three straight away games while being outscored 12-0.
Manchester City, Bournemouth and Arsenal have all had their way with the Chelsea defense, turning the heater on Maurizio Sarri’s seat up to 11.
When MLS kicked off in 1996, the league began with 10 teams trying to build on the wave of support from the 1994 World Cup. In the subsequent years markets experienced varying levels of success. For the next 11 years, the league stayed at either 10 or 12 teams. Then, in 2007, David Beckham arrived, along with increased TV time and global interest.