Good news: Beavis & Butthead has finally caught on in England. We know this has happened because in a Championship match between Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United Leeds midfielder Connor Shaughnessy gave away a penalty when he demonstrated his Beavis & Butthead fandom by turning Bolton's Gary Madine into The Great Cornholio.
My hero, My mate, Big Gary Madine #bwfc pic.twitter.com/rFCR6lrUm7
One of the best parts of the beginning of the European club season is CUP MAGIC. CUP MAGIC occurs when SMALL CLUBS DO BIG THINGS. The most common example of CUP MAGIC is a small club taking down a big club, but CUP MAGIC can happen in any cup match in which a small club happens to be playing.
In the Coppa Italia yesterday, Serie B clubs Bari and Parma faced off, and Bari's Cristian Galano demonstrated CUP MAGIC with an outrageous 90th minute bicycle kick winner.
After a tournament that was the opposite of the 2016 Men's Euros in terms of entertainment value, the Netherlands have come away from Euro 2017 victorious. A six-goal thriller is exactly the type of thing we like to see in an international final, and Holland and Denmark did not disappoint.
Two goals after halftime put the 4-2 scoreline in the Netherlands' favor after falling behind 1-0 in the sixth minute and entering halftime tied 2-2.
It was an especially sweet victory for the Dutch, as it came on home soil.
I have some thoughts on goalkeepers taking penalties. Goalkeepers taking penalties is a net positive from an entertainment standpoint. Goalkeepers taking penalties is a net negative, from a soccer standpoint.
Sure, there have been goalkeepers who double as penalty specialists and they are professional footballers, so they can be expected to have enough skill to score from the spot when called upon. On the other hand, hello Thibaut Courtois in the Community Shield:
ABBA is no longer just the greatest export of Sweden.
Arsenal defeated Chelsea 4-1 in a shootout following a 1-1 draw in the Community Shield on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London. The match itself was nothing special but the ABBA format for shootouts made its debut in England.
Christian Pulisic’s World Cup year starts now, and the wall-to-wall coverage of the 18-year-old American’s season with Borussia Dortmund couldn’t have started with a bigger bang. In the starting lineup for DFB-Pokal winners Borussia Dortmund against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the curtain-raising DFL-Supercup, the host side raced out to an early lead behind Pulisic.
Neymar wasn’t available for selection in Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 opener against Amiens on Saturday, but that really didn’t matter.
Believe it or not, there's news out of Ligue 1 this week that doesn’t involve Neymar. Did you know the league started play today? Yes, before Neymar makes his anticipated debut with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, Ligue 1 opened with defending champion Monaco facing off against Toulouse.
The Champions League and Europa League have used end-line assistants for a few years now. The Confederations Cup used VAR this summer, and Major League Soccer will start using video review on Saturday. The English Premier League has popularized goal-line technology and this year will have a panel to suspend those who dive or feign injury.
It’s taken a while, but soccer is finally getting its shit together when it comes to officiating the game.