Europe

The State Of Emergency In Turkey Has Footballers Fleeing The Country

It’s not a pretty sight when off-field issues drive players away from their clubs. From threats made by supporters to financial troubles within the club, we’ve seen all kinds of reasons for players to push for moves away from their current teams. 

However, in the past few years, we’ve seen a rise in the number of players who’ve left in fear because of political unrest threatening their own personal safety.

We saw that happen during the Ukrainian crisis not too long ago, and, unfortunately, we are watching a similar scenario unfold in Turkey. 

Barcelona Could’ve Crumbled, But One Man Transformed Their Fortunes

By January of 2004, Barcelona was a club in deep crisis. Since the 1999-00 season, they’d finished further and further down the LaLiga table — second in 2000, fourth in 2001, fourth in 2002 and a disastrous sixth in 2003. 

The 2003-04 season looked to be even worse yet. Club president Joan Gaspart had been forced to resign because of the decline, and his young replacement, Joan Laporta, had begun his presidency in farce after promising Barcelona supporters David Beckham only to see him land at Real Madrid.

The France Victory Bus Took A Sad And Lonely Journey

France lost the Euro 2016 final in their national team's home stadium to a team missing its only truly world-class player. If only there was some object that could perfectly capture what that moment was like.

10 Young Rising Stars Who Could Save England

For all the setbacks and empty promises of each generation of England's rising stars, the current crop of Under 21 and 19s talent is good. So good, in fact, that Gareth Southgate’s 21s took out the European Championship title in that age division – a stark contrast to the bumbling mess dished out by the first team.

Ronaldo's Smashing Header Proved To Be The Winner Against Wales

The rise, the connection, the shake of the back of the net and the famous celebration. Cristiano Ronaldo's header can only be described as towering. His elevation made him look like he was floating above the Welsh defenders as he smashed a beautiful service past the waiting goalkeeper. Portugal being criticized for not finishing off a single game in this tournament in regular time, left no question in the minds of the doubters as they showed Wales the exit door with a 2-0 decisive win. Ronaldo now has the chance to do what Messi could not do in June... win a major tournament.

Charge Of The Ice Brigade

In the back of our minds, we all kind of knew it would end this way for Iceland. The England win was the climax, the summit. They weren't going to beat France. There was nowhere to go but down.

Which is fine, because they made it up pretty darn high. As much as we all made fun of England after they lost, that team has good players on it. Iceland stifled one of the two best players in the world and made one of Bayern Munich's wonderkinds look very extremely average.

Eventually, though, Iceland were going to run into one of the juggernauts, and it was not going to be pretty.

England Are The Dallas Cowboys Of International Football. Overhyped And Bound To Disappoint.

This past Monday marked another disappointing loss for the England National Football Team as they fell to Iceland in the round of 16 in UEFA Euro 2016.  For fans of England soccer, this is going to be a hard pill to swallow for years to come. However, when you look at the recent history of the club, it may be time to lower expectations a bit. Perhaps England's so-called "early exits" aren't as disappointing or unexpected as fans make them seem. 

Boateng Jumps Germany Out Front With His First International Goal

It is surprising that it took Boateng 7 years to get on the score sheet for the German national team but he got his first tally in a very important knockout game vs Slovakia. As a cross was rebounded out, Boateng came striding in to hit the ball straight on. It was a great connection that beat the Slovakian goalie bottom left. On to the quarter finals!! This isn't the only big moment Boateng has had for Germany this Euros. What can we expect against Italy next?

Shaqiri Scored A Bicycle Kick And It Was Awesome

In case you missed it this weekend, Xherdan Shaqiri scored a goal that most people would only try in the backyard. And in that sense, missing the ball is the most likely outcome. However, Shaqiri defied the odds to score a gorgeous goal. It had the announcers in shock, it had Poland in shock and it had every single viewer in absolute shock because of how epic it was. A late 1-0 Poland lead was diminished by this goal from Shaqiri in the 82nd minute which sent the game to extra time and eventually penalties.

Antoine Griezmann Scores Double, Ties Bale And Morata For Goals

For almost an hour, this match was essentially one long double take at the scoreboard with Ireland leading 1-0 through Robbie Brady’s second minute penalty. The Boys in Green played admirably but came undone when French hero Antoine Griezmann powered home a header in the 57 minute. Griezmann quickly added to his total with the go ahead goal in the 61 minute.

Shane Duffy was sent off for denying Griezmann a clear goal scoring opportunity in the 66 minute, and France rarely looked troubled as they saw out the game in Lyon. 

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