England and Croatia played out a testament to the UEFA Nations League in front of 78,221 Wembley spectators with the unique winner-takes-all circumstances in Group 4 making it immensely more enjoyable than a typical November friendly two years before a major international tournament.
The Netherlands has had its share of troubles in recent years. The three-time World Cup runners-up missed out on the 2016 Euros and the 2018 World Cup.
On Friday, the Dutch looked like they’re back among the world’s elite, dominating World Cup champion France in a 2-0 win in the UEFA Nations League. Much of the praise must go to coach Ronald Koeman and the defensive efforts of the men in orange.
The Scotland women’s national team gave the U.S. all it could handle on Tuesday at St Mirren Park, and although there was warm applause for Alex Morgan and an audible intake of breath amongst the 3,790 in attendance during the USWNT’s best passages of play, the Scots will have left their home supporters looking forward to next summer’s World Cup with keen anticipation.
The18 is where soccer lives, but soccer definitely has an all-time home in Buenos Aires, located in La Boca neighborhood, and everybody calls it La Bombonera.
When Juventus paid Napoli over $100 million for Gonzalo Higuain in 2016, the belief was that the Argentine’s goals would fire the club to a continental title. However, after two seasons in the Champions League with a return of five goals in each campaign, Higuain was offloaded to AC Milan for about half the price this past summer.
Juve then turned to five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo for the goods. Ronaldo, of course, hasn’t hit less than 10 goals in a single UCL campaign since the 2010-11 season. You can tell what Juventus is trying to achieve with the 33-year-old.
There was no 42-pass team goal, but compared to today’s Manchester derby at the Etihad, the Boca Juniors-River Plate Copa Libertadores final seemed like it was being played on another planet entirely.
Manchester City achieved what Juventus could not on Sunday, burying Manchester United when another Jose Mourinho smash and grab threatened. Sumptuous goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero had given City a 2-0 lead, but a needless foul by Ederson on Romelu Lukaku allowed Anthony Martial to halve the deficit in the 58th minute.
Real Betis became the first side to score four at the Camp Nou in league play since 2003, and the Seville-based club registered its first victory at the legendary stadium in two decades during Sunday’s rip-roaring 4-3 encounter in Catalonia.
Betis raced to a 2-0 first half lead, and every time Barcelona managed to pull a goal back in the second half, the Béticos found a response.
While soccer fans around the globe were disappointed by the postponement of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final on Saturday, fans were treated to a 3-2 thriller between rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Germany.
And few of the Bayern board members got as wet as the Bombonera pitch after Paco Alcacer’s thrilling winner for Dortmund.