Last weekend, Brazil secured their seventh Copa America Femenina title and direct qualification to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after winning all seven of their matches while scoring 31 goals and conceding only two. This wasn’t a surprise, but a real feel-good story surrounds the second-place finishers at the competition, hosts Chile.
In one of the ultimate glamor ties of European club football, it was Real Madrid left back Marcelo who emerged as Wednesday’s Man of the Match in his side’s 2-1 away leg victory over Bayern Munich.
The 29-year-old Brazilian’s day got off to a flyer when opposition winger Arjen Robben was forced off with an injury as early as the 8th minute. The introduction of Thiago Alcantara as his replacement immediately shifted Bayern’s focus to the middle of the park and allowed Marcelo more freedom to get forward on the wing.
Barcelona won its second UEFA Youth League title in five years after defeating Chelsea 3-0 on Monday. A brace from 17-year-old forward Alejandro Marques put Barca up two by the 51st minute, and the prolific Carles Perez, 20, registered his eighth goal in nine matches to put the finishing touches on the triumph.
Usual purveyors of the Marseille Turn, players like Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Isco and Paul Pogba, have dazzled spectators with their uncanny ability to escape pressure and change their available passing lanes with the most graceful skill in the game.
However, it’s incredibly rare that you see the roulette skill lead directly to a goalscoring opportunity. The turn is more typically associated with the war being waged in midfield rather than the attacking third.
There are some hits that are just so pure, so instinctual, so well struck and so fucking powerful that they defy everything we thought we knew about sport. There was Albert Pujols’ monster home run off Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS that may still be in lower-Earth orbit to this day. Then there’s Matt Prater nailing a 64-yard field goal in the NFL or Andre Agassi’s ridiculous service return. And on Sunday there was this Kevin de Bruyne goal vs Swansea City.
Olivier Giroud is a bit of an enigma. He’s a large center forward with a meaty French forehead who is often at his best using his size and strength to score with his head — and he also scores some of the most incredible goals in the world. The Giroud goal vs Southampton for Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday at Wembley Stadium falls into the latter category.
Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final to secure their fourth straight title in the competition, and it was the outgoing Andres Iniesta who was at the heart of everything good for the Catalan side.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the 33-year-old was on the brink of a move to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai, and the midfield maestro didn’t disappoint in securing his 31st piece of silverware with the club.
Borussia Dortmund hammered top four rivals Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday with goals from 18-year-old Jadon Sancho, Maximilian Philipp and a Marco Reus brace. Christian Pulisic provided the assist on Sancho’s opener after beating three defenders near midfield before playing in the English phenom.
Perhaps the most pathetic news of the week was Neymar missing Paris Saint-Germain’s resounding, title-clinching 7-1 victory over rival Monaco on Sunday — the 273 million dollar man preferring to play online poker in Brazil rather than celebra
If there were a book, this would be one of the oldest tricks in it. The Cristoph Kramer goal vs Wolfsburg on Friday wasn’t anything new or special, it was just a reminder to players everywhere to never switch off during match, even for a moment.
Kramer and Borussia Monchengladbach were hosting Wolfsburg in a Friday night contest in the Bundesliga with the home side already in front with goals from Lars Stindl and Raffael. Near the end of the half, Monchengladbach was given a free kick outside the Wolfsburg 18-yard box.