Informational/Did You Know

Luxembourg is rarely a country that is mentioned in discussions of European football. A victory over the Republic of Ireland and a good performance against Portugal during World Cup qualifiers back in March made a few headlines, but few people outside of Luxembourg understand how far football has come in the country in the last decade.

It's the first week back at pickup soccer after nearly a year off. Maybe you got some touches in at the local field or in your backyard, maybe you didn't. But whatever workouts you did (or didn't do) are no substitute for actual game play.

That first pickup session or game after the spring thaw is always painful after the lack of cardio in the winter. You come in expecting pain, but somehow the pain is always worse than you imagined.

With a full docket of international soccer awaiting fans this summer, we’re going to hear plenty of national anthems. This begs the question, who has the longest national anthem? 

Assuming there are no further last-minute changes, the 2021 Copa América will kick off on Sunday, June 13, with the first two of 20 group-stage matches. Co-hosts Colombia and Argentina dropped out of hosting duties shortly before the tournament was slated to begin, so Brazil will host the month-long, 10-team tournament. The show will go on — here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Copa América in the U.S. in English and Spanish.

The build-up to every major international tournament is the same: who has the best striker? Or, this is why x midfielder is going to dominate or why this winger is the key to this country getting out of its group. 

But no one ever talks about the goalkeepers. In such a short tournament, where three matches decide a team's fate, the importance of the goalkeeper becomes magnified. 

So let's give the goalkeepers the spotlight for a little bit, because often they're the ones that end up deciding the tournament.