Men

When Germany announced their preliminary squad for Euro 2016, the accompanying names were a comforting who’s who of Die Mannschaft familiarity. There’s good old hulking center forward Mario Gomez, the ageless but totally aging Bastian Schweinsteiger and footballer turned living memorial, Lukas Podolski.

Alongside the talents of Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng, this is a side that should certainly be favorites to win Euro 2016 as the reigning world champions.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been in the news a lot the last couple of days. But who am I kidding? Zlatan Ibrahimovic is always in the news. I mean, come on, he’s Zlatan.

Harry Kane spent the 2011/12 season on loan at English Championship side Millwall F.C., a club known more for its associations with hooliganism and their supporter’s chant “No one likes us, we don’t care” than as the home of future England internationals. 

Under the watchful eye of England’s then U-21 manager, Stuart Pearce, an 18-year-old Kane failed to impress. 

As Barcelona prepare for their Copa del Rey Final against Sevilla, the folks at FC Barcelona’s official YouTube channel have released a timely reminder for Sevillistas of their tormentor in chief, Lionel Messi.

Messi has scored 25 goals against Sevilla — 20 in La Liga, three in the Spanish Super Cup and two in the European Super Cup. However, Messi’s most domineering performance against the side from Andalusia came at the youth level. 

Wayne Rooney put in a Man of the Match performance as Manchester United brushed aside Bournemouth 3-1 at Old Trafford. Rooney opened up the scoring in the 43rd minute after some lovely team play between Anthony Martial and Juan Mata on the edge of the box.

The goal was Rooney's 100th in the Premier League at Old Trafford, and the OptaJoe Twitter account was quick to highlight the relevance of that. 

The 2015 Copa America in Chile had everything: great goals, unforgettable moments and infamous controversies. Now, thanks to the celebration of one century of CONMEBOL and the Copa, we get to do it all again. This time, the memories will be made in our own backyard.

Fernando Torres, Diego Costa and Juan Mata have all been omitted from Spain’s 25-man provisional Euro 2016 squad by manager Vincente del Bosque. In Torres and Mata, Spain have elected to drop players who’ve combined for 151 appearances, 48 goals, three European championships, and two World Cup winner’s medals. 

Costa suffered a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on May 11, putting his participation immediately in doubt. Costa’s consistent hamstring troubles, coupled with his subpar form this season, have seen him lose his place in the squad.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's contract is up at PSG, and he will leave the Parisian club this summer. Where he will land is a matter of great speculation, with China, Manchester United, AC Milan and LA Galaxy being floated as possible destinations for the big Swede. Seemingly in anticipation of this last possibility, the Philadelphia Union have placed a "discovery" claim on Zlatan.

If the Philadelphia Union discovered Zlatan then so did I, but this is beside the point.

For the most part YouTube footballer compilations are a dime a dozen, but what YouTube producer JavierNathaniel manages to do here is standout amid the white noise. Maybe I’m just a sucker for Messi, maybe I’m just a sucker for quotes laid over an inspirational sound track, but this the best Messi video out there.

Zlatan's last Ligue 1 game with PSG was a special production. He still has one more game with the Parisiens (the Coupe de France final Saturday), but this was effectively his send-off. It didn't disappoint, and neither did he.

#MerciZlatanhttps://t.co/TsupApXT23

— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) May 13, 2016