Look, we all knew it was coming. He was getting on in years, had lost a step (or eight) of pace and really hasn’t been the same player he was 10 years ago for about 10 years. Nonetheless, Bobby Boswell’s international retirement announcement is the most heartbreaking retirement of 2018.
The man who scored the winner in a 1-0 victory for the MLS All-Stars against Chelsea in 2006 made the stunning proclamation on Twitter on Tuesday:
If you learn anything today, please let it be this: Kids are not good at anything. This recent video of 100 children taking on three Japanese internationals will serve as my indisputable evidence.
Hiroshi Kiyotake, Hotaru Yamaguchi and Yosuke Ideguchi faced off against 30 forwards, 30 midfielders, 30 defenders and 10 goalkeepers in a friendly match recently. While the youngsters were well drilled in positional discipline (they refused to be pulled from their defensive stations), their skills left a lot to be desired.
Did you make a decision today? No. You did not. You think you did, but you didn't. What you thought was a decision made by you was actually made by Sergio Busquets. Busquets is the string-puller, the puppetmaster, the orchestrator. What you thought was fate was actually Sergio Busquets. What you thought was destiny was actually Busquets. There is no such thing as a coincidence. There is only Busquets.
It’s the festive season in the English Premier League. While most leagues are hibernating for the holidays, the world’s richest league doubles its fixture list. All 20 clubs play an immense amount of games and everyone’s depth is challenged to the limits. But one club is taking particular offense this year, with Manchester United’s official website complaining about fixture congestion.
It is once again time for those hipsters over at The Guardian to release their list of the top 100 footballers in the world, which means it is once again time for us here at The18 to release OUR list of 100 footballers. Whereas The Guardian undoubtedly used science and metrics and judges of soccer talent to decide on their list, we just named some pla
If you’re in the know — a filmophile of sorts — you’ll be aware of the fever gripping the planet, a fever that’s only cured by a heavy dose of nostalgia. We need to ‘member childhood. We need to travel to a long time ago and a place far away. We need to see the forces of good and evil locked in a timeless battle while we veg out in a CGI-induced state of classical conditioning.
And so everyone is losing their collective shit over the approaching release of Rampage starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
When 2016 ended, many Americans wondered how a year could get any worse. Then 2017 said, “Hold my beer.” The depressing U.S. soccer season will officially conclude with the MLS Cup final between the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC on Saturday at BMO Field and it can’t come soon enough.
Welcome to the second tier, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid. Sure you’ve been a part of three of the last five Champions League finals, but sweet Thursday night road trips are in your future after finishing third in your respective UCL groups to earn the Europa League parachute.
Atletico played in the Champions League final in 2014 and 2016, losing to crosstown rival Real Madrid both times. Los Colchoneros are ranked No. 2 in UEFA’s club coefficients, a rating score based on the previous five seasons of European play.
The World Cup draw took place this morning and, as usual, some groups are more exciting than other groups. Group D, for example. Group D is better than all the other groups. Group D is going to be the most entertaining group at Russia 2018 by a country mile (and that country is Russia, do you see what I did there?), but you don't have to take my word for it, even though you should.
Let's break it down:
Argentina