Back in 1979, the New York Cosmos set an NASL record for most points in a season, one that would obliterate any Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga or Serie A points record. Led by Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto, the Cosmos racked up an unthinkable 216 points in a 30-game season.
More of that, please.
If you had to name the current Galácticos of women's club football, the answer is pretty easy: Olympique Lyon. The French side won a record 14 consecutive Ligue 1 titles and five Champions League titles in a row before both streaks were ended by PSG this year.
But 20 years ago, there was an unexpected forerunner in women's soccer, a team full of Galácticos that spawned at a time when the original Galácticos side at Real Madrid was still in its infancy.
More than a few eyebrows would have been raised at the news of Lassina Traoré's move to Shakhtar Donetsk this summer. Just two years after he joined Ajax from the youth side of the Dutch giant's affiliate in Cape Town, Traoré made the $12 million move to Ukraine as one of the first signings of new manager Roberto De Zerbi, who left Sassuolo to take up the post.
Mention the name "Qatar" to a soccer fan and you are bound to hear (justified) grumblings about oil money, bribery and the thousands of immigrant workers that have died during preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
Croatian forward Marko Livaja scored a brilliant goal on Sunday during a top-flight Croatian match. The goal was so good that fans are questioning if he really meant to shoot or if it was a cross that was so bad that it turned into a goal.
This Livaja goal vs. Osijek might not be a candidate for goal of the year, but it’s definitely worth a watch.
A game in Ghana’s Premier League suffered the most blatant match fixing the soccer world has ever seen. If you’re going to cheat, at least be subtle about it. The Ghana match fixing seems to be fixated around one team, Inter Allies.
Inter Allies sits in last place after 34 games, 14 points astray from the next closest team. It appears that the players on Inter Allies have been betting on the final scores for some of their games in an attempt to get more money.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is the forgotten child of the soccer world. The only time fans really hear about the OFC is when it sends New Zealand to a World Cup qualifying playoff that it loses nine times out of ten, or the Oceania team that gets sent to the Confederations Cup.
Anyone else remember when poor Tahiti was forced to play Spain, Uruguay and Nigeria at the 2013 Confederations Cup? It takes a special team to finish with a -23 goal differential after three games.
Torquay United goalkeeper Lucas Covolan scored a late equalizer to keep them in the National League playoff final on Sunday but his efforts proved fruitless as Hartlepool United won a penalty shootout to secure a return to the English Football League.
Midfielder Matt Buse missed the decisive kick for Torquay as Hartlepool edged the shootout 5-4 to return to League Two after a four-year absence.
Former Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuaín had low expectations coming to MLS but now is learning to respect the competition. The 33-year-old exclaimed he expected to play with a cigarette in his mouth, it was going to be that easy.
Through seven matches in the 2021 MLS season, Higuaín has four goals and one assist. He was quoted on Christain Vieri's Twitch live stream a few days ago saying, "I thought I would come to MLS and play with a cigarette in my mouth and instead it is difficult."
As the world heals from the pandemic, pick-up matches are on their way back as well. Pick-up matches exemplify all the best parts of soccer: intense rivalries, healthy competition and the opportunity to sharpen your skills.