Let’s be honest, divers ruin a lot of what’s great about soccer. Flops slow the game down, they win undeserved free kicks and generally just create more annoyance than enjoyment.
But sometimes, the diver’s acting is so unbelievably poor that the dive itself becomes a work of art. Usually, it’s some of the best players in the world that are doing the diving, which seems counterintuitive.
During yesterday’s Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, a Blues supporter could be seen allegedly directing racist abuse at City forward Raheem Sterling.
Sunday wasn’t Raheem Sterling’s greatest individual display as an attacker, but the 23-year-old again demonstrated why he’s such a vital part of Pep Guardiola’s side — and completely unmatched in his skill set within the England national team — by retaining possession in difficult areas and constantly pulling Manchester United’s well-organized, pressing defensive unit this way and that with his array of clever flicks, dribbles and one-touch passing.
It’s the greatest club competition in the world, but sometimes even the best footballers make mistakes. In the case of these Champions League fails from Wednesday, very bad mistakes.
Some of the best teams with the best players in the world took the pitch for Champions League group stage matches on Wednesday. A few of them showed they can be no better than your average Sunday league player with these shocking Champions League fails.
For those who weren’t watching the U.S. tie Peru or Chile beat Mexico (or maybe even the baseball playoffs? lol jk), the NBA season began with a couple games on Tuesday night. It got us thinking about footballers playing basketball, because everything we relate everything in the world back to soccer.
Sergio Ramos is one of the most hated footballers in the world — in other words, he’s a brilliant defender.
England’s impressive 3-2 win over Spain in Seville had its fair share of landmarks. The defeat was the first of Luis Enrique’s reign as boss, and it was also Spain’s first home loss since 2003. Raheem Sterling, who had a brace, scored his first international goal in 1,102 days, and England’s first goal in Spain since 1987. Harry Kane, who was signaled out for praise before the match by Sergio Ramos, had his first-ever two-assist match for the Three Lions.
The tale of rags to riches is one that features heavily in sporting narratives and none more so than in football. Players who come from nothing have taken the world by storm, like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
To continue with the rags to riches story, we’ve applied that concept to FIFA. Being stuck as a bronze player on Ultimate Team is more of a humiliation than not being in the game, but when a player makes it all the way to being a gold player, you know they’ve done just fine.
How fast is Raheem Sterling? Sterling has one of the more inimitable running styles in the game. It’s definitely a unique stride, so much so that it’s been captured in the FIFA 18 video game and replicated by Eden Hazard during warmups. However, as Pep Guardiola realized at Manchester City, deployed on the right wing of the attack, it’s absolutely devastating.