Liverpool’s defense of its Champions League crown is off to a shaky start following a 2-0 defeat to Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo in Italy on Tuesday. Liverpool supporters will disagree with the game-changing penalty that Felix Brych awarded Napoli in the 82nd minute, but it certainly wasn’t a vintage performance from the Reds.
Can you get called for a dive if you make a match-saving pass as you go down?
According to referee Kevin Friend, yes, you can.
Aston Villa was denied a 96th-minute equalizer in a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday as Friend disallowed a Henri Lansbury goal for a perceived Jack Grealish dive, despite the fact Grealish assisted the goal.
Huh?
For the second time in three days, a Ligue 1 match was halted over homophobic messages from the stands. A PSG-Metz banner forced the stoppage of play in the first half of the match, 48 hours after the Nice-Marseille match was delayed.
Ligue 1 has new rules against homophobia in stadiums for the 2019-20 season, and those rules have been violated twice this week.
Late on Sunday night, Real Salt Lake announced an end to the tenure of controversial head coach Mike Petke.
Real Salt Lake Terminates Contract of Head Coach Mike Petke
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 12, 2019
The Premier League season is less than 24 hours old, but you can’t escape people complaining about the introduction of Video Assistant Referee. The Man City VAR decisions in particular rankled the British pundits who make a living on arguing about referee calls.
Personally, I’m already tired of people complaining about getting calls right.
Lionel Messi was not happy after his team was beaten by Brazil in the 2019 Copa América — so unhappy he suggested the match was rigged.
Messi will be even unhappier after being handed a three-month ban for his comments.
We all know rules we want to get rid of or add, if only for a second to help our team win a game. But these Premier League rule changes are here to stay. How often they get called into effect is anybody’s guess.
In an effort to reduce time-wasting near the end of matches, players being substituted will have to leave the pitch at the nearest point to them.
Global soccer’s governing body is trying to get tougher on racism, homophobia and all discrimination with a newly redrafted FIFA disciplinary code.
Let’s hope it actually works.
FIFA announced the Women's World Cup final referee and fans of both sides should have no complaints with the choice.
Stéphanie Frappart of France will be the center referee for the USWNT’s match against the Netherlands on Sunday as Team USA seeks its second straight Women’s World Cup title and fourth overall.
FIFA Women‘s World Cup - Match officials appointed for the FINAL #USANED, 7 July, Lyon
Last night in Belo Horizonte, Brazil defeated Argentina 2-0 to advance to the final of the 2019 Copa América, thus prolonging Lionel Messi’s wait for a crowning glory in international play.
The match was a real humdinger, featuring a Seleção side frightening in both defense and attack and an Albiceleste unit that didn’t make playing cohesive football look like an impossible task. This was probably the best Argentina’s looked since 2016.