At this point, it’s hard to imagine Mo Salah being picked last for anything. He’s already a Liverpool hero having scored 43 goals in all competitions in his first season at Anfield. And, well, Egypt is so obsessed with him after he led the Pharoahs to their first World Cup in 28 years that schools have been renamed after him. If you want to win, if you need a clutch performance, Salah is probably your first choice.
Mesut Ozil has retired from international football at the age of 29, citing “racism and disrespect” from the German football federation (DFB). Ozil had 92 caps for Germany and helped the nation capture third place at the 2010 World Cup before lifting the trophy in 2014. The Arsenal playmaker issued a detailed statement on Twitter with the main contents concerning the fallout of his meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip before the World Cup.
Here are his statements in full, read them (click/tap) before commentating:
An Andrés Iniestra vs. Ronaldo duel may sound like a classic clash between two of LaLiga’s most historic figures.
But read carefully: It is not Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta but rather Pumas UNAM Andrés Iniestra we are talking about.
Similarly, it is not Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo but Veracruz’s Ronaldo Prieto.
It’s the type of headline that sounds as if it’s from 1950s, but alas, here we are in 2018 and we face the reality that incidents such as these do indeed still happen.
Moscow club Torpedo Moscow decided to cancel Erving Botaka-Yoboma’s contract after supporter groups expressed their discontent with the new player. On signing day, which should be a positive one for any professional and club, Torpedo Moscow organization higher ups and Botaka-Yoboma were met with these words:
In her post-game interview on July 7 after playing former club Sky Blue, Chicago Red Stars forward Sam Kerr did not want to talk about her hat-trick or the satisfaction of clinching three points on the road. Rather, Kerr used the mic in front of her to say this: “I wish things were better here [at Sky Blue]. I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and I’m just going to leave it at that. These girls are great girls. They give everything of themselves for this club and this league and they just deserve better.
The 2018 Tournament of Nations is set to get under way on July 26. The competition consists of a series of friendly games between four of the world’s top women’s national teams. Like last summer, this year’s edition will feature the national teams of Australia (ranked 8th by FIFA), Brazil (7th), Japan (6th) and the hosts, the United States (1st).
Yesterday, USWNT coach Jill Ellis released her preliminary list of 25 players for the tournament.
Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute.
A Luka Modric trial is perhaps not the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about the Real Madrid and Croatia star.
Croatia will face France in the World Cup final this Sunday. However, it is not only France that worries captain Luka Modric at the moment.
Modric has led his team to an historic achievement, managing to qualify for its first-ever World Cup final.
Sweden was sent packing by England after a 2-0 defeat in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The Swedes showed the world that they were there to really have a go at the tournament, making it out of a group that barely anyone gave them a chance in.
However, while Sweden’s players will no doubt be proud of their achievement, there was one little bit of negativity that arose from it — a piece of negativity to the tune of $66,000. More specifically, Andreas Granqvist’s socks are going to cost him $66,000. Clear enough for you?
Four of the players from the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand have been successfully rescued from the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai province, but eight boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach remain underground with the operation set to resume in 10 to 20 hours.