Heading into Saturday’s early UEFA Group A World Cup qualifying match between Sweden and Luxembourg, the Netherlands’ only hope was that the tiny landlocked country wouldn’t get slaughtered by their Scandinavian opponents.
Tiny little Iceland, which thrilled neutrals across the world in the 2016 Euros, has nearly qualified for the 2018 World Cup, which would be the first for the island nation. A nation of 334,000, Iceland traveled to Turkey, a nation of nearly 80 million, and pummeled the hosts 3-0 on Friday to climb to the top of the Group I standings with one match left to play in UEFA World Cup qualifying.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is now Poland's all-time leading scorer after nailing two free kicks in the first half of a World Cup qualifier against Armenia Thursday, plus a tap-in in the second half. Lewandowski's hat trick gives him 50 international goals, including 15 in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.
First, Lewandowski lined up a superb free-kick to put Poland up 2-0.
¡GOLAZO!
It’s long been known that the atmosphere inside of Turkish football stadiums is otherworldly. Most commonly, the domain of Turkish stadia has been said to bear an uncanny resemblance to playing in hell for visitors. From your greeting at the airport to your sleepless night in the team hotel, you finally arrive inside a cauldron of noise like Besiktas’ Vodafone Park and encounter scenes that last from the first minute until the 90th.
Borussia Dortmund may be just about perfect in the Bundesliga, but the Champions League has been a different story. Real Madrid may be struggling in La Liga, but it’s business as usual in the Champions League. Real Madrid walloped Dortmund 3-1 on Wednesday at Signal Iduna Park, leaving the German side in danger of missing out on the knockout rounds.
David Ospina is a goalkeeping legend. Arsenal’s No. 2 spends his time in the shadows because of Petr Cech, but when he emerges, hell hath no fury like like a designated cup ‘keeper. When he’s not too busy lifting the FA Cup trophy, he’s usually making wonderfully memorable additions to the goalkeeping handbook.
La Liga president Javier Tebas is not happy with PSG's handling of Financial Fair Play rules this summer. Could that be because PSG bought one of his league's most marketable stars, a player who was sure to be the face of the league in a few years' time, for an exhorbitant price and one of the giants of his league couldn't hang on to said young star? Is Javier Tevas extremely bitter about this?