Remember Germany's terrible free-kick routine in the 2014 World Cup against Algeria? That was awful, and their only vindication was the fact that they won the entire tournament. Well, a high school team in Japan has proven it's better at at least one thing than the reigning champions of the world: silly free kick routines.
It’s been a good season for Miguel Layun, and Layun's top ten goals prove it. The El Tri star has been a staple of the national team and has also been on fire for his club team, Porto. Most recently assisting in the 5-0 thrashing of Boavista to keep the Dragons 4 points within striking distance of 1st place Sporting. The 27-year-old is traditionally a left-back by trade but no one would blame soccer fans if you all confused him for a winger. His ability to make drives down the wings have paid dividends for Porto and Mexico.
As if I needed another reminder of why I was never going to make it as a professional footballer, US Youth Soccer has just released the best youth soccer goals of 2015. It features 8-year-olds dribbling past entire teams in ways I never could, and 15 year-olds slotting long shots as effortlessly as I would play a wall pass. Watching it is a humbling experience.
EA Sports has released its “FIFA 16 - Best Goals of 2015” video and the final cut is outrageous. Scorpion kicks, rambonas, 35-yard volleys and overhead kicks from the top of the 18, every goal in this collection would certainly win the FIFA Puskás award if it were accomplished in reality.
While online opponents might be yelling “sweaty goal!” and heading for the menu’s exit, you can imagine the delirium the goal scorers must have felt. Mastering the controls and executing with this kind of precision certainly takes a huge amount of skill...and time.
If you played sports while growing up, there is a good chance that you had that one friend (hopefully that was you), who was miles ahead of the other kids in terms of skill.
That kid who would nutmeg everybody while playing around with the soccer ball, cross people over and leave them on the floor on the basketball court, or even juke you out of your shoes in a pickup football game. We all went through something like that at some point of our sporting careers.
Probably the most commonly-used word to describe Zlatan Ibrahimovic is "antics." Both on and off the field, the big Swedish striker's antics are at the forefront, and have made him both loved and hated among football fans.
HE DID IT. HE DID IT. Wayne Rooney had been stumbling across the desert in dire need of a goal and he finally found the watering hole vs Swansea. The England man had not found the back of the net in a Premier League match since October 17th but that dreadful drought has ended, and he ended it in style with a filthy backheel. The peach of a goal was the 188th of his career in the EPL and the 238th of his Red Devil career. It moved him into second place in all time Premier League goals (Alan Shearer leads with 260) and second place in all time goals by a Manchestesr United player.
We're 6 days into 2016 and Leo Messi has already made the play of the year. In today's Copa del Rey match vs Espanyol, Los Blaugranes secured a 3-1 victory behind the brilliance of La Pulga. Messi netted a brace and added an assist, but his second goal was one that comes with almost complete normalcy for the Argentine. The four time (let's be honest, soon to be five time) Ballon d'Or winner struck a 25 yard free kick off the crossbar and into the back of the net showing us all the brilliance we've been lucky to see for the past 11 years. 2016? More Messi free kick golazos? Can't wait.
Paul Pogba’s life has become increasingly centered around all things dab. Introducing the goal celebration to Italy’s Serie A simply wasn’t enough for the 22-year-old Juventus midfielder, and now he’s gone and stenciled the word into his haircut.
It is incredible to think that, with athletes across sports getting bigger, faster and stronger each and every the year, the two players most dominating their respective sports are not "big guys" at all. The two players are, of course, Messi and Curry (a.k.a. Lionel Messi and Steph Curry).