Brazilian Luciano Pereira, also known as Chiba, scored an absolute wonder goal for Sepahan, an Iranian club, against Al-Nasr of the United Arab Emirates in their opening Asian Champions League group match. It took all of 14 minutes for Pereira to smash this 30 yard golazo and send Sepahan on their way to a comprehensive 2-0 victory.
Leg 2 of the Europa League's last 32 teams happened today, and while there were some great goals and stories, Hakan Calhanoglu's goal for Bayern Leverkusen stood out during the day. His volley in the 87th minute was the nail in the coffin for Sporting Lisbon. With the 3 - 1 victory, Leverkusen advance on aggregate to the Round of 16 in Europa League.
While many turn their focus to UEFA Champions League, top clubs in the US and Central America are facing off in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. The Seattle Sounders faced Mexican side, Club América and played to a 2 - 2 draw. Clint Dempsey got the scoring started with a curling freekick in the 43rd minute. The 1 - 0 lead wouldn't last long as Club América came back with a goal of their own before the half in the 45th minute. Dempsey would score again to retake the lead, but it evaporated on a 70th minute goal from Oribe Peralta.
Manchester City took on Dynamo Kiev and won 3 - 1. Sergio Aguero opened the scoring early in the 15th minute. David Silva added the second in the 40th and Yaya Toure scored a third in the 90th minute. For Kiev, Vitaliy Buyalsky scored in the 58th minute. In the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid played to a 0 - 0 draw.
Leg 2 for these four teams is on March 15th as PSV fly to Madrid and Kiev visit Manchester.
Manchester City vs. Dynamo Kiev
The Selecao will be hoping that the next Brazilian soccer star will emerge this summer. The Olympics are coming to Rio, and the Brazilian soccer team will be hoping to avoid the same traumatizing result as that of the 2014 World Cup. They'll also be looking for a bit of revenge after being the favorites in London in 2012, only to lose to Mexico in the final.
Louis van Gaal wants his players to be horny for the Europa League. Seriously. Here's the man himself.
Listen to Louis van Gaal say "horny" (via @SportDictator)pic.twitter.com/rkOFx54TXh
— HuffPost Sports (@HuffPostSports) February 24, 2016
A word of advice: never play chicken with Carlos Tevez.
During a match between Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys, Tevez made a great run, received the ball, found himself one on one with the keeper, shot, had the ball saved then kneed the keeper in the face (accidentally, it appears) and broke the man's jaw. So that play had everything.
John Goossens is just like the rest of us. He dreams of someday being awarded a professional soccer contract, of being paid to play the game he loves regardless of where that may be. Sure, Goossens is a product of the renowned Ajax Youth Academy, made 30 appearances for the Eredivisie’s Feyenoord and scored for the Netherlands U-21 team, but, deep down, he’s a dreamer just like the rest of us.
Diego Forlan scored a perfect hat trick this weekend for Penarol, reminding everyone of how brilliant of player he was (and still is apparently). He scored a goal with his right foot, his left foot, one brilliant one with his head and added two assists in a 5-1 demolition of Defensor Sporting in the Uruguayan Primera Division. Check it out (Especially the last one. Header of the year for sure).
FC Barcelona traveled to England and beat Arsenal 2 - 0. Messi scored both goals, the first in the 71st minute and the second on a penalty in the 83rd. While in Turino, Italy, Bayern took a two goal lead from Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben. Mueller scored the first goal in the 43rd minute and Robben added the 2nd in the 55th. Juventus battled back for the 2 - 2 tie with goals in the 63rd and 76th minute. The first was scored by Paulo Dybala and the tying goal came from Stefano Sturaro.