Amazing Goals

THE WORLD CUP IS BACK, PEOPLE!

The most anticipated matchup in the group stage didn’t waste any time getting the people going. It has lived up to the hype. We’ve gotten:

Vintage Cristiano step overs. Cristiano earning a PK with said stepovers. Two VAR instances. Diego Costa giving Pepe a forearm shiver. Diego Costa playing the Portuguese defense like a fiddle. An Isco shot off the bar that needed goal-line technology. And a shocking howler from David de Gea

At halftime, it was 2-1 Portugal. 

Let’s get to the Spain vs Portugal goals footage:

Denis Cheryshev scored two beautiful goals in the opening game of the 2018 World Cup against Saudi Arabia. He was voted man of the match and made the game that everyone thought would be a total snooze fest an absolute stunner.

Russia crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the World Cup opener on Thursday, a perfect result for the host nation. So was Russia that good or Saudi Arabia that bad? Let’s just say Russia vs Saudi Arabia was a mix of both thanks to Russia’s two stoppage time goals. 

If every country has it’s own lesser version of Lionel Messi (“The Alpine Messi”, “The Egyptian Messi”, etc.) then Russia’s is certainly Denis Cheryshev. The 27-year-old has spent his entire career in Spain (including coming through at Real Madrid and making two appearances for the club before joining Villarreal in 2016), and he demonstrated his talents Thursday after coming on as a 24th minute substitute for the injured Alan Dzagoev.

19 minutes after coming on, Cheryshev doubled Russia’s advantage with a sweet strike in the 43rd minute. 

Back in January of 2016, Tottenham attacker Dele Alli announced his talent to the world by scoring what BBC Match of the Day would later vote Goal of the Season against Crystal Palace. Alli controlled a Christian Eriksen knock-down with his thigh, flicked an audacious sombrero over the head of an onrushing defender, swiveled and struck a 22-yard volley inside the post. 

Brazil defeated Austria 3-0 in Vienna on Sunday in the nation’s final warm-up match before opening World Cup group play against Switzerland on June 17. The match was memorable for two reasons: (1) Thank Freddy Adu we’ll have VAR in Russia — Brazil’s opening goal was the sort of break you’d expect the Seleção to get at a World Cup (Gabriel Jesus was four yards offside), but not anymore — and (2) Neymar killed a man.

Serbia isn’t exactly going into the World Cup with high expectations — no one will confuse the squad with heavyweights such as France, Germany or Brazil. But what the Eagles did to Bolivia on Saturday in their final World Cup warm-up match shows they won’t be an easy out in Russia. The match served as a Serbia World Cup preview of sorts, with the team eviscerating Bolivia 5-1. 

England traveled to Leeds for its World Cup send-off match against Costa Rica Thursday, and 20-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford wasted no time in delighting a capacity crowd at Elland Road. 

Rashford was just a 16-year-old when Costa Rica and England played to a 0-0 draw in Belo Horizonte back in 2014 (England were already eliminated at that point following defeats to Italy and Uruguay), but the Mancunian played like a man possessed to open the proceedings today.