Amazing

After ignoring soccer for nearly 50 years, CBS is diving headlong into this whole soccer experiment.

UEFA has announced that when Europe's elite teams return to the pitch this week the jerseys of every player will have the words "Thank you" written on them. The purpose of this move is to highlight and thank COVID-19 frontline workers. Each team will have the chance to write out the words in the language of their choice.

A slightly out-of-touch fan of the USMNT recently asked me who plays for the team these days. After all, U.S. soccer fans that only watch the team during the World Cup haven’t seen them play in six years. Besides knowing about Christian Pulisic, casual fans might be under the impression that Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones and DaMarcus Beasley are all still on the squad. I pray that no one thinks Landon Donovan is still playing.

Back in the days of FIFA Street, you used to have to string together tricks and skills to fill a combo bar which unleashed the GameBreaker — an action that would allow you to score from essentially anywhere, usually by way of scissor kick. 

If this feature were somehow ported into real life, performing the seal dribble would instantly charge that GameBreaker to max capacity. Across the spectrum of sport, I know of no form of self-expression that’s as needless, as brazen and as semiaquatic marine mammal-inspired as the seal dribble.

The life of a referee is a brutal one. If a referee does their job correctly and makes all the right calls then no one talks about the official. However, if the referee does the opposite — much like Anthony Taylor in the FA Cup final — then they receive a tidal wave of criticism.

Back in January, Deloitte published its annual Football Money League table to showcase the 20 highest earning football clubs in the world based on turnover for the 2018-19 season. At the top was Barcelona with revenues of over $1 billion. Revenue growth amongst the world’s wealthiest clubs has been exponential over the last decade, a fact that’s verified by Barça’s 1997-98 turnover of $63.5 million — the sixth-highest number on the planet at the time.

It’s been a week to remember for the Houston Dash. On Sunday, they defeated Chicago 2-0 to claim the club’s first-ever trophy. They then filled said trophy with beer and probably haven’t stopped drinking since.

By all accounts, Bournemouth never should have made it to the Premier League. 

In February of 2008, the club entered administration due to $4 million in unpaid debts and was deducted ten points in the league standings. Bournemouth was relegated to League Two at the end of the season, and at the beginning of the following campaign the club was still very much on the brink of insolvency.

“It’s the ones with the strongest mentality who make it.”

This was the quote that kept Alphonso Davies in the game. The Canadian star began gaining traction when he became the second-youngest player to play in MLS at the age of 15. Then, when he was 18, Davies completed a record-breaking transfer to Bayern Munich.

But his life hasn't always been studded in glory. Davies opened up about this in an article called "Moving Past The Doubt." In it, we see where the phenom started. 

Lemme sing y’all a little song about the legend of Michelle Akers, all based entirely on true events ripped straight from her Instagram timeline.

*classic guitar strums*

Once upon a time in the pre-NWSL U.S.,
women’s soccer was dominated by a lanky, curly haired lass. 

Michelle Akers did it all way back when,
she shared FIFA Player of the Century with China’s Sun Wen.

She won two World Cups and one gold medal,
not too shabby for a girl from just outside Seattle.