What would you say the odds were that Leicester City was going to be atop the table 16 games into the BPL campaign? Or the odds that Jamie Vardy would have as many league goals as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined? Well, Leicester was about a 2500-1 favorite to win the title back in August, and Jamie Vardy having as manys goals as CR7 and La Pulga combined, we'll go ahead and set the odds at 1,000,000-1.
Where counterattacks are concerned, the keeper's job is distribution. Get the ball, get it to one of the field players, put everything in motion then get back in your goal.
This is not what Nacional's U-14 goalkeeper, Guillermo Centurion (what a name!) had in mind when he intercepted a corner kick.
Instead of distributing to a field player, he distributed to himself. Then he led the counter, dribbled the length of the field, embarassed the other team's keeper and coolly slotted the ball home.
The London Derby between Arsenal and Chelsea has countless highlights. But on this day, December 10th, 9 years ago Michael Essien scored a screamer that nearly made Stamford Bridge explode. Sure, it was only an equalizer, but the 84th minute rocket was huge for Chelsea at the time as they were trying to keep pace with runaway leaders Manchester United. The game was back and forth, with pushing and shoving and loads of talent on the pitch.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a senstational free kick goal today against Malmo in the Champions League. It was only his 3rd free kick goal in his last 99 attempts and his first in his last 20. But the Portuguesse star has now scored 70 goals in 69 gams for Real Madrid. It was Ronaldo's first direct FK goal in the Champions League since April of 2014. Ronaldo finished the match with 4 goals coming in a span of 20 minutes. He has set the record for most goals scored (11) in the a Champions League group stage. Here is another angle of the first goal:
What happens when you fall down in a soccer match? Well, normally players beg and plea to the referee. But that wasn't the case for Jairo Samperio. The Spaniard playing for German club FSK Mainz slid into the box while trying to get a cross in, but a deflection sent the ball right back where it came from. With out hesitation, the crafty Samperio executed a perfect scissor kick lob all while while lying on his back.
Jairo found the net later on in the match en rout to Mainz ending Hamburg's two game winning streak.
What's better than long range goals? Long range goals by 18-year-olds, that's what. And boy did Benfica youngster, Renato Sanches score a beauty this past weekend. The lad from Lisbon's first goal was a memorable one, when he unloaded from 35 yards out, to secure Benfica's 3-0 victory over Academica De Coimbra.
It's hard to pick the greatest goal of Cristiano Ronaldo's career. I mean, the guy has scored over 500 goals over his 13 year career, so picking just one of them as the best is a tall task. But this long range rip against Porto back in 2009 has to be right atop the list. The younger CR7 has the onions to even attempt this shot, let alone pull it off. It almost makes you sad, because now as the quantity of his goals goes up, it feels like the quality has gone down. Yeah, i know the game is about putting the ball in the back of the net, but I can still be bummed about it.
The goal of the week from the Premier League this weekend came from an unlikely suspect. Bournemouth defender Adam Smith scored an absolute beaut of a goal to spur his clubs comeback 3-3 tie with Everton. The 24-year-old from England only has 5 career goals in 100+ appearances, but the substitute gave Bournemouth fans a lasting memory for a squad who is in a tight relegation battle. Smith's curler was so filthy, not even Tim Howard had a shot at saving it, and even Tim knows that. This goal just bleeds beauty, it has everything.
He's not Messi, but this Lucas Melano Messi-like goal would make La Pulga proud. The fellow Argentine went beast mode en route to a ridiculous goal that sealed the Timbers spot in the MLS final. Melano received a pass cutting into the box and proceeded to fake out not only FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges, but also goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez. The fake passes we're executed perfectly which gave Melano just enough room to flick home the golazo. We're starting to think that Melano should be getting more minutes, because he obviously has the potential to play like his countryman Lionel Messi.
The eyes were on Lionel Messi ahead of Barcelona's Champions League match vs Roma. And of course, La Pulga delivered. Scoring the second of Barcelona's 3 first half goals with a classic chip over the goalkeeper. But the person who continued his perfect form? Lucho Suarez. The Uruguayan not only assisted Messi's goal, but he also gave fans a volley for the ages, when he wound up from just inside the box, and curled a left to right rip past the goalkeeper.