Juan Román Riquelme, el legendario centrocampista argentino, respondió una vez en la televisión cuando se le preguntó sobre Leo Messi: “No estoy completamente seguro de que Messi sea humano. Nunca he visto a una persona que corra más rápido con el balón en los pies que sin él. Messi lo hace. Como puedes hacer eso? Piénselo, no tiene sentido ".
¿Cuántas veces hemos escuchado cosas como esta?
The Champions League returns tomorrow as the group stage kicks off with two marquee games that’ll garner attention across the globe: at 12:55 p.m. ET, Inter Milan and Tottenham do battle at the San Siro, and that’s followed by a 3:00 p.m. ET classic between Liverpool and PSG at Anfield. That’s one helluva first day.
Italy is synonymous with soccer. They have always been one of the top-ranked teams in the world. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (tied with Germany for second, behind Brazil). They've been a team others have simultaneously envied and been afraid to play. A team that generated stars like Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero. A team with grace, class and a wondrous reputation.
If historians had not located the ancient Sparta territory, I would have guessed it was in the Basque country, precisely in the lovely city of San Sebastian, and that King Leonidas is buried under the turf of Anoeta, Real Sociedad’s stadium, as the almighty Barcelon continues to struggle in the land of Euskera, despite playing against a weaker side (at least in theory).
We’re sorry to bring it up, but directly following the USMNT’s fiasco at Ato Boldon Stadium, a lot of talking heads entered the debate surrounding how to fix U.S. Soccer without offering much in the way of concrete, actionable plans. But it was hard to ignore the insight offered from two of America’s most prized European exports: Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic and Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin.
Calcetines: Nunca se han celebrado tanto. Ya sea que se trate de los calcetines graciosos que dicen "Esta reunión apesta" que tu padre usa discretamente en el trabajo o de futbolistas que arriesgan todo por una multa de 65.000 dólares por usar sus amadas pero prohibidas medias en la Copa del Mundo, se trata de cubrir tus pequeños dedos con el más fino nylon. Pero la forma en que los jugadores de fútbol usan sus calcetines se ha desarrollado desde los días en que se unían el cuero o el pelo de animales enmarañado.
One year on from capturing the Supporters’ Shield, setting an MLS regular-season points record and finishing with a convincing MLS Cup victory over Seattle, Toronto FC is in very serious jeopardy of missing the 2018 playoffs entirely. With only 27 points from 27 games and one of the league’s worst defensive records, a November spent watching instead of defending the Cup is probably deserved.
So what happened to Toronto in 2018?
#1. Failure To Push Forward (Mentally/Personnel)
September 1, 2018, marks just 279 days until the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The competition at the event has never been stronger or deeper, and those who illuminate the tournament will rightly be elevated to the status of legend. Historically, the best female soccer players of all time have earned that moniker by dominating one of the seven previous editions of the tournament.
How fast is Christian Pulisic? The 19-year-old American is usually deployed on the right flank by club side Borussia Dortmund — although he enjoys a more central role when playing with the USMNT — so he’s certainly no slouch when it comes to pace. However, what makes him such a precocious talent is that he’s no one-trick pony — he doesn’t only rely on his blistering speed to create chances and take defenders on.
How fast is Sadio Mané? The Senegalese winger has harnessed his blistering pace to increasingly devastating levels while rising from France’s third division in 2012 to the heights of the Champions League final with Liverpool in 2018. His record of 10 goals from 13 appearances in the world’s premier club competition last season tells you everything you need to know about the 26-year-old: He’s now one of most feared wide men on the planet, and his pace has a lot to do with that.