Iran versus Morocco was awful. The return of the vuvuzela. The vintage Carlos Queiroz approach. The feeling that I really misguided folks by praising Moroccan attackers Amine Harit and Hakim Ziyech before the match.
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.
In what's considered by many to be the weakest group at the World Cup, both Russia and Saudi Arabia will have plenty to prove in Group A's opening match Thursday. Russia will be backed by tens of thousands of screaming fans, while Saudi Arabia will look to prove that they're not here just to make up the numbers.
It wasn’t the style that the USWNT will be looking to impose on nations exactly one year from now in France (qualifying willing), but a set piece delivered by Megan Rapinoe and finished by Alex Morgan, who now has five goals in her last three international appearances, was enough to see the U.S. over China in Sandy, Utah on Thursday night.
A strong crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium also got to see the return of Amy Rodriguez and watch Crystal Dunn play in pretty much every position on the field.
Every World Cup, there seems to be the story of a nation that's given little to no chance of making any progress, but somehow ends up actually gaining fans along the way. For the 2018 tournament, we're here to tell you why Australia should be the team that you open your heart to.
The Socceroos are in Group C, alongside France, Denmark and Peru. A tough group, but the Aussies could shock plenty of people if they play with no fear.
When it was confirmed that Russia would be opening the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a match against Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the general response was one of deep cynicism: here was a bit of home cooking on FIFA’s end; certainly this was the worst opening match in the history of the tournament.
Andres Iniesta has made his next move official, signing with J1 League side Vissel Kobe. He's undoubtedly one of the J League's greatest imports, so in his honor, we've decided to assemble a list of the 18 best foreign players in J League history.