No one ever said the FIFA corruption trials would be normal. But I don’t think anyone expected this bizarre turn of events. Kevin Jonas was called to the stand to testify for the prosecution during the ongoing court case on Thursday at a U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn.
We’ve got it, we’ve pinned down two-year-old Mateo Messi’s future on the pitch. After graduating from La Masia summa cum laude, the phenom will replace a 45-year-old Sergio Busquets in Barcelona’s holding midfield role, because, according to father Lionel, Mateo is “un hijo de puta.” He’s a real mean sumbitch.
A statue of Lionel Messi in Buenos Aires has been vandalized. The statue, which was erected in June 2016, was cut off at the ankles and removed from its base. Basically, the vandals did what defenders try to do all around the world when they face Messi. And they got away with it because the bronze statue has much slower feet than Messi.
Leo Messi's statue in Buenos Aires was vandalised for a second time this year ...
The World Cup draw was completed this morning at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow with the 32 finalist nations placed into eight groups of four. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium with a match featuring host-side Russia and Saudi Arabia. We now know the makeup of the entire field for the competition as well as the group stage matches that'll captivate the planet next summer. Here are the full results from the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw.
Grêmio claimed its third Copa Libertadores title with a 2-1 victory (3-1 aggregate) over Lanús on Wednesday. The Gremio Copa Libertadores victory sparked a wild celebration back home as the Brazilian club rounded out the field for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins next week.
Fernandinho and Luan both scored in the first half for Grêmio, which held on despite a red card to Ramiro in the 83rd minute.
FIFA wants to do away with the limited-appeal Confederations Cup. Perhaps enamored by the financial success of the Avengers movies, FIFA wants to follow suit with a 24-team Super Club World Cup. The summer tournament would bring in the best clubs from around the world every four years like some sort of Infinity War, because super heroes are better than regular, old, boring heroes.
Botafogo took the pitch with an unusual shirt sponsor in what could be a first for professional football on Monday: a YouTube star’s brand on the team’s jersey. Botafogo wore their iconic black-and-white kits with the logo for “Neto’s” located just above the team crest and a logo for Brazilian YouTube star Felipe Neto on the right breast against Palmeiras on Monday.
As unbelievable as it sounds, Italy could still go to the World Cup. Peru is looking at trouble as they could possibly be excluded from the international championship by FIFA should a Congress initiative become effective.
The problem is that the initiative, proposed by legislator Paloma Noceda, would potentially result in the government taking over the Peruvian FA.
Inter Milan can return to the top of the Serie A table on Saturday with a victory over Cagliari, an achievement heading into December that even the most impassioned of Nerazzurri supporters couldn’t have predicted. The hiring of Luciano Spalletti has been a masterstroke, and an absence of European competition has allowed the side to flourish domestically with largely unchanged personnel in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
One big reason Argentina have failed to win a major trophy during the international career of the best footballer of all time has been management. They simply have not found a manager who can consistently bring out the best in Argentina's impressive stable of attackers.