So, a match in an Argentinian tournament called the Copa Ciudad de Plata made it to the 93rd minute without incident. And then there was an incident. A flying karate kick incident.
The kicker is Alvaro Pereira, who has played a not-unimportant role for the Uruguayan National Team over the years and had an excellent 2014 World Cup. Here, though, he shows us that he's adept at kicking things other than soccer balls.
Ronaldinho is one of the best attacking midfielders of the modern era, up there with Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, Andres Iniesta, Pavel Nedved and others. That's exceptional company to be in, and he has now anointed a player he believes will join that group: fellow Brazilian and Liverpool man Roberto Firmino.
From The Mirror:
"I didn't ever question if he would be a great player for Liverpool, I knew that he would be," said the World Cup winner.
Everyone hates Fred. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is his truly awful performance at the 2014 World Cup.
Well done big phil #brazil #WorldCup #fred pic.twitter.com/qmjch5dNp6
The Sao Paulo Youth Cup began in 1969 in the city of São Paulo. At the beginning only clubs in the state of São Paulo participated, but in 1971 the competition was extended to include all of Brazil's clubs.
From 1993 to 1997 the tournament accepted international clubs such as Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors (Argentina) and some Japanese clubs, but the results weren't as expected so the organizers decided to return to the original format with only Brazilian clubs.
Things are going pretty good for Paris Saint Germain. How good? Well they haven't lost since November 3rd, 2015. They've played 16 matches since then, and have tallied 15 wins and only 1 loss. So this Angel di Maria volley is right the the alley of how things are going for PSG. Di Maria was running right to left when Luca Moura feed him a arching pass. But the Argentina handled it perfectly and caught the goalkeeper off his line, scoring a beauty from 20 yards. Di Maria isn't having too bad a season either.
Ronaldinho is not retired. Not yet. We're happy about this, because someone who loves the game as much as he does should be able to play forever. We know that this will not be the case, but we want him to go on as long as possible.
James Rodriguez used to be the guy that everyone couldn’t help but like. He was the breakout star of the 2014 World Cup. His goal against Uruguay, and subsequent celebration, showed he was a young man at once completely comfortable with his newfound stardom, and perfectly overwhelmed by it.
“He’s a star alright!” Jon Champion screamed that day, and there was no one in the world that would have dared argue with him. In Rodriguez, everyone saw the star they dreamed they could be.
Not to be confused with another Firmino at Liverpool, but Hugo Firmino of Portugal scored a stunning volley today against Vitoria Guimaraes. With a freekick from close to the corner flag, the striker calmly one timed it into the upper 90 and celebration ensued. Currently plying his trade in the Portugese Second Division for Clube Oriental de Lisboa, the striker has three goals on the 2015/16 season. This goal is one for the books and will certainly bring some attention to the club and the player.
You may remember Wendell Lira, the Brazilian lower-leagues player who achieved international stardom for doing this:
Lira won the FIFA Puskas Award, given annually to the scorer of the sickest goal of the year, but it turns out his best talent with a soccer ball may not actually be kicking it, but making virtual players kick it with an Xbox controller.
I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, the best reactions to goals come from South America, Central America, Spain and Eastern Europe. The whole crowd just gets so stoked. You can literally hear everyone in the stadium simultaneously say “OOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!” Yelling “YEAH” or “YES” just isn’t the same. It’s as if everyone wants to scream “OH MY GOD!” but just can’t get past the first syllable.