Soccer's European Championship kicks off on Friday with the 24 teams' battle for glory accompanied by off-field conflict over the anti-racism gesture of "taking the knee".
England were booed by some of their fans in two friendlies while Ireland were jeered in Hungary for kneeling before kickoff in a move borrowed from American NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and popularised by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The build-up to every major international tournament is the same: who has the best striker? Or, this is why x midfielder is going to dominate or why this winger is the key to this country getting out of its group.
But no one ever talks about the goalkeepers. In such a short tournament, where three matches decide a team's fate, the importance of the goalkeeper becomes magnified.
So let's give the goalkeepers the spotlight for a little bit, because often they're the ones that end up deciding the tournament.
Between the European Championship, Copa América, Gold Cup, Olympics and World Cup qualifying, we’re going to be spending a lot of time in the living room this summer. So much so that we run the risk of being judged.
But that which is exceedingly cool is beyond judgement — I think Socrates once said that — and if you turn your television area into the spot, then no one can make fun of you. They’ll just sit down too.
Hello and welcome to the preview of Euro 2020’s most diabolically unpredictable opening group stage fixture. On Monday, June 14, No. 6 ranked Spain welcomes No. 18 Sweden to La Cartuja in Seville, where 18,000 fans will be in attendance.
LCD Soundsystem’s song “tonite” begins with a lyric that could be applicable to every UEFA European Championship anthem ever written. “Everybody’s singing the same song,” James Murphy laments. “It goes ‘tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight.’ I never realized these artists thought so much about dying.”
Despite 119 international caps to his name, Goran Pandev has rarely experienced success with North Macedonia.
The North Macedonian record-holder for both appearances and goals, Pandev made his international debut back in 2001 during a 3-3 draw against Turkey in World Cup Qualifying. It took more than three years after that day for the center forward to win his first competitive fixture with his country — a 3-0 victory over Armenia.
MADRID — Spain defender Diego Llorente became the latest player after captain Sergio Busquets to test positive for COVID-19, causing further disarray in the three-times European Championship winners' preparations for the tournament.
Following Busquets' positive test at the weekend, Spain's players have been in isolation and only able to train on an individual basis - with their first game just three days later.
Si bien la Copa América todavía es una incógnita, tranquilos, muchachos, que este verano no hay sequía de fútbol. De hecho, el próximo viernes 11 de junio comienza la Euro 2020.
Sí, 2020 en 2021, porque ya saben: Covid-19.
El torneo se jugará en 11 ciudades del Viejo Continente y por segunda vez en su historia tendrá 24 selecciones participantes. ¿Quiénes son? ¿Cuáles son los grupos? ¿Cuándo son los partidos? ¿Dónde puedo verlos? Bueno, todo lo que necesitas saber está aquí.
MADRID - Spain have called up four players to take part in a parallel training bubble following captain Sergio Busquets's positive COVID-19 test at the weekend, the national team said on Monday.
The new additions — Rodrigo (Leeds United), Pablo Fornals (West Ham United), Carlos Soler (Valencia) and Brais Méndez (Celta Vigo) — will not stay at Spain's Las Rozas training base or be involved with the rest of the preparations of the squad, who are currently isolating.
MOSCOW - The Ukrainian football association has caused outrage in Russia by unveiling a new national team shirt emblazoned with a map of Ukraine that includes Crimea, in a move Russian officials called a provocation.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow considers the peninsula part of Russia but it is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.