Let’s be honest, you’re probably sick of the Paolo Guerrero story by now. The will-he, won’t-he narrative has gone on for eight months and it’s almost as unbearable as the Ross and Rachel storyline that kept people watching “Friends” for years even though it was never ever really all that funny.
World Cup rosters have 23 players on them. They’re allegedly the best 23 players the country has to offer. So it’s hard to imagine that the United States has over 300 million people but can’t seem to find 23 (or even 11) who are even capable of qualifying for a World Cup (yeah, I know it's not that simple).
No qualified nation’s World Cup cycle has been quite as dramatic as that of Egypt’s. The Pharaohs got off to a flyer in qualifying before an August defeat to Uganda threw everything in jeopardy. Step forward Mohamed Salah.
Growing up as a reader of Sports Illustrated and a fan of soccer were two mutually exclusive things. Every week, I’d immediately flip through the magazine looking for an article from Grant Wahl or a blurb concerning the world’s game, but it was an extremely rare occurrence.
Argentina began its World Cup tune-ups in earnest on Tuesday with the first of two friendlies before opening group play against Iceland on June 16. La Albiceleste welcomed Haiti to La Bombonera in Buenos Aires — a meeting between the nations currently holding spots five and 108 in the FIFA World Rankings.
Mario Gotze was the undoubted hero of the 2014 World Cup, coming off the bench to score a crucial winning goal in extra time against Argentina.
After the dust had settled and Real Madrid walked off the field in Kyiv as champions of Europe for the third consecutive season, the soccer world shifted its attention to answering one simple question: Is Mo Salah out for the World Cup this summer?
Following close to 24 hours of speculation, Salah tweeted that he believes he will be back on the pitch in time to represent Egypt.