Trueque es la palabra de moda en el mercado de pases del fútbol mexicano para el Clausura 2022. Los rumores de intercambio de jugadores entre equipos están a la orden del día y al menos una de esas conversaciones llegó a puerto: Cruz Azul mandó a Roberto Alvarado rumbo a Chivas, a cambio de Uriel Antuna y Alejandro Mayorga.
RABAT — Hakim Ziyech was the notable absentee as Morocco coach Vahid Halilhodzic on Thursday named his squad for next month's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.
The Chelsea winger had a fallout with the coach earlier this year and was overlooked for the six World Cup qualifiers played between September and November, making his omission no shock although the Dutch-born Ziyech is seen as Morocco's key player.
Against all odds, Bodø/Glimt was just seconds away from a second consecutive Norwegian league title. Up 2-1 against SK Brann in the dying moments of injury time, Glimt just had to defend a desperation corner and they were league champions.
There would be no celebrations on that December day though, as an injury equalizer conceded against Brann prevented Glimt from sealing the Eliteserien championship on home turf.
Christian Pulisic is in a bit of a form slump heading into the holidays with only one goal in his last 11 appearances. An inconsistent number of starts can be attributed to the poor form with only four of those 11 appearances being starts. Another issue comes in the form of a question. What position does Pulisic play?
Evergreen Japanese footballer Kazuyoshi Miura, now 54, has no intention of hanging up his boots and said that as many as eight Japanese clubs are after his signature for next season, Kyodo News agency reported on Tuesday.
Miura, known as "King Kazu" in his homeland, became the oldest player to feature in Japan's first division when he played for Yokohama FC last season, but is now looking for opportunities elsewhere after the side were relegated to the second tier.
In Europe there's a pretty established pathway to becoming a professional footballer: get signed to the academy of a professional club at an early age and hope that one day you're good enough to make the first team.
For an American with European dreams, the route is similar: either have a rich family that can send you abroad or hope that a European club somehow spots you.
Soccer fans have a different circadian rhythm than others. They're up early to see what's going on in Europe, they're in bed late to follow along with Liga MX, they reach an emotional peak on Wednesday afternoons and frequently block off entire month-long periods in the summer for international festivals of footie. It's a delicate balance, but the 2022 soccer tournaments calendar is a disruptive year with the Qatar World Cup falling between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18.
Here's all the major action between January and December of 2022.
Soccer fans across the U.S. have often complained about big TV networks buying up the rights to major competitions only to hide them behind the additional pay walls of streaming services. All four major networks in the country have, at some point, been guilty of this in the last few years. So let’s give credit where credit’s due as CBS announced the 2022 Champions League Round of 16 TV schedule on Monday, including matches on CBS on six of eight match days.
Barcelona’s women’s team continued its endless path of destruction on Saturday with a 4-0 defeat of Rayo Vallecano. Barcelona Femení hit a landmark number during the victory with the team’s 100th goal of the season after only 20 games. The Barcelona women goals fall like rain an overcast summer day in Oklahoma.
Jana Fernández scored the century goal in the 15th minute with a well-placed headed effort to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead.
MADRID — Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard will start at home to Cadiz in LaLiga on Sunday, manager Carlo Ancelotti has said.
It will be the first time the Belgium midfielder has been in the starting lineup since Real's 2-1 home loss to Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League on Sept. 28.
Ancelotti said Hazard's selection has nothing to do with Real missing six players due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the club.