Every sports fan has a bucket list of the experiences they would like to have before they die.The sports world is filled with so many great venues and events that, even if you tried to accomplish just one item on your list a year, you still wouldn’t have enough time to get them all done. As a soccer fan, here are five items on my soccer bucket list I would like to do – and think all soccer fans should do before they die.
Bayer Leverkusen and Mexico striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's departure from his previous club Manchester United was, um, acrimonious.
Current United manager Louis van Gaal clearly didn't want Hernandez in the squad and told him there was very little chance of him playing striker for United. Hernendez was sent to Germany, where he has lit the world on fire (23 goals so far this season in all competitions).
Barcelona is once again dominating the European football landscape to replicate the success experienced under former boss Pep Guardiola. The Spanish giants are enjoying a long unbeaten run across La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey, but there is a different method to their madness.
Ronaldo has scored a lot of amazing goals, but apparently there is one that keeps him up at night…or haunts his dreams…I don’t know, but the point is there’s a goal that Ronaldo dreams about. Which, considering all of the amazing goals he’s scored, is pretty dreamy for the rest of us humans to contemplate.
“I’ve scored a lot of beautiful goals," he said at the release of his new aftershave (duh).
The New York Times ended a profile of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter thusly:
“Enough is enough,” he said. “I will always be a president.”
We looked into it, and it turns out no, he will not always be a president. In fact, since the election of Gianni Infantino, he isn't even currently a president.
That's sort of how elections work. You're a president, then someone else gets elected, then you're not a president anymore.
Every Barcelona goal is beautiful. The team effort and crisp passing allowed for the La Liga leading giants to easily defeat Rayo Vallecano. Of the 5 goals scored, Lionel Messi's hat trick proved to the highlight in a lop sided match. Rayo Vallecano finished the game with 9 men as Diego Llorente and Manuel Iturra were given straight red cards in the 42nd and 67th minute, respectively. Messi's hat trick in the run of play was a tribute to Barcelona's possession dominance and his intelligence to be in the right place at the right time.
The amazing chemistry of Messi, Suarez and Neymar comes from the inside. That was the candid assertion of Barcelona forward Luis Suarez as he explained why he and his partners in attack are so successful.
"We prioritize the group objective. None of us compete with the others, but each enjoy the moment. I feel content, happy, and I'm helping the team, which is key.”
Lionel Messi can score incredible goals in so many ways it's almost unfair. You forget how many tools he has until he brings them out.
For example, we don't typically think of Messi as a free kick specialist, and then he goes and scores an absurd bender like the one he had against Sevilla Sunday.
OK, first the bad news: Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-1 to Mainz 05 Sunday. The good news: that one goal happened to be scored by recently-returned-from-injury striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.
Hernandez now has 23 goals in all competitions for Leverkusen, and 14 in the Bundesliga.
GOAL, Leverkusen! Chicharito gets one back for the visitors, but is it too little too late? https://t.co/90ahZ6Etpj
Lionel Messi, Steph Curry and Tom Brady were the main catalysts behind their teams' respective 2015 triumphs. Messi led Barcelona to a historic treble, Curry helped Golden State capture the NBA championship and Brady quarterbacked the New England Patriots to victory in Super Bowl XLIX.