National Teams

The pre-match team photo is so innocuous and brief that it hardly even registers when watching it take place. Like players holding the hands of little child mascots when entering the field, it's just one of those things that happens. Don't question it, don't even think about it, let's just get it over with.

The starting XI gets in two balanced rows, the players in the back drape their arms over one another and everyone stares blankly into the camera for a moment. What’s the point of the exercise? Where does the photo end up? Who’s getting any joy from this photo op?

After three consecutive major final losses, Argentina decided to rebuild their squad. Edgardo Bauza became their third coach in just over two years, and everybody is hoping for a fresh start after their heart breaking loss to Chile in the Copa America Centenario.

Recently, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has been the subject of intense scrutiny, with critics claiming that the two time Ballon d'Or winner has lost a step.

In true superstar fashion, Ronaldo didn’t spend time complaining in the media like Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, but instead fired back at critics with a convincing four-goal performance, just one goal shy of Portugal’s record for goals in a game. This game marks his 42nd career hat trick, as the Portuguese star showed that he is still one of the best.

Neymar’s match against Bolivia contained parts of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good was a goal and two assists which helped the Selecao to a 5—0 rout of Bolivia in Natal, Brazil. 

The bad was a 36th-minute yellow card that means he’s suspended for Brazil’s October 11th qualifier away to Venezuela. However, given that Venezuela currently dwell at the bottom of the CONMEBOL WCQ table with two points from nine matches, Neymar’s absence shouldn’t be a factor.

CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying grew in legend with another improbable incident during Thursday’s match between Ecuador and Chile.

With Ecuador holding a 3-0 advantage over Chile at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa in Quito, Ecuardorian international Enner Valencia, who plays his club football for Everton in the Premier League, allegedly faked an injury to evade police capture in the 82nd minute.

We recently found out that soccer has caused Carli Lloyd a lot of family drama and strained relationships over the years, but now she might be ready to put soccer aside and focus on her family. 

Ghana's coach thinks his team isn't good enough, and the reason for that is his players are having too much sexy time with the ladies.

Here's what Malik Jabir had to say in Diario AS:

Standing at 6’3’’ and built like brick s***houses, Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku both share a distinct ability to absolutely boss center-backs. Both are charged with doing as much for their club sides, Everton and Crystal Palace.

On Friday night, the two players went head to head in a match surely watched by Belgium manager Roberto Martinez and his assistant Thierry Henry. While the two strikers share some qualities, they’re incredibly different in their approach play.

After a one-year hiatus, Giovani Dos Santos is finally back in the fold for the Mexican National Team. 

El Tri's Colombian manager, Juan Carlos Osorio, called up Dos Santos for the first time since the 2015 Gold Cup, teaning the upcoming friendlies against New Zealand and Panama will be the first chance we get to see the LA Galaxy forward playing under Osorio. 

In terms of performance, Dos Santos’s call-up is no surprise, as he’s having a fantastic season in LA. So far he has scored 14 goals and dished out four assists this season in 26 MLS games.