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Portuguese football fans will be understandably aggrieved following the goal-line controversy in Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Serbia. It's important to remember though that the Seleção is still tied for first in its qualifying group — a very easy group at that.

Following the victory over Jamaica, USMNT's next opponent is Northern Ireland on Sunday. The two sides will meet in Belfast for just their second matchup ever — the first being a 5-0 friendly victory for Northern Ireland in a 1948 friendly.

For a while now, I have touted that college basketball and European soccer, despite an ocean between them, are very much two parallel sports.

The fervor of college basketball student sections, something not found at most professional sports games in the United States, is the closest facsimile to thousands of mad ultras at a European football match, making home advantage so important in each sport.

There are some crazy superstitions and lucky charms that soccer players make sure they have before any match they may play in. Some players have lucky underwear, some have to put a certain cleat on before the other and some have to step on the pitch with a certain foot first. These may seem out of the ordinary, but these are real things players make sure they stick to before each and every game or practice for good luck. 

Football was changed forever in the 1950's by a man named Charles Reep, a retired Wing Commander from the British Royal Air Force. After watching and meticulously analyzing hundreds of soccer games, Reep came to the conclusion that the majority of goals in soccer come from moves of three passes or fewer.

This simple deduction shaped British football from that point on, changing it from a game based on individual dribbling ability and guile into a long ball jamboree and war of field position. Thus, England became a country known for aerial duels and rough and tumble soccer.

Much of the discussion surrounding soccer refereeing this season has focused on the use of the Video Assistant Referee. The VAR controversy is dangerous to the modern game, but there is another issue — a serious player safety concern — that is being carelessly overlooked because of the VAR commotion.