Prodigies

The fact that soccer is a way of life in many if not all countries in the world is no mystery. 

In some places, families bet their savings and livelihoods on the skills of a young Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, hoping that their son will be the next big thing in the ever-changing environment that is the soccer world. 

Most of the time, these bets don’t pay off and many times, especially in countries where soccer is put ahead of school, they even backfire. Nevertheless, there are a few seeds that grow and eventually turn into amazing stories.

Christian Pulisic will eventually be crowned the USMNT’s best player ever.

This hot take is backed with circumstantial evidence in the form of raw talent, technical superiority and a nurturing environment for tactical growth. 

The Russia 2018 World Cup may be a somewhat sad and empty affair. Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the Argentina National Team (whether he means it or not remains to be seen), Zlatan Ibrahimovic has officially retired from Sweden, Cristiano Ronaldo will be 33 and Wayne Rooney will be 32. The traditional stars of the world's game are fading away, and Russia will probably be the first tournament where that truly sinks in. 

It’s the kind of popular legend that is usually attributed to a “friend of a friend” and rooted in invention and fantasy, a cheap tale to explain the otherworldly. When professional football freestyler Billy Wingrove met Ronaldinho as part of Nike’s Joga Bonito advertising campaign, he said: “I’ve got two questions. One, is there a heaven? Two, how did he [Ronaldinho] get this good?”

Xavi Hernandez is a Barcelona legend. While in the Blaugrana, he won damn near everything there is to win. He retired on top, having been an integral part of Barca's treble win. This begs the question, though, now that Xavi is comfortably living out the early stages of his retirement in the Qatari league, where is the next Xavi? How will Barcelona replace one of the best players in its history?

Freddy Adu is coming home.

Ther former savior of American soccer, Adu was capped by the USMNT at 16-years-old and was the number one pick in the MLS Superdraft at age 14.