Despite having a portion of the Vasil Levski Stadium closed by order of UEFA for “racist behavior” from Bulgaria supporters during a June qualifier against Kosovo, the buildup for today’s match between England and Bulgaria in Sofia was centered around how Three Lions players would respond to the inevitable racist abuse that would come their way.
The 2019 Ballon d’Or will be presented in December, and the three front runners will all be confident of their chances at lifting the famous award. For both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, it could just be one of their final chances. They're each aiming for a sixth win. Meanwhile, for Virgil van Dijk it would be tremendous recognition of a fine season spent leading Liverpool to European glory and an incredible run in the Premier League.
According to the Telegraph, Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling has been offered a contract worth $120 million from Nike subsidiary Air Jordan to be face of the company’s upcoming soccer line.
While many people scoff at the idea that a cleat impacts a player's game, when it comes to professionals, it's undeniable that there are clear trends in terms of cleat preference. The main factor, in terms of boot preference for professionals, is the material that constitutes the upper portion of the cleat. This article looks at the three main types of material, attempting to understand why certain players favor specific materials, and we'll discuss k-leather vs kangaroo leather.
#1: Kangaroo Leather (K-Leather)
A Harry Kane-less Tottenham got exactly what it needed in a 4-3 loss to Manchester City as the Spurs will advance to the UCL semifinals, 4-4 on aggregate by way of away goals.
The Spurs held a 1-0 advantage from the previous meeting back in London.
For all of his goal-scoring success in the past couple of years with Manchester City, Raheem Sterling entered this international break with just four goals in 47 international appearances.
Sterling nearly doubled that mark on Friday.
England hosted the Czech Republic in the first match of Euro 2020 qualifying for both countries. Sterling looked right at home, scoring a hat trick to lead the Three Lions to a 5-0 victory.
More remarkable than the goals, however, was the Raheem Sterling celebration after his second strike.
Despite UEFA opening an investigation of Manchester City for possible Financial Fair Play violations, the club is looking in glorious shape for the future following news today that midfield maestro Bernardo Silva has elected to renew his contract until the summer of 2025 with a deal that puts him amongst City’s highest earners.
The Portuguese midfielder’s deal quickly follows on previous news of extensions for Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus — all players who are aged 24 and under who’ll lead the side for years to come.
Leroy Sané’s spectacular 85th minute free kick denied Schalke a famous victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie at Veltins-Arena. The footballer that Schalke groomed entered the match in the 78th minute and then hammered the dead ball seven minutes later to draw 10-man City level — and then Raheem Sterling muscled his way to goal for a dramatic 3-2 winner in the 90th minute.
Since 2013, the CIES Football Observatory has annually been releasing a list of the top 100 valued footballers from Europe’s “Big-5” leagues. It’s a fascinating concept because rather than just saying “Messi is the best, he’s No. 1. Ronaldo is second-best, he’s No.