South America

Vinícius Jr’s transition to Real Madrid has by no means been easy. The young Brazilian joined Madrid from Fluminense for $50 million in 2017, making him the second-most expensive transfer from Brazil behind only Neymar. Unlike Neymar, Vinícius Jr has not found immediate success in LaLiga.

Vinicius, while showing incredible dribbling ability and ball control, has lacked the final product of his Brazilian compatriot, scoring just one goal in LaLiga in his first season at Real Madrid compared to Neymar’s nine goals.

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 went down in Milan today, and you can rest assured that The18 tried its best to watch on YouTube, but good lord, this stuff is mostly unwatchable. It's remarkably drawn out, full of self-aggrandizing nonsense from FIFA and the forced banter between hosts Ilaria D'Amico, Ruud Gullit and the guests makes you search for the mute button while your skin crawls.

But other than that it's pretty good! 

Let’s go to the green carpet for some select photos before the ceremony. Here’s Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe looking fly. 

Warning: This article contains graphic images

Athletico Paranaense won its first ever Copa do Brazil on Wednesday, beating Internacional 3-1 on aggregate to add another trophy to its recent successful run that includes the 2018 Copa Sudamericana. A Brazilian soccer fan supporting the club, however, lost a hand in the process.

These days, sadly, the Amazon Fire is more than digital media player. The Amazon rainforest is burning and Neymar wants to preserve it. 

The #PrayForAmazonas hashtag has been trending this week as the Amazon burns at scary rates. The dire situation has caught the eyes of a worried global community — and notable Brazilians such as football superstar Neymar.

No club has won the Brasileirão more than Palmeiras, which makes it odd that five Brazilian clubs — São Paulo, Grêmio, Santos, Cruzeiro and Internacional — have all achieved more success in South America’s premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores. Palmeiras has only won the title once, and that happened all the way back in 1999. 

It’s that time of year again: FIFA has announced the 10 finalists for the annual Puskás Award, the trophy given to the player, male or female, “judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or ‘most beautiful,’ goal of the calendar year.”

This most certainly wasn’t the case last year when Mohamed Salah scooped the award after Liverpool and Egypt supporters spammed the fan vote. The goal Salah scored against Everton back in December of 2018 hadn’t even won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month, so it was an awful joke to see it given the prestigious Puskás Award.

Dani Alves made his debut for São Paulo FC, the club he’s supported his whole life, in Brazil’s Série A today, and it’ll come as a surprise to absolutely no one that he marked the occasion with a game-winning goal.

The 36-year-old has been synonymous with two things throughout his illustrious career: (1) his unmatched penchant for winning, including 40 trophies won, and (2) his ability — although he’s one of the best right backs of all time — to play anywhere on the pitch, including goalkeeper.

It was, if we’re being honest, one of the worst red cards ever given out. 

Lionel Messi was rammed into by Chile’s Gary Medel, who had been out for blood all match, and the Argentine merely held his ground. Nonetheless, Messi was sent off, just his second career red card since turning pro. 

Despite having not scored more than 10 league goals in a season since 2014-15 (his first with Real Madrid), Colombian attacker James Rodriguez remains one of the game’s most recognizable and beloved footballers. The 28-year-old’s playmaking ability is world class (he dropped 13 assists during his first season on loan at Bayern Munich), and although he’s been deemed surplus to requirements by Zinedine Zidane, the likes of Atlético and Napoli are desperate to sign the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner.