Do you ever wish that you could go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry except instead of magic and getting attacked by Lord Voldemort every year it's a school for elite athletes? I know I don’t because I’d probably be an outcast, fail every single class and tear my hamstring, but that’s essentially the idea behind Gatorade’s new GOAT Camp advertisement.
It’s a tactic that’s frequently implemented during elementary school recess, but its application at the professional level is far less pronounced: After a quick throw-in during a match in Romania between Makedonija Gjorce Petrov and Akademija Pandev, a defender chased after play with a spare ball in his hands before throwing it at the feet of the attacking player and knocking the live ball away.
It’s hard to remember a time without Lukas Podolski. He burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old after scoring 10 goals in his first 19 Bundesliga appearances with FC Köln . . . that was 16 years ago.
He’s since gone on to play for Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Vissel Kobe, as well as representing Germany 130 times before announcing his international retirement after Euro 2016.
Sadly, there still exists a population of humans who dismiss women’s football as being lesser than the men’s game. For all those numskulls in that camp, let us present Jane O’Toole.
The captain of St. Mirren WFC showed more toughness in a single Scottish Women’s Championship Cup than most men’s footballers will show in an entire season on Sunday against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
No one did a personal redemption story out on the pitch quite like David Beckham. He did it during his final season at Real Madrid, when he went from being dropped by Fabio Capello to proving instrumental in the club’s dramatic LaLiga triumph. He did it with the LA Galaxy when shifting his reputation from disinterred Hollywood celebrity to two-time MLS Cup champion.