World Cup

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. 

Go ahead and draw conclusions about what this means with regards to England, but Russia will be the worst nation to ever host a World Cup. South Africa, the only host nation to ever fail to advance from the World Cup group stage, at least gave us the entertainment value of Siphiwe Tshabalala, Steven Pienaar and the vuvuzela.

Will the USA get to host a World Cup in the near future? The president of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati, implied that goal could be more difficult to reach if Donald Trump is elected president in November.

From ESPNFC:

When Manuel Neuer continuously came hurtling out of goal against Algeria at the 2014 World Cup, most experts questioned the sanity of such a tactic. Obviously Germany would eventually be punished for holding such a preposterously high defensive line and for allowing their goalkeeper so many touches of the ball. 

When Germany announced their preliminary squad for Euro 2016, the accompanying names were a comforting who’s who of Die Mannschaft familiarity. There’s good old hulking center forward Mario Gomez, the ageless but totally aging Bastian Schweinsteiger and footballer turned living memorial, Lukas Podolski.

Alongside the talents of Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng, this is a side that should certainly be favorites to win Euro 2016 as the reigning world champions.

After the ousting of three different CONCACAF presidents on charges of corruption, bribery and money-laundering, the region has begun the slow process of recovery behind a newly elected leader, Canadian Victor Montagliani.

Key to FIFA reestablishing its reputation, as well as remedying the fall-out from the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, is to establish a World Cup bidding process that is both transparent and sensible. 

2006 World Cup winner Luca Toni signed off on his illustrious career with an audacious Panenka penalty against Juventus this weekend, leading Verona to a shock 2-1 victory over Juventus.

Luca Toni gets a penalty in his last ever game. Gives it the Panenka: https://t.co/ac2sDwL50L

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 9, 2016

Never doubt Carli Lloyd.

Before the 2015 World Cup, Lloyd’s former coach and the coach of World Cup rival Sweden, Pia Sundhage, said that Lloyd was a great player, but was mentally weak.

“Carli Lloyd was a challenge to coach, by the way. When she felt that we had faith in her, she could be one of the best players. But if she began to question that faith, she could be one of the worst.”

“It was so delicate, so, so delicate.”

Amnesty International published two new videos that show in gruesome detail the true nature of conditions for migrant workers working on the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The Qatar World Cup is set to be held in the winter, and has been subject of criticisms from almost every angle imaginable.