Welcome to the Netherlands, Érick Gutiérrez.
Gutiérrez, a Mexico international midfielder, reunited with former Pachuca winger Hirving Lozano in the Eredivisie when PSV Eindhoven signed the 23-year-old just before the transfer deadline in August.
He made his debut on Saturday, coming on as a substitute against ADO Den Haag.
Five minutes later, he had assisted his compatriot and scored a cracking goal.
He’s played for many of the best clubs in the world, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea. He’s been named the African Player of the Year a record for times and FIFA Player of the Year once. And Samuel Eto'o, at age 37, is still going strong.
Samuel Eto'o is an ageless wonder. He’s scored more than 300 goals for club and country in more than 600 appearances. Though he’s since moved on from the glamor leagues of Spain, Italy and England, Eto’o is still scoring goals. Last year in Turkey’s Super Lig he recorded six goals in 13 appearances for Konyaspor.
There was no Neymar, no Kylian Mbappé — not even a Tim Weah. But Paris Saint-Germain still had no problem securing three points on Friday, and this impressive Julian Draxler goal vs Saint-Etienne (and an assist) showed the German is still one of the top playmakers in the world, even if he struggles to crack PSG’s starting lineup.
The 2018-19 UEFA Women’s Champions League Round of 32 kicked off Wednesday with the likes of Lyon (the three-time defending champion), Chelsea, Wolfsburg, PSG and Linkoping all recording first leg victories.
The most resounding scoreline was Bayern Munich traveling to Serbia to take on Spartak Subotica and winning 7-0. The opening goal of the match was scored by 33-year-old American Gina Lewandowski (no relation to Robert). She previously won this competition with Frankfurt back in 2008, but she has only one USWNT cap to her name.
Excuse me, I have to type this so quietly because Croatia’s hungover as all hell at the moment, and I daren’t wake it. Today, Croatia opened its eyes in Elche before quickly closing them and muttering, “I think I’m going to die. I don’t think partying for 58 days straight was a good idea.”
That’s the amount of time that’s elapsed between the nation’s runners-up finish at the World Cup and today’s 6-0 beatdown at the hands of La Furia Roja — a nickname which certainly sounds like the sort of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky product that’d do your head in.
A team of Cruz Azul legends played a friendly against Club America legends in a farewell match to Estadio Azul Saturday, which was America’s home between 1947 and 1955 and Azul’s ground between 1996 and 2018. Both clubs now occupy the Estadio Azteca while the Nuevo Estadio Azul is being built.
But this past weekend, the likes of Azul legends Carlos Hermosillo and César Delgado came up against Blanco, Luis Roberto Alves and Germán Villa to give the crumbling edifice a proper goodbye.
I don’t normally abuse my position as a writer at The18 to bring you solely what I would like to bring you — the golden rule for hacks like me is to give the people what the people want — except when it comes Xherdan Shaqiri.
Jermaine Jones officially hung up his boots on Friday, announcing his retirement via Instagram. The German-born midfielder made 69 appearances and scored four times for the USMNT, including one of the greatest World Cup goals ever scored by an American.
There are a few unstoppable feats in sports, like an Allen Iverson crossover, a Barry Sanders sweep or a Nolan Ryan fastball. You know it’s coming, but you still can’t beat it. This Gareth Bale goal vs Ireland fell into that category.
I’m not one of those people that’s instantly enamored with the mechanics of a flip throw-in. After you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a million times — like a fire-eating street performance. If I had to select my two favorite flip throw-ins of all-time, I’d go with this kid getting smashed in the face.