Here at The18, we love all things Chicharito. Coming back from a successful international break where Mexico progressed to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, he continued his Bundesliga success with his 15th goal of the season, a beautiful curling effort that put Bayer Leverkusen up 2 - 0.
Jesus "Tecatito" Corona is nicknamed after a famous Mexican beer. His play lives up to that nickname as he scored a beautiful goal that has football fans watching it on repeat. Mexico faced off against Canada at Estadio Azteca in the semi final round of CONCACAF WCQ. Mexico's professionalism and clinical skill on the pitch allowed for a high possession percentage and their attacking prowess created a penalty and Tecatito's clean finish.
Shinji Kagawa added two goals for Japan in a 5 - 0 romp of Syria in AFC World Cup Qualifying. The match against Syria was tight until Kagawa latched on to a flick from Keisuke Honda and with his back to the goal, chested it down, spun and fired home past Syrian keeper, Ibrahim Alba. Once Kagawa scored in the 66th minute, the flood gates opened as Syria allowed 3 more goals to be scored. Kagawa added another in the 90th minute.
Dimitri Payet was on the pitch for three minutes before he scored an absolutely stunning free kick from distance in an international friendly in the 64th minute. The West Ham and French international attacking midfielder went top right corner to beat Russian keeper, Igor Akinfeev. This 30 yard free kick put the home side up 3-1. It was a lovely goal that will definitely help Payet's cause in making the Euro 2016 French squad. France would go on to win the match 4 - 2 and birthday boy, Payet provided the highlight reel goal.
Happy Birthday Dimitri!
To see the goal fast forward to the 2:20 mark.
Oh the great Jamie Vardy. Not only does the lad have 19 goals and 6 assists in the Premier League, but now he is acting like the saving grace for the Three Lions. Vardy continued his coming out party to the world but this time on the international stage as he netted this clinical backheel against the defending world champions. Germany gave up a 2-0 lead to the Englishman, and one of the other goal scorers for Roy Hodgson's bunch was none other than Harry Kane.
Didier Drogba is not above playing with US players, as the Sacramento Republic (which sounds like the name of a newspaper) found out when Drogba spent 10 days training with the team.
The Ivorian former Chelsea striker found himself training with the USL side because of his issues with playing on turf, which his team, the Montral Impact, say makes his knee swell up. Drogba missed the Impact first two games of the season due to concerns about playing on turf (he made his season debut in Saturday's 2-0 loss to FC Dallas).
GOALKEEPER GOAL, EVERYBODY. This one comes out of the Danish Superliga and by netminder Steffen Rasmussen of the club AGF Aarhus (real name Aarhus Gymnastikforening). Times were tough as AGF were trailing AaB Fodbold late in the match. But luckily 6 mintues of added time gave Rasmussen the opportunity to create greatness. In the 4th minute of added time, the Stenvad, Denmark native left his post in goal to particpate in a last gasp effort for AGF. And what do you know, the 33-year-old gets left completely unmarked and heads home the equalizer!
It was just another Sunday night in Liga MX. Pumas were on their way to victory against a hapless Monarcas de Morelia team that had already conceded two own goals. All UNAM neaded to do was see out the game and collect three points. In the 58th minute, midfielder Javier Cortes Granados decided seeing out the game wasn't enough.
He needed to score the goal of 2016 so far in Liga MX. So that's what he did.
Liverpool are on to the Europa League quarterfinals, but it wasn't always a for sure thing when Manchester United scored from the spot to make it 2 - 1 on aggregate. With Manchester United up 1 - 0 and looking for a second to tie on aggregate, Liverpool's Coutinho scored a world class goal that took a great deal of skill. The Brazilian midfielder took the ball just inside the attacking third of the pitch, took on United right back Guillermo Varela, beat him in one move and chipped David de Gea from a extremely tough angle.