In-Depth Feature

After the brutal police murder of George Floyd on May 25 in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, daily protests turned into nightly riots that shook large sections of the Twin Cities for three straight days.  

The message could be heard loud and clear from protesters — “No justice, no peace” — and read on the graffiti scrawled across Target stores — “Merchandise can be replaced. Black lives can not” — as the worst imaginable provocation coalesced with centuries of repeated injustice to trigger an outpouring of rage and grief.     

As a player whose obsession with football has only increased over the course of a glittering 17-year career, Cesc Fàbregas never grows tired of learning. That’s why, after a career spent entirely in England and Spain, the World Cup winner opted to give France a try by signing for Monaco back in 2019.

After playing 11 full seasons in the Premier League and three in LaLiga, the 33-year-old admits that the differences in Ligue 1 were pronounced. 

It’s been 10 years since Lille OSC captured its last Ligue 1 title, but one look at the table sees the club from northern France setting the pace ahead of last season’s Champions League semifinalist Lyon and, of course, three-time defending champion Paris Saint-Germain. 

If it’s a position that Lille didn’t anticipate being in with just 14 matches remaining, 20-year-old American forward Timothy Weah isn’t letting on to any sense of disbelief. 

Back on Dec. 9, Major League Soccer unveiled its list of the 25 best players in the league’s 25-year history. One no-brainer was the inclusion of attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who spent 14 hugely decorated seasons in the league. 

De Rosario was a four-time MLS Cup winner, six-time MLS Best XI selection and the 2011 MVP. His 104 career goals puts him ninth all time, and two of those strikes famously won MLS Goal of the Year Awards (2004 and 2005).  

27 days later… it’s time to do it all again. The Apertura season was one of the highlights of quarantine life — Pumas’ four-goal comeback on Cruz Azul might eventually represent my only lasting memory of 2020 — and the Clausura (again renamed “Torneo Guardianes” to honor healthcare workers) promises more of the same beginning on Friday, January 8.

Flown by many protesters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the Gadsden flag has a design that is simple and graphic: a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field with the text “Don’t Tread On Me.” But that simple design hides some important complexities, both historically and today, as it appears in rallies demanding President Donald Trump be allowed to remain in office.