Europe

Baltika Kaliningrad and Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk are over 10,000 kilometers away from each other.

Martin Tyler, Gary Neville, Ian Darke, Andy Gray, Jon Champion, Ray Hudson. Those are just a few of the world's great soccer commentators. Sure, all of these names belong to English personalities, but there are talented commentators all around the world able to capture - and often enhance - great moments with their words. When tensions are running high and we’re on the edge of our seats, these men act as our tour guides through the ups and downs of a football match.

David Moyes is back. And he doesn’t know the name of his players at Real Sociedad. We don’t really blame him, as the former Manchester United manager has moved to a new country, in a new league, with a new language. So, it is understandable and maybe even acceptable that Moyes is struggling. 

But your own players' names? In the video below Moyes called Real Sociedad midfielder Esteban Granero, ‘Stefano’ repeatedly. Later on in the video, Moyes turns to the bench to double check the name of another player. It may be time for La Real to put names on the back of their jerseys. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was asked to name the elite XI of players he's played with. Starting up front? Zlatan himself, of course.

Thanksgiving is here, and that means the holiday season is upon us. Here at The18, we understand that not all of our readers reside in the United States, and, accordingly, probably do not care about Thanksgiving - but that is no reason for us to pass the buck on spreading holiday cheer, or, as is more likely the case, awkward, strained, family reunion mojo. ’Tis the season.

Cristiano Ronaldo may be the odds-on favorite to win the Ballon d’Or, but Lionel Messi is not going out without a fight. 

Messi scored hat-trick and added a scoring record to the annals of his personal achievement, and he has made a habit of doing both of those things recently. Just over the weekend, Messi scored another hat-trick and broke a different scoring record. Then it was La Liga’s scoring record, now it is the Champion’s League’s all-time scoring record.

In fact, every time that Lionel Messi has broken a scoring record, he has done it while scoring a hat-trick.

It was only a matter of time. Leo Messi needed 10 more goals at the start of the season to break Telmo Zarra’s all-time La Liga scoring record and, 12 games into the campaign, the legendary Argentine broke the record in typical Messi fashion. La Pulga netted his 20th La Liga hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-1 victory over Sevilla, giving him 253 career La Liga goals. Check out the video Barcelona made congratulating Messi on his achievement:

Arsene Wenger told Arsenal's website that he thinks the MLS is a good place for past-their-prime European players.

Swiss fourth division side FC Grenchen cut all 11 starters after a 10-0 loss to a youth team.

In the past couple of days, reports have surfaced that arguably the best soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi, could leave his club since boyhood, F.C. Barcelona. Or he couldn’t, you all know how these things go.