Nearly every FIFA video game player can recall one moment they wanted to rip their hair out and throw the controller out the window. The reasonings may differ, but the majority of the time it’s because of the most blasphemous and ridiculous spell of play that leads to conceding.
The majority of these instances are defended with “that would never happen in a real game” or “a real life player would never make that mistake.”
Pelé’s always been everywhere. As a player, he appeared at four World Cups spanning three different continents, his Santos side traveled around the world like the Harlem Globetrotters and he even ventured into the backwoods of American soccer with the New York Cosmos.
But he truly achieved an omnipresence after retiring and transitioning into life as the OG Cristiano Ronaldo, hawking goods and services like a door-to-door salesman while collecting honorary degrees for his contributions to the bicycle kick sciences.
The idea of helping youths develop and hone their skills in soccer is appealing to a large number of coaches. In the U.S. alone there are coaches teaching millions of young players how to play the sport.
Coaching, like most things in life, doesn’t come without drawbacks. Whether it’s a player forgetting to bring their shin guards or Karen the Super Soccer Mom complaining about her child not getting enough playing time, the task of coaching can be strenuous. Here is a short list of shortcomings for youth soccer coaches.
Not all of us have had to go under the knife for a serious surgery. But we all have seen and enjoyed the post-surgery videos that people post while the anesthesia is wearing off.
It is comforting to know that even the best athletes in the world also feel the effects of anesthesia.
Just watch this video that Paul Pogba posted after his recent ankle surgery.
Southampton’s social media team will be hearing none of it as the club gears up for Leicester City this weekend in the Premier League. The Saints would prefer to adhere to the saying “the past is in the past.”
The last time they encountered the Foxes back in October, it was a rainy and dreary 9-0 defeat in front of their home supporters at St. Mary’s Stadium. Not only was the loss humiliating, but Southampton “earned” the title for joint-largest margin of defeat in a Premier League game alongside Ispwich Town.
It’s been nearly 14 years since Zinedine Zidane felled Marco Materazzi with a forehead to the solar plexus, but that moment from the 2006 World Cup Final still reverberates through time.
Back in June after he had just watched England lose 3-1 to the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League semifinals, little-known striker Tom Pope talked shit about defender John Stones’ performance for the Three Lions, calling him weak as piss.
Seven months later, Pope backed up those words.
Pope, a 34-year-old forward who plays for Port Vale in League Two, scored in his first opportunity to go up against John Stones in an FA Cup third-round match with Manchester City.
When his side slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in 2014, then-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho produced one of the great memes of recent memory speaking in the mixed zone after the game. When pressed on the impact of two red cards produced by referee Chris Foy had on his side, Mourinho famously said "I prefer not to speak ... if I speak I am in big trouble, and I don't want to be in big trouble".
To coincide annually with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 239 experts from 63 different nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last few years. There are no experts involved, there’s no rhyme or reason for anything, but we do hope you’ll join us on this adventure into the bowels of the beautiful game.