To coincide with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 225 experts from 69 nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last couple 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.
Yesterday, Hoffenheim hosted Mainz in the final Bundesliga match before the winter break (the league doesn’t recommence play until the weekend of Jan. 18-20). Hoffenheim took the lead through Kerem Demirbay in the 11th minute, but Mainz equalized five minutes later via Jean-Philippe Mateta.
In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, the match ended in a draw and the spoils were shared. However, the game's true highlight was the visiting Mainz supporters serenading the Rhein-Neckar-Arena with this lovely rendition of “Last Christmas” by English pop duo Wham!.
I am Connordinho.
Back in October, Jamshedpur FC forward Gourav Mukhi bagged the equalizer in his side’s 2-2 draw with Bengaluru and was on top of the world.
With the tally, Mukhi, just 16, became the Indian Super League’s youngest-ever goal scorer.
If that wasn’t a proud enough moment for the young Indian, he was intimately congratulated by teammate Tim Cahill. The Australian legend went so far as to touch his ungodly, golden noggin to Mukhi’s forehead in a moment of respect. Presumably, he also transferred some wisdom and striker spells via the skull-to-skull contact.
Nursing a 1-0 lead in the Liga MX final, Club América goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín knew what he had to do. After a sensational run by 20-year-old Cruz Azul midfielder Roberto Alvarado, the ball ended at the feet of Édgar Méndez.
Marchesín rushed out and took the ball off the feet of Méndez before he could get a shot off and potentially equalize in the 59th minute, and then the 30-year-old Argentine goalkeeper let Méndez have an earful. Referee Cesar Ramos rushed forward to separate the two, but in doing so, he gently touched the arm of Marchesín.
It’s quite cold and snowy in Serbia right now, a fact that hasn’t kept those in Belgrade from going outside.
Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Serbia’s capital on Saturday night despite immense snowfall and freezing temperatures.
As human beings with hearts, we here at The18 love it when famous footballers do cool things for young fans. One of the best ways to watch this play out is having a footballer surprise a youngster by showing up unexpectedly.
Mesut Özil was involved in just such a moment when he surprised young Kyan by popping up right behind him at Highbury Quadrant Primary School on Friday.
The internet is full of cats. Cat videos, cat pics, cat GIFs, cat emojis. Personally, I don’t believe you can have too many cats. Case in point: this ridiculously adorable new Club Léon mascot.
While most Liga MX fans may have been gearing up for the first leg of the 2018 Apertura final on Thursday, which finished in a 0-0 draw between Cruz Azul and Club América, Club Léon unveiled its latest signing, perhaps the best offseason move of the year (in my opinion, at least).
We present to you Sambu, who is a baby lion, for obvious reasons.
How can the U.S. ever expect to win a World Cup when its star player can’t even grasp Concacaf-rules football?
Christian Pulisic, the 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund who is already perhaps the USMNT’s best player, was a part of the FIFA 19 World Tour with a new video that dropped this week. Pulisic faced off against BVB teammate and FIFA 17 cover boy Marco Reus in a no-rules match of FIFA 19.
No rules means just what you’d think: no offside, no fouls, no bookings.
Ousmane Dembélé is a hero of our time, “a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart,” and capable of exhibiting both sensitivity and distrust in equal measure — look no further than former Atlético striker Kiko describing him as “the most contradictory player I’ve seen” as proof of his status as the melancholic romantic hero of the 21st century. But, to keep the Lermontov reference going, does an unusual beginning necessitate an unusual end?