A penalty kick is understandably the tensest moment in soccer. All eyes are on the taker and the goalie. Nothing else is happening. All the pressure is on the penalty kick taker, because he or she is expected to score. A 12-yard shot with no defense should be a simple exercise for a professional soccer player. There is no pressure on the goalie, with the crowd not expecting the penalty saved.
Not all pitch invaders are created equal. Some try and score goals. Some try to hug players. Some want their shirts autographed. Some just want to run around for a bit while security chases them.
And some are just, like, on their way to the grocery store or something.
Like this Greek lady who casually strolled through a youth match, cane and all, without a care in the world.
A moment's silence for Cristiano Ronaldo, if you would. Lost in the hullaballoo of all things Lionel Messi, the revival of Wayne “The Boy Wonder” Rooney and our own personal dreams of winning the Powerball jackpot is the sad tale of Cristiano Ronaldo's past week.
Today was the Liverpool vs. Arsenal match, which holds a special place in The18's heart because two of our staff writers, Sam Klomhaus and Ivan Anich, are diehard fans of Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. We made them watch the game together (plus a few cameos from Connor the intern), and hilarity ensued. Here's what transpired (Liverpool in italics, Arsenal regular):
Liverpool’s lineup: Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno; Can, Milner, Henderson; Lallana, Firmino, Ibe
In case you missed it – which, if you are on this website there is little chance of that – Lionel Messi was voted the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Monday, his fifth time winning the award.
The Ballon d'Or is chosen by the national team coaches and captains of every FIFA nation, plus selected media members. In a shocking instance of not being an uber-secretive corrupt sh*thole, FIFA has published the ballot of each voter.
Because this is international soccer, weird stuff happened with those ballots. We took a look at the worst of the lot.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a frenzy going on in the United States and it's over the Powerball Lottery. The current jackpot for the lottery is an astonishing $1.5 billion with a cash value of $930 million, because, you know, taxes.
Remember Germany's terrible free-kick routine in the 2014 World Cup against Algeria? That was awful, and their only vindication was the fact that they won the entire tournament. Well, a high school team in Japan has proven it's better at at least one thing than the reigning champions of the world: silly free kick routines.
Messi won his fifth Ballon d'Or Monday, but his victory may have been overshadowed by the real star of the show, a photo of Cristiano Ronaldo greeting Messi's girlfriend, Antonella Roccuzzo, with Messi looking on awkwardly and Neymar looking like he's about to hop out of his seat and punch Ronaldo in the face.