Game Recaps

Argentina began its World Cup tune-ups in earnest on Tuesday with the first of two friendlies before opening group play against Iceland on June 16. La Albiceleste welcomed Haiti to La Bombonera in Buenos Aires — a meeting between the nations currently holding spots five and 108 in the FIFA World Rankings. 

In what all USMNT fans had hoped would be a World Cup tune-up game, the friendly between the USMNT and Bolivia had a decidely different narrative. Interim manager Dave Sarachan selected a number of USMNT young players against Bolivia, and their performances showed promise.

Embed from Getty Images

One first half goal was all that was needed to help Fulham win promotion to the Premier League for the 2018-19 season. Fulham's captain Tom Cairney converted on a first-timed effort off a well-weighted pass from 18-year-old wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon (he was born in 2000, folks).

Embed from Getty Images

Yesterday, Italian legend Andrea Pirlo played one final match before retirement — his testimonial at the San Siro. After a career spent with Brescia, Inter, Reggina, Milan, Juventus, New York City FC and the Italian national team, a world-class selection of former teammates came together to celebrate the career of the midfield maestro.

After recording a somewhat fortunate 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 2018 Liga MX Clausura Final, there was a sense that Santos Laguna could be walking into a bear trap at La Bombonera on Sunday night. 

Over 31,000 were on hand to support los Diablos Rojos, but the home crowd couldn't have been happy with the start they witnessed.  

Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.

Fernando Torres has been enjoying one helluva send-off at Atletico Madrid. Last Wednesday, he appeared as a late substitute in Atletico’s 3-0 Europa League triumph over Marseille. Torres represented Atleti at the senior level for over 10 years, but it was the first trophy “El Niño” had lifted with his boyhood club since the Segunda Division title back in 2002.  

Santos Laguna defeated Toluca 2-1 in the first leg of the 2018 Liga MX Clausura Final thanks to strikes from Djaniny and Julio Furch, but Luis Quinones’ lone goal for Toluca makes for an incendiary second leg back at “La Bombonera” on Sunday. 

It should come as no surprise given what transpired on his debut, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn’t exactly reached the heights expected of him in Los Angeles. Yes, his return of three goals and three assists in only 487 minutes is quintessential Zlatan, but the big Swede is also a legend for another reason: winning.