Here’s a five-day period so Luis Suarez that even Luis Suarez would call it cliché. Last Tuesday, the Uruguayan striker was booked in the 76th minute of Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Suarez was given the yellow directly after Lionel Messi’s equalizer for berating the linesman.
Freddy Adu is back, baby! On Saturday night, the future of U.S. soccer and the next Rivaldo returned to the pitch for the first time since before the Season 1 of Stranger Things came out. The Freddy Adu Las Vegas Lights debut is a sure sign that U.S. soccer is back on the right track, or something. Now 28 and on a baker’s dozen of different clubs, Adu’s preseason performance wasn’t actually that bad, despite an eventual 4-2 defeat to D.C. United.
If you ever grow tired of the “Who’s the best player in the world?” debate or weary of solving for “Who’s the best goalkeeper?” just know that there’s a much more refined, much classier discourse you can join regarding “Who has the best outside-of-the-boot (trivela in Portuguese) technique, Besiktas winger Ricardo Quaresma or Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric?
Look what you’ve done, Pep, Sergio and Vincent. Your unparalleled skills and ruthless execution have induced tears from a youngster. Are you proud of yourselves? It was bad enough you turned an entertaining Carabao Cup final into a boring rout, but the indelible image of the match will be of a crying child at the merciless destruction of his beloved Arsenal.
Romelu Lukaku has been criticized this year for not scoring against the top clubs. He went a long way toward diminishing that reputation by supplying a goal and an assist for Manchester United vs Chelsea in a 2-1 victory for the Red Devils on Sunday at Old Trafford.
Like a good band, Barcelona played all the hits in their 6-1 demolition of Girona on Saturday, surely a treat for anyone seeing them live for the first time (I hate you Bryce I hate you so much).
They opened with Lionel Messi assisting Luis Suarez:
French football is lighting our brains on fire right now, from PSG setting transfer fee records and securing some of the most exciting talents in the world to a the national team being a legitimate contender for this summer’s World Cup. And if you needed any more evidence of the talent on display in the country, take a look at two of the most absurd goals you’ll ever see, both scored in the same French third division match.
A 30-yard ballistic missile from 23-year-old midfielder Bruno Fernandes helped Sporting CP to a 6-4 aggregate victory over FC Astana in the Europa League Round of 32 Thursday, the Portuguese international scoring the first of his two goals on the day in the 53rd minute with this rocket.
You’ve seen it before: Goalkeeper makes a great save on a PK, pops up and saves the rebound. But this Dynamo save is something different; Houston keeper Chris Seitz made four saves in about five seconds in a preseason friendly against Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday.
Here’s some action from today in the Egyptian Premier League. Al-Ittihad Alexandria and ENPPI Club played to a 1-1 draw, but the lasting memory will definitely be 26-year-old Egyptian midfielder Khaled El Ghandour’s bicycle kick from 18 yards out for Alexandria.
It would’ve been the game-winner had a 90th minute equalizer from ENPPI’s Mahmoud Kaoud not stolen El Ghandour’s thunder. Still, what an outrageous strike from the midfielder.