Laurent Koscielny played for Arsenal on Thursday night, his first match action since a devastating Achilles injury on May 3. On Friday, Arsenal Media released an in-depth documentary of the Gunners captain’s long road to recovery, from his injury in Madrid to his return.
In a case of voters once again getting it all wrong, Lionel Messi finished fifth in the Ballon d’Or voting earlier this week. But Messi won another award this week that might actually be more valuable than a record sixth trophy for being the world’s best player.
On Thursday, The YouTube Ad of the Year Awards (yeah, that’s a thing), honored Messi’s Gatorade commercial “Heart of a Lio” as the best ad of the year.
Caleb Ekuban is a 24-year-old Italian striker who has already played for seven different clubs. Currently owned by Leeds United by on loan with Turkish Süper Lig club Trabzonspor, Ekuban scored the most emotional goal of his young career.
Earlier this week, Ekuban’s mother passed away. He begged coach Ünal Karaman to let him play and the manager obliged by subbing him on in the 74th minute. Less than 10 minutes later, Ekuban netted the match winner, rising high to head in a free kick.
FIFA 19 is going on a world tour with stops in New York City, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Dortmund, and the NYC visit featured a matchup between Odell Beckham Jr. (a three-time Pro Bowl receiver with the New York Giants) and Grammy nominated rapper A$AP Rocky.
Beckham, age 26, says he’s been playing since the 2001 version, meaning he’s been going at it since he was nine years old. Rocky, 30, doesn’t say how long he’s been playing FIFA, but it’s obvious that he’s taking quite a beating from the NFL star.