Following a blatant attack of racial abuse on Mario Balotelli during Nice’s match against Bastia last Friday, the Italian striker took to Instagram and said, “Is it normal that Bastia supporters make monkey noise [and] ‘uh uh’ for the whole game…?” Balotelli then criticized the French League’s disciplinary committee for failing to address the situation, summarizing the entire incident as “a real shame.”
2017 has just begun, and it’s already been extremely unkind to both Real Madrid and 2016 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
The current club world champions had their historic unbeaten streak snapped by Sevilla in La Liga, cutting into their lead at the top of the table.
Last week, British magazine Coach published what they contended was an exclusive interview with Lionel Messi, in which the Barcelona star supposedly said he would like to stay at Barcelona.
It turns out they published nothing of the sort.
The "interview" has been taken down and replaced with this message:
Real Madrid ventured to Celta Vigo’s Balaidos stadium in Galicia needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit to advance to the Copa del Rey semifinals. In the end, Celta held their nerve to secure a 2-2 draw and advance 4-3 on aggregate.
The Celts earned a first half advantage when Danilo turned the ball into his own net, his second own goal in his last three appearances. A shot from John Guidetti was brilliantly saved by Kiko Casilla, but the rebound deflected off Danilo and into the net.
China has big plans for 2017. The Chinese Football Association gathered in Beijing to go over financial details in hopes of transforming the country into a soccer powerhouse. President Xi Jinping is the country’s number one soccer fan and intends to have China perform in future World Cups, an achievement they've only managed once.
This 1994-95 Ajax team under the management of Louis van Gaal, who would go on to manage Barcelona, served as the blueprint of the short passing, possession-based style that was the philosophy of Johan Cruyff.
To employ such a philosophy, you need talented players. This Ajax side had that in abundance as they would go through the entire Dutch league season without losing a match and defeat AC Milan in the European Cup final.
The 2017 MLS season is fast approaching with training camp beginning on Tuesday for all clubs. With the USMNT currently undergoing their January camp in California ahead of friendlies against Serbia and Jamaica, some big-name American players were missing, but Tuesday also marked the first official training sessions for expansion clubs Minnesota United FC and Atlanta United. Here are some of the best photos from around the league.