In case you missed it, last week Barack Obama's daughters were not able to meet Lionel Messi because their father, who is the President of the United States and possibly the most powerful man in the world, couldn't swing it. Apparently Messi felt bad about this, because he sent Sasha and Malia Obama some pretty cool gifts: signed, personalized Argentina jerseys.
The Barcelona trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – or MSN – is probably the best attacking force in soccer history. The unbelievable chemistry of the trio combined with the outrageous individual skills they all possess makes MSN unstoppable. Yet, for all their unbelievable achievements with Barcelona, success at the national level has evaded all of them. Sure, Suarez has a Copa America under his belt, and Neymar won the Confederation's Cup, but these are small potatoes compared to the ultimate prize: the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the most popular athlete in the world. He has 53.3 million Instagram followers, 41.3 million Twitter followers, and an absurd 110 million Facebook followers. With that kind of following, you would think he would be a shoo-in to win any sort of online popularity contest, especially one centered around the world of football as Goal.com’s Legends World Cup was.
Is Lionel Messi simply too good at soccer? Carlos Tevez believes that Messi’s ability makes him difficult to partner with, because his skill level is so much greater than that of his teammates.
Here at The18, we love all things Chicharito. Coming back from a successful international break where Mexico progressed to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, he continued his Bundesliga success with his 15th goal of the season, a beautiful curling effort that put Bayer Leverkusen up 2 - 0.
Barcelona and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is many things to many people. He's a hero, a villain, a family man, a lunatic, the leading scorer in Europe, that guy who bit Giorgio Chiellini, that guy who bit Otman Bakkal, that guy who bit Branislav Ivanovic, that guy who called Patrice Evra the n-word, that guy who batted the ball off the line in the World Cup. He's also filthy stinkin' rich.
How rich is he, though?
Lionel Messi has a chance to score the 500th goal of his career when he lines up against Real Madrid this Saturday in what is likely the final Clasico of the year.
It would be a stunning accomplishment made all the more so because it would come against his club’s arch rival, and against the only other player in Messi’s league, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Diego Maradona has always been forthcoming when talking about the addiction problems that plagued his life both during and after his playing days. A cocaine addict and alcoholic from the mid-1980s until 2004, Maradona was lucky to escape with his life following overdoses in 2000 and 2004.
It’s not every day that a gift can manage to piss off an entire country, but it seems that Messi’s gift to the host of the Egyptian television show “Yes I am Famous” has done just that.
Messi donated a pair of football boots to the show in the name of Charity. He did so on live TV by handing them over to host Mona al-Sharqawi. Pretty straight forward, right?
Wrong.
Per the BBC:
Sometimes it must really suck to be Neymar. After he lost his head during the Brazil vs Uruguay World Cup Qualifier, he apparently went out on the town and partied. Of course, being the celebrity that he is, people found out. The Brazilian media skewered him and now we have another Ronaldo Birthday party situation on our hands.
To be fair to the Brazilian media, Neymar and Brazil did squander a 2-0 lead that for a time looked fairly secure.