Off the Pitch

Cigars, Broken Tables And Inspiring Speeches — No One Celebrates Like Zlatan

Zlatan Ibrahimović is pompous, egotistical and arrogant. He’s also mostly good-natured, but you don’t want to piss him off. When he’s happy though? No one celebrates like Zlatan.

Ibrahimović brought the Scudetto to AC Milan on Sunday, just as he promised after joining the club. It was the Rossoneri’s first league title since 2011, during Zlatan’s first stint with the club.

Meet Union Omaha, The Last Remaining Third-Division Side In The U.S. Open Cup

After two long years without the U.S. Open Cup because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the game that made us fall in love with this glorious competition all over again.     

Third-division Union Omaha — contesting just its second-ever Open Cup match — travelled to 60,000-seat Soldier Field on April 19 to take on four-time champion Chicago Fire and twice came from a goal down, including an equalizer in the 122nd-minute, to prevail in a penalty shootout.

Mbappé Makes Surprise Decision To Say No To Real Madrid And Stay With PSG Until 2025

PARIS — Kylian Mbappé has decided to extend his stay at Paris Saint-Germain, French sport daily L'Equipe reported on Saturday.

Amnesty International Demands FIFA Pay $440M In Reparations For Qatar World Cup

Amnesty International and a coalition of human rights organizations, unions and football fan groups are asking FIFA to produce $440 million in remediation to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have suffered human rights abuses during preparations for the Qatar World Cup. 

Neymar Got Absolutely Destroyed By Freestyler And Professional Nutmegger Lisa Zimouche

The number of players destroyed by Neymar's skills is too long to start counting. The Brazilian star is a devil with the ball at his feet, and being one-on-one against him is certainly a nightmare you don't want to live. 

But despite his endless set of abilities, Neymar himself is not immune to other players' skills. And that's what we learned this week when freestyler Lisa Zimouche collected his soul after an epic nutmeg. 

Phenom Chicago Fire Goalkeeper Slonina Turns Down Poland And Commits To USA

The next potential goalkeeping great in U.S. soccer history has committed to play with the Stars and Stripes. Gabriel "Gaga" Slonina, 18, was eligible to represent Poland or the U.S. and even received a call-up from the Poland national team to play in the UEFA Nations League next month. 

Slonina was born in Addison, Illinois, and is of Polish descent.

Slonina, the youngest goalkeeper to ever start in MLS, took to Twitter on Friday to announce his “heart is American.”

Here’s What It Cost Haaland To Gift All His Dortmund Teammates Rolexes

Erling Haaland is the man. The Norwegian striker is leaving Borussia Dortmund after 2.5 seasons, heading for the riches of Manchester City this summer. But before he leaves Germany, he bought every one of his teammates and coaches wristwatches worth more than most people’s cars. The numbers behind the Haaland Rolexes gifts are staggering.

Good Golly Green — The Vermont Semi-Pro Team Jerseys So Good They Belong In Europe

If you’re not familiar with the name Matthew Wolff then there’s no better time to check out his work because he might have just created the jerseys of the season in America with USL2 side Vermont Green. The new Vermont Green jerseys are nothing short of a masterpiece.

Seville Business Probably Regrets Leaving Chairs Out As Rangers-Frankfurt Fans Play Game Of Dodge-Chair

Soccer fans have known for some time that thousands of Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt fans meeting in Seville, Spain, for the Europa League final was going to cause trouble. The two wildly passionate fanbases were on a collision course in Spain that could only end in one way: violence.

Spain’s chief of police warned on Tuesday that shit was going to go down in the city of Seville for this Europa League final.

New USSF Deal Brings USMNT, USWNT Players Together — Will Fans Follow Suit?

It finally happened.

After decades of battling, the U.S. Soccer Federation has agreed to pay its men’s and women’s players equally, a landmark deal and the first of its kind in the soccer world. 

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