The one thing missing from Lionel Messi's resume is a major international trophy. He has spurred Argentina to multiple major finals but hasn't been able to get over the hump. Could the 2018 World Cup in Russia turn out different? Can Messi win the 2018 World Cup? Let's break it down.
The World Cup is quickly approaching, and anyone who doesn't take time to familiarize themselves with the World Cup 2018 groups is going to look foolish, and, even worse, lose arguments in bars. Don't let that happen to you. You're better than that.
Liverpool and AS Roma have made this the most exciting Champions League in recent years (at least as far as the semifinals are concerned). Here's why a Liverpool versus AS Roma UCL final would be the best thing that could possibly happen to us.
There's a good reason powerhouses Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus always feature in the most definitive rounds of Europe's most important competition, and yet, even though these teams never cease to amaze us, there's something refreshing and exciting about teams like Liverpool and Roma making it so far.
We just couldn’t help ourselves. With just over 60 days to go until the release of the most anticipated book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we had to celebrate Bruce Arena’s magnum opus, What’s Wrong with US?: A Coach’s Blunt Take on the State of American Soccer After a Lifetime on the Touchline (so blunt), by revisiting the former USMNT manager’s favorite dilemma — the MLS cohort versus their "hotshot" European counterparts.
The vast majority of leagues around the world right now are on the home stretch for the end of the season. Relegation battles are heating up, the Champions League and Europa League are at the pointy end of things and some leagues (Premier League and La Liga, we’re looking at you) are pretty much wrapped up at the top of the table.
Despite some owners and managers settling for mid-table mediocrity or a respectable top-half finish, others will not. Here are some managers that you can bet your bottom dollar will be coming to an unemployment line near you.
Back in February, it was the humiliating 4-1 loss to Watford that was deemed the low point of Antonio Conte’s stewardship of Chelsea FC, but on Easter Sunday, Chelsea conceded a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge to Tottenham — Spurs’ first victory at the Bridge in 28 years.
Due to the dawning of the internet, increased globalization and the heavy concentration of players plying their trade in European club football, there are hardly any unknown quantities at the World Cup now. Years back, nations like Panama, Iceland and Peru would’ve left opposing managers scrambling for information, but in 2018, that’s hardly the case.
Historically speaking, things look pretty bleak for the five South American nations set to compete in Russia this summer. Over the history of the World Cup, the event has taken place in Europe 10 times. Collectively, if you break those tournaments down by how things finished, European nations have accounted for 34 of the 40 top four finishes (85%), leaving South America with only six success stories:
Since the turn of the 21st century, it’s happened without fail: every World Cup, three nations that began the tournament ranked in FIFA’s top 20 have been unceremoniously dumped from the competition at the group stage. In fact, in two of the four World Cups this century, three of the world’s top 10 ranked sides have capitulated before the knockout rounds.
Here’s a rundown of the three highest ranked sides to fall at the first hurdle in the last four tournaments:
2002