The Arsenal-Liverpool game from the other day was exciting. More exciting than Chipotle’s secret menu even (yes it’s a thing — supposedly there’s something called a Burritodilla). It had goals, crunching tackles, endless drama, and that classic England atmosphere of perpetual rain. But even better than the show on the field was Jurgen Klopp’s celebration off it.
Since the invention of the television, there have been television commercials. Sports figure heavily into the commercial sphere, and soccer is no exception, which is why we've compiled this list of the top eight soccer commercials we've ever seen.
1998 Brazil:
This was Nike’s main commercial leading up to the 1998 World Cup, starring the reigning champs waiting for their flight to France. Rather than a commercial, I like to believe that this security footage of what the Brazilian National Team does when they’re bored at an airport.
Scoring goals is Chicharito's business, and business is most definitely good. Fans flocked to see Brazilian side Internacional take on Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez’s Bayer Leverkusen in the Flordia Cup this past week. Chicharito duly provided the spectacle they’d been hoping for with a brace and a stunning volley that unluckily crashed off the crossbar.
Not to be confused with another Firmino at Liverpool, but Hugo Firmino of Portugal scored a stunning volley today against Vitoria Guimaraes. With a freekick from close to the corner flag, the striker calmly one timed it into the upper 90 and celebration ensued. Currently plying his trade in the Portugese Second Division for Clube Oriental de Lisboa, the striker has three goals on the 2015/16 season. This goal is one for the books and will certainly bring some attention to the club and the player.
Arsenal vs Liverpool was one of the most exciting Premier League games of the year. After the dust settled and I realized that my Gunners had somehow managed to both satisfy and disappoint with a 3-3 draw, I could admittedly only remember the goals, the glorious goals. But what would come to my attention after the game was a single piece of skill from Arsenal’s #10: Mesut Ozil’s first touch in the 80th minute.
West Ham United was off to a hot start to the 2015/16 Premier League season. They rallied off a 6-3-3 record with the help of Dimitri Payet, who scored 5 goals and tacked on 3 assists. Things were going well for The Hammers, and then Payet went down with an ankle injury and West Ham went on to only win two of their next 9 games, with 5 of those matches resulting in ties. Getting points is always good, but the loss of Payet was affecting the squad in the win column.
Remember Germany's terrible free-kick routine in the 2014 World Cup against Algeria? That was awful, and their only vindication was the fact that they won the entire tournament. Well, a high school team in Japan has proven it's better at at least one thing than the reigning champions of the world: silly free kick routines.
It’s been a good season for Miguel Layun, and Layun's top ten goals prove it. The El Tri star has been a staple of the national team and has also been on fire for his club team, Porto. Most recently assisting in the 5-0 thrashing of Boavista to keep the Dragons 4 points within striking distance of 1st place Sporting. The 27-year-old is traditionally a left-back by trade but no one would blame soccer fans if you all confused him for a winger. His ability to make drives down the wings have paid dividends for Porto and Mexico.
As if I needed another reminder of why I was never going to make it as a professional footballer, US Youth Soccer has just released the best youth soccer goals of 2015. It features 8-year-olds dribbling past entire teams in ways I never could, and 15 year-olds slotting long shots as effortlessly as I would play a wall pass. Watching it is a humbling experience.
EA Sports has released its “FIFA 16 - Best Goals of 2015” video and the final cut is outrageous. Scorpion kicks, rambonas, 35-yard volleys and overhead kicks from the top of the 18, every goal in this collection would certainly win the FIFA Puskás award if it were accomplished in reality.
While online opponents might be yelling “sweaty goal!” and heading for the menu’s exit, you can imagine the delirium the goal scorers must have felt. Mastering the controls and executing with this kind of precision certainly takes a huge amount of skill...and time.