It’s storybook time with East Bengal FC.
Supporters for East Bengal, which competes in India’s I-League, unveiled a unique, record-setting tifo before its home match with Real Kashmir on Wednesday at the Kalyani Stadium. The tifo featured a book of sorts, with six pages venerating the club’s accomplishments.
Founded 99 years ago, East Bengal has no shortage of history. The East Bengal tifo on Wednesday leaned into that.
There’s something deeply visceral about the Premier League. When the wind’s swirling, the temperature’s dropping and a legendary old ground like Anfield or Stamford Bridge is rocking, it’s all equal parts blood and thunder in England. This sort of environment lends itself perfectly to some truly violent screamers, the likes of which we’ve witnessed over the years from famed goal scorers such as Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Thierry Henry.
At the age of 25, Paulo Dybala’s already conquered much of the footballing world — fitting for a man that celebrates his goals by donning a figurative gladiator mask. This season marks his fifth with Italian power Juventus, and every previous year has finished with a Serie A title to go along with three Coppa Italia triumphs.
It’s not been the best week for Neymar. On Monday, the Brazilian missed out on the 30-player shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award. On Tuesday, he missed PSG’s 5-0 beatdown of Club Brugge due to a hamstring injury he picked up on international duty.
Hailed as one of the best defenders in the world right now, Virgil van Dijk is also one of the more likable figures in world soccer. Just don’t tell that to the poor 8-year-old Everton fan he teased in a recent sit-down with some Liverpool U-8 players.
LFC’s stellar social media department released a YouTube video of VVD taking questions from Liverpool youth players in a mostly adorable segment.
Van Dijk answered questions like “Do you pick your nose?” and “Who smells the most in the team?” in a delightful 6:46 video (embedded above).
Sunday marked the 21st time in Luis Suárez’s six-year Barcelona career that he’d hammered a ball flush in the air — be it a volley, scissor or overhead kick — and into the back of the net. Frankly, there’s no one better on the planet with this demanding technique. Here’s that strike against Sevilla.
Things are not going well for Tottenham on the pitch, to the point many Spurs fans are calling for drastic changes in the team. Meanwhile, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium pitch is undergoing some pretty awesome transformations of its own.
Under the leadership of first-year American manager Jesse Marsch, RB Salzburg is running riot at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga. The club is undefeated after nine matches with eight wins, one draw and a goal difference of +31. They’re also through to the Round of 16 in the Austrian Cup, but it’s the club’s early performances in the Champions League that've made Europe take notice.
The heartbreaking DaMarcus Beasley retirement is days away. The legendary American footballer, the only USMNT player to appear in four World Cups, will hang up his boots after the Houston Dynamo host the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon.
Beasley announced his plans to retire days before his 37th birthday in May, but it’s still hard to believe the iconic player will call an end to his 20-year career this week.
You probably know by now, but the man in the above video is not LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimović — it's Bayern Munich swingman Nihad Đedović. But Đedović is, without a doubt, Zlatan’s basketball-playing doppelgänger.
Đedović is one inch taller than Zlatan, but he’s got the same professional athlete physique, the same flowing lion’s mane turned man bun, the Zappa beard and the nose.