“The football I grew up playing is no longer there. Today, all players care about are their cars, their shoes with their names on, and their image. While for me, the only thing that counted was football. Nothing else.” -Miroslav Klose

Football is under attack. It’s a sentiment that, regardless of how much it resonates with you, is often expressed and passionately argued. Whatever the reason, be it the influx of money, the unsporting concentration of talent or the diminished draw of the international game, there’s cause for cynicism. 

Sepp Blatter, the asshat who once allowed corruption to run rampant as the longtime president of FIFA, spoke out about the 2026 World Cup on Thursday. The man who helped award the next two World Cups to nations with countless human rights violations gave the joint bid from the U.S., Mexico and Canada a boost by saying Morocco is the logical choice to host the tournament in eight years.

We’re about 16 months away from the start of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France and FIFA released the official match schedule for the event on Thursday. The opening match will be played at the Parc de Princes in Paris, home of Paris Saint-Germain. Both semifinals and the final will be played at the Stade de Lyon. While both those venues are great, it’s hard to shake the feeling France is selling itself short with its stadium selection.

For those of you who only care about sports in which one is not allowed to use one's hands, the Super Bowl was played Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles won, which is noteworthy only because the Eagles' starting tight end, Zach Ertz, is the husband of USWNT and Chicago Red Stars midfielder Julie Ertz.

You can see how hyped Julie Ertz was for the game here, as she's shown doing the "fly, Eagles, fly" motion.

@julieertz woke up like this 

There are two rules for hiring someone for a position as a public figure that everyone should follow in 2018. Rule No. 1: make sure that person is qualified for the position. Rule No. 2: read their dang tweets.

The England FA evidently did not follow either of these rules before they announced Phil Neville as the new manager of the England Women's National Team.

Less than a year after being hired by the Canadian Soccer Association, Ecuadorian manager Octavio Zambrano has been replaced by the hugely successful coach of the Canadian women’s team, 42-year-old Englishman John Herdman. Former Herdman assistant Kenneth Heiner-Møller will now take charge of the side ranked fifth in the world with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup just 17 months away.