Nuestra serie original: "UP: Uplifting Stories From The Pitch" explora el hermoso juego desde la perspectiva de los fanáticos, jugadores, entrenadores y otros que lo hacen grandioso. En UP: Uplifting Stories From The Pitch, Episodio 1, hablamos con Temi Osifodunrin, gerente general de GAM United Football Club y fundador de International Heritage Cup Denver.
With the Bundesliga’s restart just over a week away, it’ll be fascinating to see the differing levels of fitness on display when, for example, Borussia Dortmund hosts Schalke in the Revierderby on Saturday, May 16. After over two months off, it’s only natural that some players will have taken better care of themselves, while others might need an extra week or two to last more than 60 minutes.
Goal #100: An acrobatic side volley that’s made to look effortless. Goal #99: A velvety first touch loaded with purpose, a graceful cut beyond a defender and a curled finish inside the far post.
And now there are 98 superior goals?! As Ray Hudson once said, “The insane becomes the routine with this man.”
Over the course of the last four years, Sadio Mané has become world-renowned while shining for Liverpool. He’s now a two-time PFA Team of the Year selection, a Premier League Golden Boot recipient, the 2019 African Footballer of the Year and a UEFA Champions League winner.
If you ask Lionel Messi who the best player on the planet was last year, he’ll tell you it was Mané.
There will come a day when the USMNT boasts a world-class striker. I might not be around to see it, but that day is coming.
The Premier League has earned its place as the most-watched domestic competition on the planet with a package of blood and thunder. In cauldron-like atmospheres up and down the country, clubs compete at exemplifying heavy metal football while engaged in tit-for-tat thrill rides for 90 frantic minutes.
But what sets the Premier League apart is that it’s also home to some of the game’s most sublime artists. These are the players who remind us that while force allows you to exert some form of control over proceedings, dominance can really only be achieved through understanding.
Becky Sauerbrunn is all-conquering. The 34-year-old is sitting on 174 caps and counting, she’s a two-time World Cup winner, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NWSL champion. She’s been doing the damn thing for the USWNT for over a decade now, and she’s just joined forces with Christine Sinclair, Lindsey Horan and Tobin Heath on the Portland Thorns.
Do you ever wish that you could go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry except instead of magic and getting attacked by Lord Voldemort every year it's a school for elite athletes? I know I don’t because I’d probably be an outcast, fail every single class and tear my hamstring, but that’s essentially the idea behind Gatorade’s new GOAT Camp advertisement.
It’d be difficult to identify a player that’s had a worse time with injuries over the last three years than Benjamin Mendy. He showed that he could be one of the world’s best left backs during his incredible 2016-17 campaign with Monaco, but after moving to Manchester City for a princely fee of $67.7 million, his personal nightmare began after suffering a devastating knee injury on only his fifth appearance for the Citizens.
No one did a personal redemption story out on the pitch quite like David Beckham. He did it during his final season at Real Madrid, when he went from being dropped by Fabio Capello to proving instrumental in the club’s dramatic LaLiga triumph. He did it with the LA Galaxy when shifting his reputation from disinterred Hollywood celebrity to two-time MLS Cup champion.