Central & South America

Top-flight Argentina club face massive backlash after starting YouTuber with no soccer experience

Argentina side Deportivo Riestra are facing a tidal wave of backlash after they pulled a publicity stunt of starting a popular YouTube influencer in their Argentine Primera División game on Monday.

The club, who sit ninth in the table, named YouTuber and Twitch streamer “Spreen” as their starting striker. Spreen, whose real name is Ivan Buhajeruk, has no experience playing the sport but was put in a professional team’s starting XI.

FC Cincinnati midfielder and Ecuador international Marco Anuglo dies at age 22

Ecuador international Marco Angulo has died at the age of 22, a month after suffering critical injuries in a car crash, the Ecuadorean football federation said on Tuesday.

Angulo was involved in a traffic accident on Oct. 7 that also resulted in the death of his former youth team teammate Roberto Cabezas.

Angulo sustained head injuries and a lung contusion and died at a hospital in Quito on Monday night after a week in intensive care.

Marco Angulo death

Watch: Wild scenes in Brazil as severed pig’s head thrown on field during Corinthians-Palmeiras game

South America takes their soccer incredibly seriously. Look no further than Monday’s derby match between Corinthians and Palmeiras where the home fans threw a severed pig’s head onto the field while Palmeiras were taking a corner kick.

The heated rivalry between the Brazilian clubs is no joke. How someone managed to smuggle in a pig’s head is beyond us, but the disgusting object was lobbed onto the field in the 29th minute.

Corinthians pig head incident

Marcelo leaves club one day after manager denies him from subbing in on the sideline

Brazilian defender Marcelo has left Fluminense by mutual consent, the Brazilian Serie A club said on Saturday.

The reasons for the 36-year-old former Real Madrid full back's departure were not disclosed.

Viral: 23-year-old Enzo Fernández divorces wife of six years to live ‘single life he missed out on during youth’

The Argentina international has once again wrapped himself in controversy. This time, he’s been ‘outed’ to have separated from his wife whom he shares two young children for a shocking reason.

Report: Enzo Fernández 'separates from wife and kids to live single-life he missed out on during youth'

According to reports, Chelsea FC midfielder, Enzo Fernández, has separated from his partner of over six years after telling her "he needs to experience the stage he skipped out on by choosing to start a family early on."

Former Uruguay star Diego Forlán set to make his professional tennis debut

BERLIN — Former Uruguay soccer international Diego Forlán, who played for Manchester United and Atletico Madrid among others, will compete in doubles at the professional Uruguay Open tennis tournament in November, organizers said on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old former striker, a 2010 World Cup semi-finalist, has switched to tennis since his retirement in 2018, playing on the international senior tour.

Diego Forlan tennis debut

Lionel Messi goes OFF against Bolivia scoring his 10th international hat trick and adding two assists

BUENOS AIRES — Lionel Messi scored his 10th international hat-trick and had a hand in two more goals as Argentina thrashed Bolivia 6-0 in South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in front of an adoring home crowd at the Monumental Stadium on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi vs Bolivia highlights

Making only his second international appearance since recovering from an injury sustained at the Copa America in July, Messi capitalized on a mistake by defender Marcelo Suarez to open the scoring in the 19th minute.

Watch: Lionel Messi has skirmish with Venezuela’s Yeferson Soteldo during 1-1 draw

Venezuela pulled off a fantastic result in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw vs. Argentina on Thursday. During a pause in the game for an injury there was a small skirmish between Lionel Messi and Venezuela’s Yeferson Soteldo.

When we say “small skirmish” we’re not talking about the heights of the players as Soteldo stands at 5 feet 3 inches tall and Messi is 5 feet 7 inches.

Referee shockingly confesses to have spared Messi of a red card in exchange for his match-worn jersey

A former referee has admitted to have spared Lionel Messi from a second yellow card in return for his match-worn shirt.

Chilean refereee, Carlos Chandía, has confessed to having purposefully avoided giving Messi a booking. And all in the plan to receive the Argentine’s jersey at the end of a match.

Chandía was in charge of the 2007 Copa America semifinal match between Argentina and Mexico, with the Albiceleste blowing past El Tri with a 3-0 scoreline. 20-year-old Messi scored a beautiful lob to seal his country’s spot in the final.

Luis Suárez announces he has one game left with Uruguay before he retires from national team

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez announced his international retirement on Monday, ending a 17-year career with his national team as their top scorer with 69 goals.

The 37-year-old, who has 142 caps for his country, made his international debut in 2007 and was key in the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and won the Copa America a year later.

"Friday will be my last match with my country's national team," an emotional Suarez told a press conference.

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