Goalkeepers

PARIS — Liverpool substitute Harvey Elliott scored a last-gasp winner less than a minute after coming on to earn a fortunate 1-0 win against Paris St Germain who dominated their visitors during Wednesday's Champions League last-16 first leg match.

Elliott slotted the ball home in the 87th minute against the run of play after a layoff from fellow substitute Darwin Nunez for a scarcely-deserved victory in Paris.

Crystal Palace ace Jean-Philippe Mateta was removed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital during his side’s FA Cup match vs. Millwall on Saturday after being the victim of a horror tackle.

Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish gave an interview at halftime and called the tackle Mateta suffered, “the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen.”

Ladies and gentlemen, Hope Solo is coming back. Legendary United States women’s national goalkeeper Solo is set to make her first appearance in the sport since her retirement in 2016 as she’s entering a team into The Soccer Tournament (TST) this summer.

TST is an annual 7-vs-7 tournament in Cary, North Carolina, where the winning team takes home $1 million. Solo, 43, announced she’s entering a team in the women’s tournament where she could face former teammates like Ali Krieger, Heather O’Reilly and Carli Lloyd who play for the US Women squad.

LISBON — Raphinha scored deep into stoppage time to hand Barcelona a dramatic 5-4 comeback win at Benfica and a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday after a hat-trick from Vangelis Pavlidis gave the hosts a two-goal halftime lead.

Barcelona vs Benfica highlights

Greek striker Pavlidis opened the scoring after two minutes with a tap-in before Robert Lewandowski equalized from the spot as VAR awarded Barca a penalty for a Tomas Araujo foul on Alejandro Balde in the 11th minute.

United States women’s national team icon Alyssa Naeher was named the 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, finishing her international career on top.

Naeher, 36, was instrumental in the USWNT’s success in 2024 providing key stops in the Olympics, SheBelieves Cup and Concacaf W Gold Cup that ultimately led the U.S. to winning all three.

Recognition for her work last year came not only from U.S. Soccer as she was named the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year and selected in FIFA’s Best Women’s XI lineup.

The United States women’s national team had an incredible 2024 winning their first Olympic gold medal in 12 years. The 2025 USWNT calendar might not have any major tournaments on schedule but will still be an important 12-month stretch.

In 2025 the sole tournament for the USWNT will be the SheBelieves Cup in February against top opponents Australia, Japan and Colombia.

2025 USWNT calendar

January

• Jan. 14-21: Training camp in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

February

SheBelieves Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot on Thursday during Al Nassr’s 3-1 victory marking his first goal of 2025. The Portuguese star had some fun with his goal as video shows that Ronaldo points and laughs at goalkeeper after scoring.

With the scored tied at 1-1 near the end of the first half, Al Nassr were awarded a penalty kick with Ronaldo set to take it. As he prepared to take the kick the opposing goalkeeper tried to make himself look as big as possible to get into CR7’s head.