The biggest news of the Major League Soccer offseason so far has been the Chicago Fire’s new logo. For many, it was a bigger shock to the system than seeing Giovani dos Santos score goals for Club América.
It’s happening with increasing swiftness: Spain’s golden generation is tiki-takaing out of existence. The latest to announce his retirement from the game is 37-year-old striker David Villa, who’ll call it quits in either December or January (depending on if Vissel Kobe can reach the final of the Emperor’s Cup).
Villa was a monster for Valencia, Barcelona, Sporting Gijón, Zaragoza and New York City FC, as well as the Spanish national team — although injury conspired against him for some of his generation’s finest moments.
What does Joga bonito mean?
Well, we can show you what it doesn’t mean.
Joga bonito usually refers to Brazilians playing the beautiful game beautifully, as only Brazilians can. Think 1970 Brazil in full flowing force or the 2002 Canaries zipping past all comers. It’s Pelé, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
But this clip out of Brazil on Saturday shows the complete opposite of Joga bonito, looking more like capoeira than anything else.
Scoring a hat-trick in Europe’s premier club competition is no mean feat, especially so as an adolescent teenager between the ages of 13 and 19. The list of players to have accomplished the goalscoring achievement reads like a who’s who of the world’s greatest talent since the tournament’s adoption in 1992.
In fact, only 19 players have multiple Champions League hat-tricks to their name, with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having accomplished the task a staggering eight times. Nobody else has recorded more than three.
With the new playoff format, Major League Soccer is ending early this year, with the MLS Cup Final taking place this Sunday. Typically that means soccer fans have to wake up early on the weekends to watch European soccer or watch Liga MX for a few weeks to get them through the MLS offseason.
I honestly wasn’t aware until today, but the Swedish Allsvenskan is making a pretty convincing argument concerning the best league in Europe. First, it came to my attention that with only one match day remaining in the 2019 season, three clubs — Djurgården, Malmö and Hammarby — still have legitimate aspirations of winning the title.
With Decision Day behind us, it’s time for the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs! Actually, we’ve got to make it through an international break, but then — it’s time for the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs! It’s our first taste of the newfangled MLS playoff schedule, with the top seven teams from each conference battling it out in single-elimination matches. Play begins on Saturday, Oct. 19, and concludes with MLS Cup 2019 on Sunday, Nov. 10.
Here’s a look at the MLS playoff schedule 2019, including match dates, times, TV information, previews and predictions.
She retired as the greatest to ever play her sport. Many would argue she’s still the most dominant women’s footballer to have ever graced the pitch. Now you can own her most legendary trophies, medals and memorabilia thanks to an incredible Michelle Akers auction from Goldin Auctions.
ESPN announced this week it had obtained the U.S. English-language Bundesliga TV rights, starting in the 2020-21 season.