Let’s get one thing out of the way: these cats are young. They’re like kittens in that sense — feral, attack-minded, alley kittens. It’s easy to get hyped on talent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup because the game, at this age, so heavily favors attackers. The goals are beautiful, but they’re generally scored in acres of space and triggered by a breakdown in midfield or defense.
Ronaldinho could’ve been sent off hundreds of times in his career for unsporting behavior. Blessed with otherworldly control and technique, the Brazilian would frequently contort the rules of the game for his own benefit. It wasn’t fair, nobody else could or can do it now, but he got away with it because he was a god. As we all know, life has two great questions: 1.) Is there a heaven? 2.) How did Ronaldinho get this good?
When you limit your playing career to Manchester United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain (and represent the English national team for 14 years), you're inevitably going to play alongside some of the world's best players. What's more, if you're a really great passer of the ball, which David Beckham was, you're going to provide a few classy assists for that talent.
We are, as the great philosopher put it, standing on the shoulders of giants. In Argentina there was a time when no footballer could hold a candle to Guillermo Stabile, who scored eight goals at the 1930 World Cup. But he was followed and surpassed by Luis Artime, a forward who ended his career with a strike rate of 0.96 goals per game for Argentina.
Bill Walton is a treasure. The NBA legend and current college basketball broadcaster is one of the most fun people in all of sports.
Now, Bill Walton is all in on soccer, and you should be too.
Walton's quote on a Soccer City SD Facebook post:
We recently had a debate here at The18 about the best soccer commercials of all time. Of course, this isn't the first time we've tackled the subject. Early in 2017, we took a look at some of our favorite soccer commercials from the past year.
You’ve got to learn to appreciate yourself, and that begins with watching Paul Scholes raking cross-field passes right onto the feet of his sprinting teammates. You should be confident in who you are and what you do, because Paul Scholes was such an unbelievable footballer that the cosmos are truly in total balance.
You, my friend, are a beautiful little ginger prince. Trust me, it's true.
Football has had its fair share of beautiful photography over the years, but what if there was a gallery of short, animated moments that illustrated the artfulness of the game? That’s where the Football In Motion Art Gallery comes into play. It’s a shitty name, but it’s one helluva art gallery.