The USMNT’s hero of the Concacaf Nations League final against Mexico has a new club to call home. Ethan Horvath was officially announced as Nottingham Forest’s newest player on Tuesday. The Horvath transfer came after weeks of speculation of the Colorado-native going to Huddersfield.
Following the Euro 2020 final where Italy narrowly defeated England on penalties, both sides displayed the true highs and lows of soccer.
Italians were put on top of the world as they secured just their second-ever European Championship and first since 1968. From their fans pouring onto the streets and erupting in joy to Italy’s team stripping down to tighty whities, Italians made sure to properly celebrate the moment.
But the spectrum of reactions following the Euro 2020 final from both squads and their fans couldn't have been further apart.
LONDON - The old guard, once again, came good for Italy, this time steering the Azzurri to Euro 2020 glory, but wily defensive stalwarts Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini cannot go on forever.
One experienced defensive head is guaranteed to remain, however, to guide an exciting Italy team into the future, despite still being a boy himself. The unflappable Gianluigi Donnarumma is almost certainly going to go on to break all kinds of appearance records at club and international level.
Tuesday’s Copa América semifinal between Argentina and Colombia was the Lionel Messi show for 90 minutes. But when the game went to a penalty shootout, the spotlight shifted to Argentina’s goalkeeper, Emi Martínez.
The Aston Villa keeper chirped the Colombian players to no end and saved three penalty kicks. Some absolute legend has now provided us inferior English-only speakers with an Emi Martinez trash talk translated video.
France and Barcelona stars Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé are facing hefty criticism after videos were leaked of the two players mocking Japanese workers and making a racist remark. The first Griezmann Dembele video shows the duo laughing at electricians who were trying to fix the soccer players’ Pro Evolution Soccer video game.
Francia, Alemania, Portugal y Hungría eran parte del Grupo F de la Eurocopa. Grupo tan difícil como atractivo. Francia, vigente campeón mundial; Portugal, actual rey de Europa; Alemania, tetracampeones mundiales; y Hungría a completar el grupo.
Didier Deschamps, Joachim Löw y Fernando Santos contaban con los mejores equipos desde el vamos. Ponerlos entre los favoritos del torneo y llamar a la serie el Grupo de la Muerte caía de cajón.
As Pride month comes to an end, there was a moment in Brazil’s second tier I felt was worth highlighting. Vasco da Gama is one of Brazil’s biggest clubs despite being relegated to Brasileirao Serie B last season. The following Vasco da Gama flag celebration definitely falls under the “feel good” category.
On Sunday, the club hosted Brusque in a league game and was all decked out for LGBTQ+ Pride. The corner flags were swapped to the rainbow flags and the home team sported some of the cleanest Pride kits I’ve ever seen.
What. A. Game.
Spain and Croatia played the most entertaining game of Euro 2020 so far with a spectacular 5-3 victory in extra time for the 2010 World Cup champions.
The crazy tone for the game was set 20 minutes in when Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón made one of the biggest mistakes in the tournament so far. The own goal was officially given to Pedri who can now claim the honor of the longest own goal in Euro history.
Scotland scored in a major tournament for the first time in my 22 years on this planet. The Scots finally found the back of the net through Callum McGregor in their third, and final, game at Euro 2020 in a 3-1 defeat to Croatia. This Scotland goal vs Croatia was a historic moment for the small nation.
Several weeks ago, I decided that The18 would cover all things North Macedonia ahead of Euro 2020. With the Netherlands defeating the tournament’s lovable underdogs 3-0 on Monday, the dream is over.