Off the Pitch

Vini Jr. finally gets his award as FIFA name him the 2024 Men’s Player of the Year

DOHA — Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr was named FIFA men's player of the year in Doha on Tuesday, with Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati winning the women's award for the second year in a row.

Vinicius scored 24 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions to help Real Madrid clinch the LaLiga and Champions League double, and he also netted in their Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund.

The Brazilian won the award ahead of Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri and his teammate at Real, England's Jude Bellingham.

Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk could face ban after testing positive for doping substance

Chelsea have confirmed that forward Mykhailo Mudryk has been contacted by the Football Association after an adverse finding following a routine anti-doping test.

The Premier League club issued a brief statement on Tuesday confirming an investigation into the Ukraine international after the adverse result from a urine sample.

Mudryk doping test controversy

Brighton demand that lower-tier Croatian copycat club change their crest

A third-tier Croatian club have ruffled the feathers of Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion due to having a VERY similar looking crest. NK Jadran Galeb compete in Croatia and adopted a familiar look for the club’s logo.

The story gets funnier. Allegedly a member of the Croatian club visited the Brighton offices in England and informed them of the similarity between the clubs. The person in question then metaphorically swung for the fences and asked if Brighton would donate to NK Jadran Galeb in the form of equipment.

Leeds United fans cry and whine after Weston McKennie speaks about his time in Leeds

Weston McKennie is on Cloud 9 after scoring a fabulous scissor kick goal against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday. His biggest haters, Leeds United fans, appear to be in shambles on social media.

After Wednesday's game McKennie did an interview with CBS and was asked by Micah Richards about his loan spell with Leeds United.

Arsenal complete U.S. takeover of most-viewed soccer teams by state

Football Reference (Fbref.com) released their 2024 statistics for the most-viewed soccer team pages by state and it’s evident that a Gooner takeover has happened.

American soccer fans were most interested in five Premier League teams, several local Major League Soccer clubs and three National Women’s Soccer League teams. The one outlier was West Virginia who loved Real Madrid in 2024.

Last year Arsenal were the most-viewed club in 11 states and D.C. This time around Arsenal dominated the map with 28 STATES. Arsenal would’ve won the electoral college with this map.

Lionel Messi set to receive his own skin on Fornite

Get ready to use Messi in the world of Fortnite.

It has been revealed that Lionel Messi is close to joining the gaming world and getting his very own own skin on the popular battle royale game, Fortnite.

Messi Fortnite skin: Inter Miami star collaboration coming soon

Christian Pulisic’s MRI scan reveals low-grade tear in his right calf

The latest Christian Pulisic injury update will disappoint AC Milan and United States men’s national team fans as the star forward has sustained a torn right calf. The tear is low-grade, but Pulisic will be out for 3-4 weeks.

Pulisic won’t play soccer again until 2025. That sounds bad until you remember that 2024 will be over in literally three weeks. We had a good laugh at how many news outlets made dramatic headlines of “PULISIC OUT FOR THE YEAR!” when the year is about to end.

Clickbait at its finest. We’re guilty of it too from time to time.

Norwegian Football Federation set to vote against FIFA’s ‘flawed and inconsistent’ World Cup bids

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday said it will vote against FIFA's awarding of hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups by acclamation, adding that it had formally criticized the process in a letter to the world governing body.

Votes are due to be held at FIFA's virtual extraordinary Congress on Wednesday to approve the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, though each has only a single bid, which are both expected to be confirmed by acclamation.

Michail Antonio in stable condition after being airlifted to hospital following terrifying car crash

West Ham United forward Michail Antonio is conscious and in a stable condition in hospital after he was involved in a road traffic accident on Saturday, the Premier League club said.

"West Ham United can confirm that Michail Antonio is in a stable condition following a road traffic accident this afternoon in the Essex area," the club posted on social media.

"Michail is conscious and communicating and is currently under close supervision at a central London hospital."

Michail Antonio car crash

Here’s how fans reacted to Lionel Messi winning MLS MVP despite his absences

Major League Soccer announced Lionel Messi as the winner of the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award on Friday. The Messi MLS MVP reaction from fans has been mixed with some upset that a player who appeared in only 19 games got the award.

The vote for MVP is done so by players in the league, select media members and club technical staff. After all the votes were accounted for the Inter Miami star edged out Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernández.

Messi received 38.4% of the vote while Cucho accounted for 33.7%. 

Messi vs. Cucho 2024 stats

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