Underdogs

Julian Nagelsmann, The Youngest Manager In UCL History, Guides Hoffenheim To First-Ever UCL Point

In the end, Shakhtar Donetsk’s trusted strategy of supplementing its Ukrainian core of players with a bunch of Brazilians proved, once again, a masterstroke — this time in spoiling the appearance of the youngest manager the Champions League has ever seen, Hoffenheim’s 31-year-old whizkid Julian Nagelsmann.

Croatia’s Too Hungover To Deal With This UEFA Nations League BS

Excuse me, I have to type this so quietly because Croatia’s hungover as all hell at the moment, and I daren’t wake it. Today, Croatia opened its eyes in Elche before quickly closing them and muttering, “I think I’m going to die. I don’t think partying for 58 days straight was a good idea.” 

That’s the amount of time that’s elapsed between the nation’s runners-up finish at the World Cup and today’s 6-0 beatdown at the hands of La Furia Roja — a nickname which certainly sounds like the sort of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky product that’d do your head in. 

Sky Blue Wins, Tobin Heath Scores And Other Things To Feel Good About As The NWSL Regular Season Ends

The NWSL regular season wrapped up this past weekend with a mixed bag of business-as-usual and surprising results. All around the league, for playoff bound teams and doormats alike (we’re looking at you, Sky Blue), the level was turned up to 11, giving fans both feel-good entertainment and high quality football to get excited about heading into the postseason.

Fabio Quagliarella Might’ve Just Scored Serie A’s Goal Of The Season

While we should probably wait to see what Cristiano Ronaldo offers after he gets his first for Juventus, this early September strike from Sampdoria’s Fabio Quagliarella could easily fit the bill for the 2018-19 Serie A Goal of the Season. 

The 35-year-old is in the midst of a career renaissance after scoring a personal-best total of 19 goals in 35 matches last year, and he’s now off the mark this season with one of the best goals of his legendary career. 

This world-class bit of instinctive finishing put the final touches on Sampdoria’s 3-0 win over Napoli today.

Manchester United Produces A Comedy Of Errors In Shock Defeat To Brighton

It was just one of those days for Manchester United; one of those days were crosstown rivals Manchester City absolutely decimated an opponent to climb to the top of the table while United reverted to the slapstick pantomime version of the world’s biggest club. 

A late Paul Pogba penalty made the scoreline much more respectable, but Brighton fully deserved its 3-2 win over Jose Mourinho’s men at the Amex Stadium. 

Looking For The Next Croatia? Hint: You Don't Have To Look Far

Croatia shocked most of the soccer world with its run to the World Cup final, although we here at The18 saw it coming. In order to prove that was no fluke, I'm doubling down on my bold World Cup predictions, this time four years in advance of the tournament instead of one. If you're wondering who the Croatia of the 2022 World Cup will be, you don't need to look any further than their neighbor (and historical rival) to the east.

Which Newly Promoted EPL Side Has The Best Chance Of Staying Up?

The new English Premier League promoted clubs are Wolves, Cardiff City and Fulham. The three new kids on the block replace the relegated teams of Swansea City, Stoke City and West Brom. The newly promoted clubs climbed up the ranks from the EFL Championship, and we’re here to let you know what they’re all about. Plus, why you should cheer for each one.

After all, they’re playing with the big boys now.

Fallout Over Perisic’s Handball Continues As Wenger And Mourinho Slam Penalty Decision

Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute. 

Luka Modric Wins Golden Ball After Croatia Outplays France

With France ceding 66 percent of possession to Croatia in the World Cup final, it should come as no surprise that the top five players in the match with regards to touches were all Croatian. It perhaps goes some way towards explaining the general belief that Croatia looked better than France for large swaths of the game given the amount of influence that both Luka Modric (89 touches) and Ivan Rakitic (85) had on the game.

If those two are allowed space and time on the ball, Croatia's going to look really, really good.

Why Croatia Deserves To Be World Champion

The Croatia World Cup final vs. France is definitely something historic for the Balkan country.

Not many countries have had the honor of reaching that stage. 

This has all the more merit considering how young the country is — Croatia was formed as a nation state in 1991 after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

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