At Euro 2012, the Republic of Ireland, under the direction of former manager Giovanni Trapattoni, seemed pleased to simply be there. Their performances on the pitch validated the belief that they were only making up the numbers required to field the tournament.
Argentina will play in the Copa America Centenario despite earlier claims that a government investigation could cause the AFA to pull out of the competition. In a press conference on Tuesday following an emergency meeting of the AFA executive board, president Luis Segura said there was no possibility of Argentina being forced to miss the tournament.
Alan Pulido has been found safe by Mexican authorities, Reuters reported.
Armando Pulido, the brother of Mexico and Olympiakos striker Alan Pulido, confirmed to Mediotempo that his brother was kidnapped in the city of Victoria in Tamaulipas, Mexico on Saturday.
Isco's dog is named Messi. The Spanish international confessed that before he joined Real Madrid in 2013 he named his dog after Barcelona star Lionel Messi, stating that "Messi is the best in the world and so is my dog." Isco's dog is pretty cute, we'll give him that.
Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis has been fined £22,058 for betting on football matches. The veteran centerback placed 29 bets on matches between January 22 and February 15, 2016.
"Forget me," says Abby Wambach in her retirement-celebration commercial, brought to you by Gatorade. "Forget my number. Forget my name. Forget I ever existed."
At the time, I argued that that particular action on the part of the fans was impossible, and Wambach made it even more impossible this weekend when she got arrested for duii (driving under the influence of intoxicants) in Portland.
Each week (or so), The18's Mike Smith takes a look at how football is portrayed and covered in the media and popular culture. This week, we review the latest version of FIFA by EA Sports.