Soccer Page 339 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Mario Balotelli Does Thing
It seems like just last year that Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli was getting into fights with teammates during practice. Ah, but we've all grown so much since then. Now Balotelli is getting into fights with his manager....
English Soccer Fans Ejected And Banned For "Persistent Standing"
Maybe this is just what happens in a country where the sale of cutlery is circumscribed, but there's a little controversy going on at Sunderland. Fans showed up for yesterday's Boxing Day match against Man City only to find the above note attached to the backs of certain seats....
ESPN Article Analogizes Soccer Team To A Teenage Virgin And A Libidinous Rod Stewart
At first, there doesn't seem to be anything all that special about this article on ESPN's Soccernet. It's not much more than a standard game recap, until you get to this part:...
Here Are All Of Lionel Messi's 91 Goals In 2012
On Saturday, Lionel Messi scored another beauty—a dribble through the defender's legs, finished with a left-footed strike into the far corner. It was the 91st and final goal of his calendar year, an all-time record. A crack Youtuber has put together a compilation of every single one, so let Messi ...
It's That Time Again: Ray Hudson Freaks Out About Another Messi Goal
Lest you think Barcelona's Lionel Messi would relax after breaking Gerd Müller's goals-in-a-year record (a record now disputed) it seems the Barça magician has found inspiration in being denied his home nation's honors as athlete of the year. Today at Valladolid, Messi pulled out some tricks from ...
Meet Godfrey Chitalu, The Zambian Lionel Messi
Barça's Lionel Messi scored a lot of goals this year. 86 of them, apparently.* That's a record for a soccer player. Or is it? Zambia's Godfrey Chitalu—whose heyday as a player came in the late 1960s and 70s, before he began coaching in the 80s—may have scored 116 goals in 1972. On this week's excerp...
Lionel Messi Named The Third-Best Argentine Athlete Of 2012
How was your calendar year, Messi? Oh, not too bad, only the greatest of all time. (I know. He scores too many in the box. He needed more games than Müller. You could net 20 getting fed by Xavi and Iniesta. Whatever, it was amazing and he's amazing.) But great enough to be named the country's best a...
This Might Be The Oldest Surviving American Soccer Footage
If you're interesting in the long, under-celebrated history of American soccer, I can't recommend enough the uploads from Youtube user "soccermavn." There are old ads, footage of NASL's glory days, and even video of the short-lived United Soccer Association. (Update: He apparently got lots of thes...
Arsenal's Jack Wilshere Took A Studs-Up Boot To The Crotch Yesterday
Gunners star Jack Wilshere entered a world of pain yesterday in the first half of Arsenal's match at Reading, when Royals midfielder Jobi McAnuff delivered a boot square to Wilshere's balls....
Russian Soccer Fans Claim To Be Non-Racists In Letter That Is Totally Racist
Zenit St. Petersburg, one of the most successful teams in the Russian Premier League, recently signed two players of mixed ethnicity. Hulk, a forward from Brazil and Axel Witsel, a midfielder from Belgium, are the two darkest skinned players on the team. Landscrona, a fan club of the team, released...
A Soccer Match Between Teams From Argentina And Brazil Ended Early Because Police Beat And Threatened The Argentine Team In Their Locker Room At Halftime
This happened a couple of days ago, but we missed it with everything else going on. At Wednesday evening's Copa Sudamericana—Wikipedia calls it "the second most prestigious club competition in South American football"—between Brazil's São Paulo and Argentina's Tigre, some pre-match gamesmanship and...
Italian Man Recognized For Being Soccer Club's Only Fan
Arrigo Brovedani is a wine merchant and a fan of Udinese, an Italian Serie A soccer club. A few days ago, he was in Genoa on business, about four hours from Friuli, where Udinese is based. It happened to be the same day Udinese was playing Sampdoria, the club based in Genoa. So Brovedani decided to ...
Lionel Messi Scores Record-Breaking 86th Goal Less Than A Week After Going Down With Injury
Call him "MESSI-ah." The world's greatest association footballer capped off his best year ever by breaking Gerd Müller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a calendar year midway through the first half of a La Liga match at Betis after tying the record minutes earlier.. That he did so mere days aft...
"Kenny Shiels Is A Bawbag" And Other Reactions To A Scottish Soccer Coach's Crazy Idea
Kenny Shiels is the manager of the Scottish Premier League's Kilmarnock F.C. Manuel Pascali, one of the club's midfielders, is supposed to serve the second of a two-game suspension this Saturday against Celtic, but Shiels disagrees....
After Injury, Soccer Player Now Has Too Many Knees
This is the leg of Celtic winger Kris Commons, a few hours after being fouled in a Champions League win over Spartak Moscow that sent Celtic through to the round of 16. It has too many bumps in it....
![Lionel Messi Suffers Knee Injury In Meaningless Match; Run At Breaking Goals-In-A-Year Record May Be Over [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/187g6j1n9dke9jpg.jpg)
Lionel Messi Suffers Knee Injury In Meaningless Match; Run At Breaking Goals-In-A-Year Record May Be Over [UPDATE]
Lionel Messi came into today hoping to break Gerd Müller's 1972 record of 85 goals in one calendar year. Now, after suffering what appears to be a knee injury during this evening's Barcelona-Benfica match, fans are wondering if Messi will even take the pitch again in 2012. ...
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Yesterday's Dinamo Zagreb-Dynamo Kyiv Champions League match in Croatia found itself being played under those most beautiful of conditions: a massive snowfall that blanketed the pitch. (It led to one of the prettiest delayed games you'll see in awhile.) In the end, a stoppage-time penalty allowed Z...
Manchester City's Aleks Kolarov Grumbles The Least Enthusiastic "Jingle Bells" Ever
Manchester City is doing an online "Advent Calendar" for December, featuring a different player in a daily holiday video. Sunday's video featured defender Aleks Kolarov singing "Jingle Bells." OK, maybe calling it "singing" is a bit generous. After watching this, you'll be infected by whatever the...
Well, Isn't This Just The Cheekiest Backheel Goal?
There's a ton of history between AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons. MK Dons began life as Wimbledon, before a controversial move brought a new name—and left Wimbledon without a team. A year before the move, fans started their own club, and AFC Wimbledon has achieved five promotions over the last...