All About The Beautiful Game
Not long ago, Hamburger SV was one of Germany’s top teams. In 1983, they won the European Cup, the precursor to the Champions League. In 1987, they won the DFB Pokal for the third time, the last time they’ve won it up to date. They’ve won the league a further six times, but not since … Read more
In 2021, French side LOSC Lille stunned the world. The club, located in northern France, had gone a decade since their last league title — stuck behind heavyweights PSG and Monaco. This changed two seasons ago — Lille’s smart recruiting saw them finish first in the league, beating PSG and clinching Champions League football. However, … Read more
Schalke 04 have one of the best academies in the world. Over the past few years, many of Germany’s top names have come from their academy: Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sané, Ilkay Gündogan, Julian Draxler, and more. Mesut Özil joined the side at a young age, while US international Weston McKennie did the same. Despite this, … Read more
Australia is heading to their fifth consecutive World Cup, having bested Peru on penalties earlier in the year. Unfortunately for the Aussies, they also have struggled at the tournament: five total appearances and they’ve made it out of the group stages once. That was in 2006 when they promptly lost in the Round of 16. … Read more
For the second consecutive time, Italy will not be heading to the World Cup. This is no recent development: they’ve known since March’s loss to North Macedonia in qualifiers. However, a lot has changed since this occurred, particularly an important—and brutally honest—complaint from Italy coach Roberto Mancini directed at the lack of young players and … Read more
Barcelona’s academy has always been special: the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta graduated from the legendary La Masia. Just look at some of their academy prospects in 2016: Ansu Fati, Eric García, and Nico, among others. However, even with academies as good as Barcelona’s, sometimes talents slip through the cracks. One that … Read more
In recent years, Colombia has become a hub for footballing talent. In 2014, teenager James Rodríguez picked apart some of the world’s top teams in the World Cup, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer. He moved to Real Madrid shortly thereafter. Since then, the list of Colombians playing at big clubs has grown: Davinson Sánchez, … Read more
In 2012, a young Italian footballer of Moroccan descent started to attract attention from all over the world. Hachim Mastour, a skilled midfielder with incredible footwork, was impressing in youth tournaments and his highlight reels were going viral. Social media and the internet spread clips like wildfire, and Mastour had the world at his feet. … Read more
The Chilean team has fallen on hard times lately. Despite having won the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, Chile has failed to qualify for the last two World Cups. Many of the nation’s stars are now past their prime, too: Alexis Sanchez, Claudio Bravo, and Arturo Vidal have a combined age of 107. To … Read more
When Benfica faced Famalicão towards the end of the Primeira Liga season, many expected an easy win for the Lisbon-based side. Benfica was on a roll—they had just defeated rivals Sporting Lisbon and tied Liverpool, and only had one league loss since February. Attackers Darwin Nunez and Goncalo Ramos were both taking the league by … Read more