Juan Mata, yes Juan Mata scores the first goal of the Jose Mourinho era

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 8/14/2016

By now you already know the relationship between new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and Juan Mata is strained at best. The rockiness culminated last week when Mata was brought on as a sub in last weeks Community Shield and then subbed off. Mourinho claimed the decision was a tactical one and that Mata was […]

TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 16: Paul Pogba of Juventus salutes the fans at the end of the UEFA Champions League Group A match between Juventus and Malmo FF on September 16, 2014 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Paul Pogba completes the Manchester United midfield puzzle

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 8/9/2016

The worst kept secret of the summer is finally over as Manchester United announced they have signed Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba late Monday night. The move immediately takes Manchester United from Premier League title contenders to Premier League title favorites. United will pay Juventus an £89.3 million transfer fee, breaking the record Real Madrid set […]

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 07: Jesse Lingard of Manchester United skips past Wes Morgan of Leicester City during The FA Community Shield match between Leicester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on August 7, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Watch: Jesse Lingard scores sensational individual goal in Community Shield

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 8/7/2016

The last time two English clubs were playing a competitive football match at Wembley Stadium, it was Jesse Lingard who scored a sensational goal to win the FA Cup for Manchester United. Fast forward two and a half months and the next time two English clubs are playing at Wembley is the annual curtain raiser […]

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – JULY 13: A close up of the World Cup trophy after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

A too early preview of UEFA World Cup 2018 qualifying

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/25/2016

While the expansion of the European Championships from 16 to 24 teams may have given us a bit of a letdown at Euro 2016 it did give us one very big positive. While some may have said that the new format diluted the competition, the expanded format showed us that Europe is more than just 14-15 really […]

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 10: Portugal players and staffs celebrate after their 1-0 win against France in the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The 32 Flags staff gives our best and worst of Euro 2016

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/13/2016

Euro 2016 has come and gone with Portugal somehow leaving France as champions. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad that went down over the past month in France. Here is our staff’s recaps of all the highs and lows this tournament had to offer. Phillip Bupp (Managing Editor) MVP: Antoine […]

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 10: Andre-Pierre Gignac (L) of France is consoled by Anthony Martial (R) after their team’s 0-1 defeat in the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

How does France’s future look after Euro 2016

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/11/2016

When the dust finally settled at the Parc des Princes in Paris Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were holding the European Championship trophy while the hosts were left holding their heads. At the end of the day France, a team with much talent and flair, was just the latest victim to Portugal’s sweltering defense and very […]

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 10: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal shows his emotion before being substituted due to injury during the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo forced to leave Euro 2016 Final with knee injury

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/10/2016

Love him or hate him the one thing you don’t want to see is a star player forced to leave a major final with an injury. Especially when that injury comes early in the game and can have a major effect on the rest of the game. That’s exactly what happened to Cristiano Ronaldo. The […]

NICE, FRANCE – JUNE 27: Wayne Rooney of England shows his frustration on the bench after being replaced during the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16 match between England and Iceland at Allianz Riviera Stadium on June 27, 2016 in Nice, France. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

England need to eliminate their “English Centric” attitude

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/7/2016

It’s no secret that English football is trapped in a vicious cycle that isn’t doing the country any good right now. They dominate qualification to major tournaments, get over-hyped by the media, then crash out of the tournament in embarrassing fashion and leave the manager with all the blame. This cycle isn’t helping everyone, especially […]

LYON, FRANCE – JULY 06: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates at the final whistle during the UEFA EURO 2016 semi final match between Portugal and Wales at Stade des Lumieres on July 6, 2016 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Portugal defeat Wales to advance to Euro 2016 final

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/6/2016

You’ll never believe this but Portugal actually won a game in 90 minutes! Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani scored three minutes apart early in the second half to give Portugal a 2-0 win over Wales in the Euro 2016 semifinals in Lille. Just like every other game Portugal has played in this tournament the quality of […]

LYON, FRANCE – JULY 06: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates scoring the opening goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 semi final match between Portugal and Wales at Stade des Lumieres on July 6, 2016 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani strike twice in three minutes for Portugal

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel

It was billed as Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Gareth Bale. The two Real Madrid teammates could speak all they wanted that the match was about more than the two of them but no matter how much they said it this was always going to be about them. It was clear right from the get go as […]

HOUSTON, TX – JUNE 21: Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann of the United States looks on prior to a 2016 Copa America Centenario Semifinal match against Argentina at NRG Stadium on June 21, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Who has a brighter future: the USMNT or England?

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 7/4/2016

Following the 2014 World Cup, I was speaking with a bunch of my friends from London about our respective teams performances at the tournament. As we discussed how impressive the Americans were, and how predictably poor England were, it became clear. For the first time ever it looked as if the USMNT was in a […]

MARSEILLE, FRANCE – JUNE 30: Renato Sanches of Portugal in action during the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter final match between Poland and Portugal at Stade Velodrome on June 30, 2016 in Marseille, France. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Watch: Renato Sanches scores sensational equalizer

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 6/30/2016

Robert Lewandowski did his job. The Polish captain got his team on the board with an early goal. Now it was time for Portugal’s star to answer. We waited and waited and waited until finally, Portugal played a great one-two getting the ball on the left foot of their star player at the top of […]

MARSEILLE, FRANCE – JUNE 30: Robert Lewandowski (2nd R) of Poland celebrates scoring the opening goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter final match between Poland and Portugal at Stade Velodrome on June 30, 2016 in Marseille, France. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Watch: Robert Lewandowski scores for Poland less than two minutes into quarterfinals

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel

Poland vs. Portugal. Robert Lewandowski vs. Cristiano Ronaldo. Two of the best goal scorers in Europe would be going head to head with a chance to send their nation to the semifinals of Euro 2016. Despite being two of the best goal scorers in Europe, neither Ronaldo nor Lewandowski have been doing much scoring in […]

CHICAGO, IL – JULY 28: USA players celebrate after a win over Panama during the CONCACAF Gold Cup final match at Soldier Field on July 28, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The United States defeated Panama 1-0. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The second Gold Cup should become a U23 tournament

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 6/28/2016

If there’s one thing that we learned this summer it’s that international summer soccer tournaments are amazing. Sure we already knew that thanks to the World Cup, but with the Euro’s and Copa America going full throttle for most of the month of June it just served as a nice reminder. Of course there is […]

SAINT-ETIENNE, FRANCE – JUNE 25: Poland players celebrate victory after the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16 match between Switzerland and Poland at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on June 25, 2016 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

First day of knockout round at Euro 2016 features plenty of forgettable soccer

0 comments by Pauly Kwestel on 6/25/2016

After the group stage featured too many teams playing passive soccer so as to not hurt their goal differential, we kept telling ourselves that when the knockout rounds began things would open up. That certainly did not happen Saturday. Northern Ireland and Wales played what you would have thought was the worst game you’ve ever […]

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