By MARK LORENZANA In close to two decades as the face of international soccer, Argentinian legend Lionel Messi has won it all: He has dominated at the club level, and has been the consensus best soccer player (he has been awarded the Ballon d’Or, or Golden Ball, an annual soccer award, seven times). He was still, however, missing a piece
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By MARK LORENZANA If there’s one team in this World Cup tournament in Qatar that was bound to break Morocco’s stingy defense, it would have been the defending champion. And France did just that on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 14 (Mexico City time), beating Morocco, 2-0, at the Al Bayt Stadium, in the city of Al Khor. Les Bleus
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By MARK LORENZANA Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi has won it all in his legendary career that has spanned almost two decades. He’s still missing an important piece of hardware in his trophy case, though, and perhaps the most important: a World Cup championship. Messi and the Argentinian National Team will get another chance at World Cup glory as they
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By MARK LORENZANA After a somewhat inconsistent showing in the group stages, England on Sunday, Dec. 4, defeated Senegal, 3-0, in a blowout to barge into the World Cup Quarterfinals in Qatar. Sure, the Three Lions — the oldest international soccer team in the world, having played its first international match against Scotland in 1872 — was dominant in its
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By MARK LORENZANA Leave nothing to chance. That statement may be painfully cliché, but it’s something that the players from the Mexican National Team should have taken to heart as early as the first half of their opening game against Poland on Nov. 22, when they played aggressive, controlled possession and had countless shots at goal. One could say that
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By MARK LORENZANA In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Germany failed to advance to the knockout stage, thanks — or no thanks, depending on whose perspective it is — in large part to an inspired first game by the Mexican National Team. Mexican winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano’s lone goal back then, against Germany, four years ago, was enough to give
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By MARK LORENZANA Another odds-on favorite lost in its first game in Qatar — a day after Saudi Arabia stunned powerhouse Argentina — as Germany squandered a 1-0 lead and ended up losing to Japan, 2-1, on Wednesday, Nov. 23. The Germans have not lost a World Cup match after taking the lead since the 1994 tournament, when Bulgaria won
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By MARK LORENZANA Despite controlling most of the match offensively and having several shots at goal, the Mexican National Team walked away from its opening game in Qatar with a scoreless draw against Poland on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 22 (Mexico City time). On the same day, two-time champion Argentina, led by soccer legend Lionel Messi, was upset by
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By MARK LORENZANA Superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are winding down their legendary soccer careers, which includes — perhaps, more importantly — being the unofficial torchbearers of the beautiful game, and this upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is the last time they will lace up their cleats to play for their respective countries, Argentina and Portugal. The
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