☕️🍀⚽️ Good morning everyone! Everywhere you look, the old “3 minutes” of added time to a game seems to be a thing of the past. More and more, we are seeing games have 3+ minutes, some even as high as 15. All this is because leagues want to ensure 90 minutes of actual soccer is being played, with the idea that this would deter those players who love to roll on the ground and fake an injury just to waste time. Here’s a hilarious example of the art of wasting time, which may soon be gone.

Giveaway: Wake up and smell the coffee. Our giveaway will be a $30 gift card for our favorite coffee brand- Kickoff Coffee. As always, each friend that you refer to subscribe to the newsletter is an entry to our raffle. Best of luck!

From the Archives
The Curious Case of Pele-Mbappe

🏆️🐐 It’s no secret PSG does not want Mbappe to leave, and neither does the entire country of France. 2018 World Cup winner and 2022 World Cup finalist Kylian Mbappe has revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron tried to persuade him to stay at Paris Saint-Germain and to ignore interests from Spanish giants Real Madrid. It’s a matter of turning Mbappe’s presence into a matter of state.

•  In an interview with the New York Times, Mbappe admitted that President Macron told him how important he is for the country

• The Frenchman won his first World Cup during his teenage years, and appeared in his second World Cup final at the age of 24

🔙🌐Sound familiar? No, not really? Let’s refresh your memory, pour yourself a pint. It’s 1958, Brazilian legend, a young teenage Pele, won his first World Cup. O Rei appeared and won the tournament two additional times in 1962 and 1970. However, during these times, Pele played for Santos, and let’s just say he was not allowed to leave the country of Brazil.

When O Rei debuted for Santos in 1956, Brazilian politics was under a dictatorship of Kubitschek. Kubitschek’s dictatorship was constantly under domestic and foreign media pressure, the pressure continued with his successor Quadros who was elected in 1962.

• At the same time, O Selecao was in its golden period with Pele leading them

• Pele caught European attention from Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester United

• Newly elected Quadros was not going to be the man who let Brazil’s prize treasure leave under his term

• What did Quadros do in prevent mayhem? Pushed a bill naming Pele as a national treasure, by law preventing Pele from being transferred out of the country

• For Santos, it meant that they could rest assured that they were not going to lose Pele no matter what

And the rest is history. But don’t get us wrong, France is far from such a political regime, but the resemblance between the two World Cup winners is striking (all puns intended). Check out the full story and let us know your thoughts.

Weekend Recap

English Premier League

Spanish La Liga

Italian Serie A

German Bundesliga

French Ligue 1

US MLS

Saudi Pro League

Premier League
Give Phil Foden his flowers

⚽⚽ Phil Foden comes in clutch with 2 goals against Manchester United. At 23 years old, the Manchester City Academy player is a critical piece to the success that the club is having this year. So far, in the Premier League, Foden has played in 27 matches, with 11 goals assists. That stat line reflects the complete midfielder that Foden is, but that stats don’t tell the full picture. Foden is able to cause chaos for opposing defenders with his off the ball movement and high soccer IQ. Take a look for yourself at the brilliant performance that the young player had against the eternal rivals, Manchester United.

Quick Bites 🍕

Man United reflects on loss to City

Things got spicy during Milan’s win

Napoli beat Juventus, revitalizing European hopes

World Cup winner Lloris, welcomed by snow in Salt Lake

Matches to Catch

English Premier League

UEFA Champions League- Round of 16

Italian Serie A

AFC Champions League Quarter-Final

Banter of the Day

Football, by the fans for the fans

In search of a pub? Ever find yourself in a new city and are desperately searching for a local soccer pub? Who would have thought that the premier league took time out of their day to create a bar finder. There really is nothing better than catching an early premier league game on the weekends with fellow fans of the game, and finding that bar that will actually have the game sound on just got that much easier.

USA Bar Finder. Bar finder, aka Intern Jose’s nickname in college. Easy to use search platform on the premier leagues website. It has most major cities included, and they’re even accepting updates to their list if you email them at [email protected]

Find your local soccer pub here.