Golaço Stories

Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central have one of the most fierce rivalries on the planet. Aside from the heated derbies on and off the pitch, this Argentinian rivalry has also provided the two clubs with curious nicknames. Newell's Old Boys are known as the "Leprosos" (Lepers, meaning someone with Leprosy) and Rosario Central are known as the "Canallas" (Bastards).  The origin of these nickname doesn't actually have an official story, but there is one that is widely accepted and repeated. Legend has it that in the 1920's a local hospital who specifically took care of people suffering from leprosy wanted to...

Paradoxically, the years that preceded the 1994 World Cup in the United States were some of the hosts country's least stable. It had been years since the USA didn't have a top division, the ASL folded in 1983, the NASL folded in 1985 and even the Major Indoor Soccer League folded in 1992. Even though the MLS was founded in 1993, the inaugural season only took place in 1996.  With this context, the US Soccer Federation did something extremely rare in the history of the sport. Without a proper national league the only option American players had was to play aboard...

Few countries in the past have a history as complicated as that of Yugoslavia. However, this complex history has provided soccer fanatics with the interesting story of Dejan Stankovic, a player who has played the FIFA World Cup three times with three different counties. In 1991 Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia declared their independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and this lead to the creation of a rump state known as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Stankovic, born in Belgrade, would represent FR Yugoslavia in his first World Cup experience in 1998. In 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence and what was...

There are no unified rules by the confederation in Brazil regarding championship stars over club crest. Instead, each club individually celebrates what it wants and how it wants. We'll go over some of the most important and unique cases, while keeping in mind the rest of the 700+ professional clubs in Brazil have some variation of these systems. Santos Santos FC has 3 elements over it's crest, 2 stars and a crown. The two star represent the two world championships won in 1962 and 1963. The crown is a recent homage to "The King" Pele, the greatest player in club and sport...

As it always happens before an official jersey release, in early 2018 pictures of China's new away jersey were leaked. The reaction from jersey collectors all over the world was extremely positive, everyone wanted to get their hands on the all black kit with dragon design. Just days before the actual release news started spreading that the Chinese FA had rejected the jersey. On the day of the release fans got to see the red home jersey but the much awaited black away kit was never mentioned. The dragon motif was maintained in the release ceremony, claiming that the yellow sleeves...