Soccer (FIFA)

Soccer (FIFA)

The real thing -- all 14½ inches and 13½ lbs of its gold and malachite glory -- has become a symbol of the game's grandest achievement since it formally replaced the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1974. Only a select group of people -- World Cup winners, FIFA's president and heads of state -- are allowed to hold the trophy, let alone triumphantly hoist it aloft in a cacophonous stadium full of people with a billion more watching on TVs around the world.

This past week has offered Chelsea's Estêvão a glimpse into the often-unforgiving journey to the top of the game. Last Tuesday, the 18-year-old Brazil forward dazzled with a brilliant goal the apotheosis of a sparkling collective performance as Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on a night they announced their UEFA Champions League credentials. Five days later, he was substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal having touched the ball just 17 times and wasted two good shooting opportunities.

I'm not the only one. Most of us who have played in a World Cup have the butterflies in their stomach, a feeling that is difficult to explain, but I'm more excited about this one than the previous one. Winning individual titles or titles with my club is like the icing on the cake, but the real highlight of my entire career has always been playing for the Argentina national team.

The Blues have done superb work with signings like Estevao Willian, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer in recent times, and they're set to continue their policy of recruiting elite young talents to long-term contracts. As first reported here for the Daily Briefing, Chelsea are now confident in their approach as Enzo Maresca's side make great progress this season, while their policy of offering players long-term deals is also expected to give them an advantage in the race for the best talents.

Dani Olmo will be out for around a month after dislocating his shoulder while scoring the second goal in Barcelona's 3-1 win against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday. Olmo, 27, fell awkwardly, unchallenged, as he turned past Jan Oblak in the 65th minute to give Barça the lead for the first time in the match. The Spain international was substituted immediately and tests at the club's training ground on Wednesday confirmed he has dislocated his shoulder.

Liverpool's rivalry with Everton is as fierce and deep-seated as they come in English football. The two clubs, who until this year were separated by the short distance across Stanley Park, are two of the Premier League's best-supported teams. Neither has been relegated from English football's top flight since the Premier League's 1992 inauguration while more recently both clubs have undergone stadium moves or redevelopment.

Fifa has yet to reveal the venues, which may have an effect on ticket sales. Arsenal, Corinthians (the Copa Libertadores holders) and Gotham FC (the Concacaf champions) have qualified for the semi-finals. The Chinese club Wuhan Jiangda beat Auckland United in October to progress to this month's playoff against the Moroccan side AS FAR for the right to face Arsenal. The second semi-final will be between Gotham and Corinthians.

Maresca has picked the Ecuadorian midfielder in the starting line-up for 50 of his 51 Premier League matches at Chelsea. Now, though, after a red card in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal, Caicedo will miss three matches - at Leeds on Wednesday, and against Bournemouth and Everton. Speaking on Tuesday, Maresca gave Caicedo the same billing as star attacker Cole Palmer.

Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich's U-17 and U-23 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to the U-23 and U-19 matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. Unfortunately, Bayern did not release the highlight for the U-17 match. Information on the U-23, U-19 and U-17 matches is provided by the official FC Bayern website here, here and here, respectively. If you wish to learn more about the format of the U-17 and U-19's youth leagues, you can find more info here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:

I hoped we would score more. I think if we had taken our chances better, it would have been more than this. There were a lot of different players, and we know as individuals they are really good, but we have to build those connections again. We're happy, but Lucia's goal was funny. She was so happy, and she celebrated as if it was a Champions League final! Good for her!

To close out its World Cup preparation schedule, the USMNT will take on four-time World Cup champion Germany in the Coca-Cola Send-Off Match on June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

"You will be relieved to know that this is definitely it for tomorrow evening, so I've been assured of it by the board," O'Neill said at yesterday's press conference. "A young gentleman's coming in and it's over to him. "But obviously, we've got the big, big game here tomorrow evening and obviously, I'd like to try and win it if we can."

The 38-year-old presenter, a familiar face on both men's and women's football coverage, has since credited what medical staff believe was a virus, and thanked colleagues and supporters for their concern. Woods was fronting the live pre-match studio panel alongside pundits Ian Wright and Anita Asante at St Mary's Stadium when, shortly before kick-off, she collapsed, falling forwards and needing both Wright and Asante to catch her before she sank to the ground.

We want to defend as best as we can and use our strengths going forward, set pieces and transitions. If we want to have a chance against Bayern, we have to make good use of them. We're happy to have another chance to play against the best team in Germany and one of the best in Europe. It's a highlight that we're looking forward to.

Barcelona fought their way to a 3-1 win against Atletico Madrid to move four points clear of Clasico rivals Real Madrid at the LaLiga summit on Tuesday. Robert Lewandowski's missed first-half penalty mattered little, as goals after the break from Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres completed the win ahead of Madrid's trip to Athletic Club. Atletico took the lead in the 19th minute after Alex Baena exposed Barcelona's high-line once again to finish past Joan Garcia following Nahuel Molina's lofted pass over the top.

More than 2,000 extremely abusive social media posts - including death and rape threats - were sent about managers and players in the Premier League and Women's Super League in a single weekend, a BBC investigation has found. The analysis - conducted with data science company Signify - focused on posts made during 10 Premier League and six WSL matches on the weekend of 8 and 9 November, and also found messages including racist slurs, homophobia and threats of violence.

"It was an absolute mistake from the VAR," said Spurs boss Frank. "The referee did good to do the ref call and they encourage the refereeing call on the pitch. For me, that is never a penalty. "Even speaking to some from Newcastle [they] don't think it's a penalty and we need consistency. "I think the referee's call on the pitch, he nailed it, and VAR can only be if it's clear and obvious."

"I was running and felt a pop in my knee, and it sounded like a water bottle crunching. "I fell to the ground and I just knew. I said to my captain 'it is my ACL'. "It's one of the worst injuries. "Every single player fears it, but I never thought it would happen to me. When I got over the pain, it set in that I would be out for the season."

A surprise stat has emerged showing that Manchester City's new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, a big summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain, actually looks like a major flop so far. The Italian shot-stopper was a world class performer at PSG, playing a key role in their Champions League success last season, particularly with so many match-winning saves in both legs of the semi-final win over Arsenal. Now Donnarumma is up against Arsenal in the Premier League with Man City, but he's not made a particularly convincing start.

Tottenham, Newcastle United and Aston Villa are all understood to be very interested in Igor Thiago as he's highly likely to leave Brentford this January. As first reported in my exclusive here for the Daily Briefing, it looks like Thiago's superb form in the Premier League so far this season has really caught the eye of bigger clubs ahead of the winter window.