Shahan Ahmed

  • Be cynical if you want, but this England team is fully capable of bringing 'football home'

    England's chances of winning a major trophy have been a running joke for more than half a century, but at Euro 2020, the stars may finally be aligning.

  • Romelu Lukaku is towering above the subtle racism of 'pace and power' with his brilliant Euro 2020 start

    Lukaku has been named man of the match in both games so far for tournament co-favorite Belgium. And it's been more about his intelligence and skill than anything.

  • France's N'Golo Kanté is the anti-superstar — and with a good Euro 2020, the Ballon d'Or favorite

    He doesn't score goals. He profiles more like a scrawny high school sophomore than world-class athlete. And he's arguably France's most important player.

  • Lionel Messi's otherworldly talent has Barcelona on edge of third European treble

    In his first year as Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has carried his side and plowed his way into the club's first Champions League semifinal since 2015.

  • How world soccer can follow the NBA's example in cooling volatile fan behavior

    Stamping out inappropriate fan behavior before it has a chance to boil over – like the NBA did with Russell Westbrook's Utah incident – would go a long way toward helping soccer curtail its problem.

  • Real Madrid's failure to develop a new look doomed it in El Clasico embarrassment

    Real Madrid’s failure to grow or adapt post-Cristiano Ronaldo cost it dearly in Sunday’s El Clasico. BARCELONA — After days of consistent rain, the heavens parted and the sun shone through ahead of Sunday’s kickoff on a crisp Sunday in Barcelona. The change in weather appeared to be a signal from the heavens to welcome a fresh look, after both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would not feature in the rivalry match for the first time since Ronaldo arrived in the Spanish capital in 2009.

  • How Barcelona, Real Madrid help El Clasico evolve into the world's first $8 billion sporting event

    El Clasico is never just another match, of course, but Sunday’s El Clasico is the first $8 billion match in the history of sport. Sunday’s 177th league El Clasico features Real Madrid valued at $4.088 billion and Barcelona valued at $4.064 billion, good enough for the fourth- and third-most valuable sports franchises, respectively — behind only Manchester United and the Dallas Cowboys per Forbes’ 2018 valuations. No match in any sport has featured two clubs valued at a combined $8 billion, and unlike the recent state of the Cowboys and United, Barcelona and Real Madrid have continued to succeed in the field of play and in the financial arena.

  • While that other superstar departed La Liga, Messi has been as great as usual for Barcelona

    Lionel Messi is still, incredibly quietly, the best player on the planet and, probably, the greatest player of all time. Barcelona to win the Champions League always seems like a smart bet at the start of a campaign, but the current run for Messi with Barcelona is greater than simply winning 4-0 on Tuesday night at Camp Nou. For starters, Real Madrid hoarding Champions League trophies with Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo speaks for itself, but Barcelona was still clearly the best team in Spain last season, not Madrid.

  • How much has Liverpool closed the gap on Manchester City?

    The 2018-19 Premier League season is upon us. To get you set for the planet’s most enthralling 38-game soccer circuit, Yahoo Sports’ Premier League XI will delve into the 11 most compelling questions ahead of the coming campaign. Next up is Liverpool’s expensive but ambitious quest to reclaim the English top flight.

  • Thanks to Belgium, the Premier League has already won the 2018 World Cup

    Belgium may go on to win the World Cup, but the biggest winner of the 2018 World Cup is England — more accurately, the Premier League. Nine of the 11 starters Belgium picked out to beat Brazil in the quarterfinals ply their trade in the Premier League, and Belgium’s squad is, in many ways, a Premier League All-Star team. The front line picked to face Brazil by Belgium boss Roberto Martinez, who made his bones as an England top-flight manager, was stacked with Premier League stars: Manchester United’s $100 million striker Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea’s three-time Player of the Year Eden Hazard and the Premier League’s 2018 Playmaker of the Year Kevin De Bruyne.

  • This isn't the same old Mexico, and that's precisely why El Tri has a chance against Brazil

    On a turnover of possession, Andres Guadado takes possession of the ball and immediately searches for and finds Carlos Vela. Vela uses his La Liga and Arsenal pedigree, combined with his familiarity with playing as a central playmaker, to skillfully hold and advance the ball to Miguel Layun on the right wing. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, centrally, and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano from the opposite wing attack the box as Layun plays the final ball in or drops his shoulder to take the chance himself.

  • Messi facing almost unwinnable battle compared to Ronaldo at World Cup

    Winning the 2018 World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo is a luxury and a dream. For Lionel Messi, it is a necessity. Anything short of making it a reality would be devastating to the Argentine's psyche.

  • Neymar boosts Brazil, but the five-time World Cup champions are now built to survive without him

    Brazil in 2018 is better without Neymar than Brazil in 2014 was with Neymar. Neymar may not have worn the captain’s armband, but he was Brazil in 2014. Consequently, a break in Neymar’s vertebrae fractured Brazil.

  • Salah enters Champions League final as Premier League's best player, and much more to those around the world

    In Arabic, “Salah” means “righteousness,” “goodness” and “peace,” and Mohamed Salah has brought the peace, goodness and righteousness out of football fans across the United Kingdom and instantly become an Egyptian and Muslim icon in Great Britain. In English, “Salah” refers to the Muslim prayer, which is fitting considering the Liverpool forward unapologetically drops to his knees and bows in the style of the Muslim prayer after every goal —even the ones he did not celebrate against his former club, Roma. In all, Salah scored 32 goals in the Premier League, which set a new record for a 38-match season in the most famous league on the planet, but his impact this season has spread far beyond the pitches in England or the red half of the city that celebrates the Egyptian’s striking speed and educated finishing.

  • As the curtain drops on Iniesta's European career, he'll go down as one of the greats

    Andres Iniesta de la Mancha lived out a reality that seems like a hallucination. The silverware is easy to point to as a marker, but Iniesta meant far more to the sport and to the club than the shiny objects the club celebrated at the end of seemingly every season he served. In many ways, Iniesta kept Barcelona in Spain.

  • Is Mourinho worth the money for Man United? It's time to start asking the question

    Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers to ever take residence on a sideline. At Manchester United, Mourinho is struggling to accomplish something, frankly, he has never done before: maintain stability. More than simply winning the Premier League, Champions League or collecting noteworthy silverware, the Portuguese is tasked with returning the glory, glory to Manchester United.

  • Pep Guardiola's Man City cracking Premier League myth, building a masterpiece

    Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is off to a record start looking worthy of joining Manchester United as the only Premier League team to win the European Treble

  • Barcelona-Juventus megaclash kicks off 2017-18 Champions League

    Barcelona vs Juventus kicks off the 2017-18 Champions League group stages with an early test for 2 of Europe's giant clubs at the Camp Nou on Sept 12, 2017

  • Zidane's Real Madrid broke Barcelona and continues breaking history

    Real Madrid has grown into the planet’s most dominant side, and it’s been at the expense of Barcelona. Real Madrid and Barcelona have flipped roles, and all it took was Zinedine Zidane. Real Madrid has become the best team on the planet and only looks to be stronger than ever at the start of a new season, highlighted by a 5-1 aggregate beatdown of Barcelona using a mix of weakened lineups that featured 23-year-old Mateo Kovacic in both legs, received only about 25 minutes of Cristiano Ronaldo and witnessed Gareth Bale, Casemiro and Isco left out of the starting XI of the second leg.

  • Premier League preview week: Will Guardiola's spending yield a Man City dynasty?

    Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have spent about a half a billion dollars in 13 months, and their goal appears to be the assembly of world class talents in the hopes to build a dynasty that can rule the Premier League and legitimately challenge in the Champions League.