Wanted at the World Cup: More and better from Neymar

ZURICH, June 22, 2018 - Continental titles, FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 qualifiers and an influx of new names have seen the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking enjoy a fair shake-up since March.After dropping out of the top ten for the first time in over a decade three months ago, Japan (6th, up 5) have made a swift return to the upper echelons after lifting the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Brazil (7th, up 1) have also enjoyed a boost from lifting the Copa América Femenina.A reshuffle on the podium has seen Germany (2nd, up 1) and France (3rd, up 2) edge out England (4th, down 2), with Canada ...

MOSCOW, June 21, 2018 - Winning the World Cup is not essential for a footballer to be considered one of the all-time greats. Johan Cruyff, Alfredo di Stefano, Stanley Matthews and Ferenc Puskas never won the World Cup.Unfortunately for Lionel Messi, he has always been weighed down by the expectation of raising the gold trophy in his perceived role of heir to Diego Maradona who was one of the all-time greats and did win the World Cup, back in 1986.Naturally this is unfair on Barcelona’s Messi, with a staggering 600-plus goals to his credit for club and country over the past 14 years. But his World ...