Lionel Messi

I was in charge of a soccer team. In some small sense, I was participating in the beautiful game.

But this Inter squad is full of unsung heroes. Chief among them is one of our own — former Cal goalkeeper Drake Callender. Callender decided the shootout at both ends. After scoring the go-ahead goal, he also batted away his opposite number’s effort to confirm the win.

With the rise of association football culture in the United States, Christian Pulisic is an individual at the forefront of this movement. With accomplishments both at the club and international level, it is likely only a matter of time until we see more Americans performing at a world stage like Captain America himself.

The news of Busquets’ move to MLS comes after Messi announced June 7 that he will be playing for Miami after the end of his contract with PSG. The former teammates will reunite in Miami this summer, with Messi’s first appearance scheduled for July 21.

On a smaller scale, many Latines experience the same thing. My parents moved to the U.S. for a better life. The opportunities they pursued in their early careers simply do not exist in the Southern Cone.

On June 7, Lionel Messi announced that he will go to Inter Miami next season. It's time to change “football” to “soccer.”

UC Berkeley undergraduate Alexander Denny, a literature aficionado and guitarist remembered by friends as a “beautiful person,” died unexpectedly in his bed Nov. 1.

Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester City or Lyon will challenge Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta, RB Leipzig or Atlético Madrid for a Champions League title.

Oh, yeah, and the greatest soccer you will ever see is played by women.

The road to this season’s Champions League finals has been paved by both surprise and lack thereof. This week’s matchups reflect those two opposites.