Free Kick

Lionel Messi is considered by most soccer experts to be the best player in the world today, yet it's safe to assume a majority of Americans have never heard of him. Well, allow us to show a little video evidence to everyone out there as to why you should get to know him. During Barcelona's loss to Real Madrid in the 2012 Supercopa, Messi scored an amazing goal off a free kick. As you can see in the video above, it looks as if even some of the players on the field couldn't believe he scored.

If you watched the thrilling Seattle-Atlanta playoff game Sunday, which ended with the Falcons kicking a game-winning field goal to salvage a 30-28 victory over the Seahawks, you probably wondered what Seattle Coach Pete Carroll was so mad about after his team called a timeout to ice the kicker. TV replays showed him yelling at the official standing next to him, with TV commentators speculating that he was saying no one called timeout. Turns out he was mad about something else. Even though the whistle was blowing for the time-out, the Falcons center still snapped the ball, allowing Matt Bryant a free kick, which he missed wide right.

Daniel Gonzalez had a goal on a free kick nullified midway through the second half as Irvine Valley lost, 2-1, to Santa Barbara Tuesday in Santa Barbara. Gonzalez converted his free kick for an apparent goal, but the referee called the play dead, saying he hadn't blown his whistle. The Lazers (3-3-1) also had a shot hit the crossbar in the second half. Santa Barbara (2-3) took a 2-0 lead in the first half on goals by Pablo Arreola and Chris Parkin.

When the Galaxy played San Jose two weeks ago, the team was angered by calls it felt should have been made but weren't. Sunday, the Galaxy was crying foul over a call it thought shouldn't have been made but was. An infraction whistled on Galaxy midfielder Marcelo Sarvas four minutes into stoppage time led to Victor Bernardez's free-kick goal, giving the Earthquakes a 1-0 victory in the first match of the two-leg Western Conference semifinals at...

Chris Orizaba scored on a free kick at the 75th minute to break a 1-1 tie and give Katella High School (8-1-2) the championship of the Brea-Olinda boys' soccer tournament. Katella had tied the score at the 39th minute on a penalty kick by Brian Schenk after Gary Hurtarte of Bell Gardens High School had opened the scoring 10 minutes into the game.

Alberigo Evani scored on a free kick in overtime Sunday to give European champion A.C. Milan of Italy a 1-0 victory over South American champion Nacional Medellin of Colombia in the Toyota Cup soccer tournament. With just two minutes left in extra time, Evani's sharp kick from just outside of the penalty area got past Nacional's goalkeeper in the match played before a crowd of 62,000 at Tokyo's National Stadium.

It was all coming back to them, all of the Salsa mistakes that occurred during the past two games. Grab a lead, blow a lead. Kick it all goodby. Yes, they frittered away another two-goal lead Saturday night but, this time, a free kick by Paulinho with less than a minute to play against Tampa Bay saved the Salsa, 3-2. "Paulinho's great," Salsa goalkeeper Ian Feuer said. "He's amazing on those free kicks."

Junior fullback Jorge Pineda scored on a free kick from 35 yards in the second half as Birmingham High defeated Van Nuys, 1-0, in a Valley Pac-8 Conference boys' soccer match Wednesday at Birmingham. Goalkeeper Andrew Sherman recorded his fifth shutout as the Braves improved to 6-1, 2-1 in conference play. Van Nuys is 3-4, 0-2. Cleveland 3, El Camino Real 0--Todd Lunbeck, Juan Carlos Hernandez and Edwing Paz scored for Cleveland in a Northwest Valley Conference match at Cleveland.

Notre Dame completed its startling rise to the top of women's soccer, defeating previously undefeated Portland, 1-0, Sunday on Cindy Daws' free kick in sudden death to win the NCAA championship. Daws caught Portland goalkeeper Erin Fahey off guard, sending a 25-yard kick into the right corner of the net while Fahey was at the left post still trying to set up a wall of defenders. Fahey said she was asking the official whether the kick was direct or indirect when Daws struck.

Eight minutes, that's all it took. After that, the result was obvious. The United States, after a 4-0 victory over Japan on Tuesday, would be heading to Vasteras and a semifinal game there on Thursday. Japan would be heading for the airport and a flight home. As quarterfinal games go, this one was in the bag early. And it was Kristine Lilly, all 5 feet 4 and 128 pounds of her, who put it there. Awarded a free kick in the eighth minute 40 yards from goal, the U.S.

Lionel Messi is considered by most soccer experts to be the best player in the world today, yet it's safe to assume a majority of Americans have never heard of him. Well, allow us to show a little video evidence to everyone out there as to why you should get to know him. During Barcelona's loss to Real Madrid in the 2012 Supercopa, Messi scored an amazing goal off a free kick. As you can see in the video above, it looks as if even some of the players on the field couldn't believe he scored.

LONDON -- Carli Lloyd scored twice -- once in each half -- to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead over Japan early in the second half of the gold-medal game of the Olympic women's soccer tournament at Wembley Stadium on Thursday. Her first goal, in the eighth minute, came on a diving header after Alex Morgan, trapped along the end line, flipped a left-footed pass into the six-yard box for Abby Wambach. But Lloyd ducked in front of Wambach, got her head on the ball and drove it into the net. Then, nine minutes into the second half, Lloyd gathered the ball at midfield, dribbled more than 30 yards down the center of the pitch, stopped and drove a left-footed shot into the back of the net from just inside the penalty area.

The U.S. women's soccer team got the payback it was looking for Thursday by beating Japan, 2-1, in the Olympic gold-medal game before a crowd of 80,203 at Wembley Stadium. The attendance was an Olympic record as well as the largest crowd ever to see a women's game in Britain. The U.S. last played before a crowd that big in the 1999 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl. For the Americans, the loss avenged a painful decision in last summer's World Cup final, when the Japanese twice rallied from deficits to win the title on penalty kicks.

LONDON - Most of Canada will disagree, but some have found justification for the controversial calls made by Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen late in the second half of the U.S. soccer team's 4-3 overtime win against Canada in Monday's semifinal. First, to review: With Canada protecting a 3-2 lead with 12 minutes left in regulation, Pedersen flagged Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball longer than six seconds, a rarely invoked infraction. But rather than issuing a warning or a yellow card, the referee gave the U.S. an indirect free kick.

MANCHESTER, England — "That," Carli Lloyd said "was crazy. " And it was. Even for a women's soccer team that has made last-second goals, overtime heroics and nailbiting finishes commonplace, the United States' 4-3 overtime victory over Canada in the Olympic semifinals Monday was difficult to believe. Three times the Americans trailed and three times they rallied — the last time with the help of an unusual series of calls from Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen. Goalkeeper Hope Solo gave up more goals to Canada's Christine Sinclair in 51 minutes than she had against four entire teams in these Olympics — yet it was her sparkling save on Sophie Schmidt in the closing seconds of regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Lionel Messi converted a pair of penalty kicks in the first half to lead defending champion Barcelona over AC Milan, 3-1, Tuesday night and into the Champions League semifinals for the fifth straight season. In Munich, host Bayern beat Marseille 2-0 on goals by Ivica Olic in the 13th and 37th minutes for a 4-0 aggregate win. Following a 0-0 tie last week in the first leg of the total-goals series, Messi opened the scoring in the 11th minute after Luca Antonini slid into him from behind.

John Boveta's goal on a free kick with 14 minutes left broke a 1-1 tie and gave Foothill a 2-1 victory over Mater Dei in a first round CIF Southern Section 4-A boys' soccer playoff game Thursday afternoon at Foothill. Foothill, the Century League and defending 4-A champion, took a 1-0 lead two minutes before the half on a goal by sophomore forward Paul Thornton. The Monarchs, the Angelus League's second-place team, then tied it in the second half on a goal by Sammy George.

Joe-Max Moore's free kick in the second half Saturday gave the United States a 3-2 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer tournament at Anaheim Stadium. Trinidad's first goal came in the sixth minute after a weak pass by American midfielder Claudio Reyna was intercepted near midfield. The Caribbean team's captain, Russell Latapy, sent a perfect feed to charging Arnold Dwarika, who scored with a low shot to the far post.

Former Los Angeles Sol midfielder Aya Miyama scored the goal of her career on Monday when she curled a free kick into the back of the net to give Japan a 2-1 victory over New Zealand at the sixth Women's World Cup in Germany. Later, Mexico, inspired by the play of 16-year-old goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago, held favored England to a 1-1 tie in the first almost-upset of the 16-nation tournament. The two results left Japan at the top of Group B, with England and Mexico tied for second and New Zealand in last place.

Nine years have not changed him that much. He still has that shock of dark hair, that unshaven jaw, those eyes that flash this way and that. Always aware, always ready. In short, the look of a predator. That's what Carlos Ruiz was back in the day when he was the most dangerous striker in Major League Soccer. In 2002, he led the Galaxy to the league championship, picking up the MLS scoring title and most-valuable-player honors at the same time. Nine years ago. On Saturday night, Ruiz was back in Los Angeles, or at least in Carson, this time wearing the dark blue No. 20 uniform of the Philadelphia Union.