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No move summed up Netherlands’ pursuit of Total Football more than their first strike, a sweeping 20-pass sequence that saw every member of the Dutch side touch the ball. Denzel Dumfries’ pinpoint cutback found the right foot of Memphis Depay, who proceeded to lash a controlled strike into the bottom corner of the net. It was an artistic expression of footballing brilliance, the sort of move for which the Dutch have come to be known....

WORSE, ONLINE RETAILERS were coming off a dismal third quarter, in which sales had slipped 15 percent to $17 billion–the first decline in e-commerce history, according to Forrester Research. But the holiday now appears to be anything but bleak for online retailers. The strike is over, the war is on hold, consumers have told pollsters that economic malaise will have little effect on their holiday shopping and online sales have taken off....

Napoli have the potential to hurt Real Madrid The Belgian, 29, has hit the form of his life in recent weeks and enjoyed a fresh high at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara as the title hopefuls maintained their challenge in the most spectacular of fashions. Marek Hamsik and Lorezno Insigne had the visitors two goals clear inside seven minutes, and it would not be until after the half-hour mark that the former PSV striker found the target....

The long-serving Frenchman has announced that he will be leaving a post he has occupied for 22 years at the end of the current campaign. Pressure has been building on him for some time, with Wenger branding the protests against his reign “hurtful” in the wake of Sunday’s 4-1 victory over West Ham. He has shouldered much of the blame for regression at Emirates Stadium, with Arsenal no longer top-four regulars, but Mertesacker concedes that under-performing players must accept that they have let an iconic presence in north London down....

Chile forward Sanchez, whose contract at the Emirates Stadium expires at the end of the coming season, has been heavily linked with a move away. Arsenal to win any major trophy - 15/8 Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been reported as holding an interest in the former Barcelona man, who has been open in his desire to play Champions League football after Arsenal missed out on the top four last campaign....

New Star Soccer gives you the chance to virtually experience that journey, and to give you some inspiration we have looked back at how it all started for some of football’s most famous players. What will your first season be like? LIONEL MESSI Barcelona knew they had something special in Lionel Messi, and as early as age 16 he was featuring in first-team friendlies against Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk....

Lionel Messi has been given his second upgraded version this season, having scored a hat-trick against Ecuador to secure automatic qualification for Argentina. Messi’s overall rating improves from 93 to 94 in this new limited edition RW card. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah also has been given a boost, with an 85 rated version available in FIFA Ultimate Team packs after his two-goal performance booked Egypt’s place in Russia next summer....

Rakitic returns for Barca after City links Luis Enrique claimed to be confident in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday and asked the fans to come along to the stadium and support the team. However, it is the players who will need to overturn the first-leg deficit. Some of those could do little more and that is the case of Lionel Messi, who has impressed again at the start of the year with a goal against Athletic at San Mames and then the brilliant late leveller which saw Barca claim a point at Villarreal on Sunday....

In that respect, the Barcelona forward has a provocative trait in common with the most famous, yet seldom seen beast in Scottish folklore: the Loch Ness Monster. Revealed: Yaya’s weight loss regime Barca are in Scotland this week for Wednesday’s Champions League showdown with Celtic and, while those dwelling near Nessie’s supposed natural habitat 180 miles north of Glasgow are concerned with matters of the unknown, Brendan Rodgers’ side know all about the formidable force they will be up against....

A six-time Ballon d’Or winner played no part in the Blaugrana’s 4-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev on November 24. The decision was taken to hand the 33-year-old a well-earned rest as positive progress was already being made through continental competition. Barca had no need for Messi magic against Ukrainian opposition and will be hoping to see history repeat itself on Wednesday. Koeman’s side will be heading for Budapest 24 hours before facing Hungarian foes on a European stage....

Barca began to hit their stride, with our Head and Shoulders Super Player Lionel Messi usually the chief protagonist. He hurdled a lunging tackle from Lejeune to win a free-kick and force Yoel to push his bouncing strike to safety. At the end of a wonderful 31st-minute move, Messi had a shot blocked but Denis Suarez was on hand to drill superbly into the bottom-left corner from 20 yards....

Hip replacement surgery is a treatment option that’s considered when advanced hip arthritis leads to severe joint degeneration. Your healthcare provider may discuss this surgery with you if your hip arthritis is interfering with your normal activities and has not improved with non-surgical treatments. When you are considering hip replacement surgery, you probably want your implant to last a long time—hopefully, for the rest of your life. Over the past several decades, new hip replacement implants have come and gone....

Methotrexate can be an effective and usually safe drug, but it does have a long list of dose-dependent side effects. People who have Crohn’s disease typically do not receive this drug in high doses, so, although all of these side effects are possible, people taking it for Crohn’s disease are less likely to develop them. Methotrexate is to be taken only in close consultation and with close follow-up from a healthcare provider and any and all side effects should be discussed with your healthcare provider....

Colon, 42, will likely be New York’s fifth starter after trading away Jon Niese to the Pirates for Neil Walker. Colon went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA and 1.24 WHIP last season. He also dazzled fans with his abilities at the plate, logging eight hits — including a triple — and four RBIs. MORE: Hitting experts break down Bartolo Colon’s swing New York will have Colon, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler at their disposal next season....

As he enters his second season as the club’s majority owner, Steve Cohen continues to make it clear that he is willing to spend. In the 2021 offseason, he made a blockbuster trade for Francisco Lindor and then signed him to a $341 million extension; this offseason, he added Max Scherzer for $43.3 million per year. The Opening Day roster looks it could be the most expensive in MLB history....

Be it jumping into the crowd during one of the most famed brawls in NBA history, changing his name, hitting a clutch three-pointer to seal a championship and, now, coaching girls high school basketball, the former Ron Artest is completely unpredictable. "Choosing to coach the girls varsity basketball team at Pali High was an easy decision," free-agent World Peace wrote in a blog post. "Coach T is a great leader and the girls work hard....

Aguayo went limp on the ropes after being struck by Rey Mysterio Jr., or Oscar Gutierrez, a former WWE performer making his return to Mexican wrestling. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to reports. MORE: Aguayo death raises questions about ringside medical assistance It was Mysterio’s first match in Mexico’s Asistencia Asesoría y Administración LLC, or AAA, since 1997. MORE: Notable sports deaths of 2015...