The Brazilian playmaker insisted to GOAL that his inspiration as a footballer comes from one of the game's greats, and hopes that channeling a bit of his samba flair can bring the MLS Cup to Cincinnati.

The Women's Asian Cup begins on March 1, kickstarting a month that will see two of the premier major tournaments in the women's game take place, with the Africa Cup of Nations kicking-off on March 17 after reverting back to a springtime slot following back-to-back summer editions. It means two thrilling continental championships will be decided over the course of the next few weeks, but the impact these tournaments will have on the continuing club competitions also promises to be fascinating, as teams across the women's game say goodbye to some of their best players for a few weeks.

After all that followed it, it may have been forgotten just how good Vinicius Jr's goal to beat Benfica was last week. The Brazil winger has a fine catalogue for Real Madrid, but this was surely among the best. Vinicius cut inside before using the outline of a defender to shape his shot into the top corner. It was a truly wonderful moment of individual expression - one that absolutely should be celebrated.

Newcastle eased into the last 16 of the Champions League as they ran out 3-2 winners over Qarabag on Tuesday to secure a 9-3 aggregate win in their play-off encounter. Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Sven Botman got the on the scoresheet for Eddie Howe's men, who will now face Chelsea or Barcelona in the next round.

GOAL breaks down the big move and what it means for all of those involved.

Manchester United's 1-0 win at Everton was the perfect showcase for the recruitment team. The goal was the work of the three summer signings: started by Matheus Cunha, packaged by Bryan Mbeumo and clinically dispatched by Benjamin Sesko. The lead was then protected by the man who is proving to be United's best signing of the last year and looks like their best hire for many years: Senne Lammens.

Manchester City hoped, and may even have expected that a midfielder called Nico would transform their fortunes during the second half of last season. The man that has become key to Pep Guardiola’s side’s mid-season surge and made them contenders to pull off the quadruple is not, however, the gangly Nico Gonzalez, who was recruited from Porto for £50 million last January, but rather academy graduate Nico O’Reilly, who cost nothing at all.

Anthony Gordon's 2025-26 Champions League campaign is the greatest by any English scorer for an English club in the competition's history. That's a fact. With his four-goal haul for Newcastle in last week's 6-1 hammering of Qarabag, he broke the record for most goals scored by an Englishman for a Premier League side in a single Champions League season, taking his tally to 10 from nine games. Not even Alan Shearer managed such a number in those famous black-and-white stripes.