If Martin Bengtsson feels stressed he kicks a football around on his own and, almost immediately, the tension begins to ebb away. “Nowadays I play for meditation,” he says. “I have a very natural and close relationship with the ball; we still have a good rapport.”

Bengtsson is 36 but, 20 years ago, his first touch was so seamlessly adhesive that opponents could have been forgiven for believing he and footballs were inseparable. The then Sweden youth international was such a gifted midfielder that he was swiftly snapped up by Internazionale’s academy; which is where everything went wrong.

He arrived in Milan hyped as one of the biggest talents Sweden had produced but departed less than a year later in the g…

There is a storm brewing on the red side of Manchester. A tempestuous concoction of disappointing results, off-field issues and a club in flux has led to pressure being heaped on Manchester United’s manager Marc Skinner in recent weeks by a section of the team’s famously vocal supporters. “Skinner Out” signs have been increasingly visible in stadiums and chants on the same lines have become more audible as fans express their frustration at their title hopes and, perhaps more significantly, their European ambitions dwindling to a faint flicker.

It is a story emblematic of modern-day football, one that illustrates how fast things can change in an unforgiving sport. Just over seven months ago, while problems were building around player …

Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer claimed his first win of the 2024 season Saturday, beating his closest championship challenger Justin Allgaier to the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 checkered flag and giving Ford its first series win of the year. Custer's No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang took the lead from Allgaier on a restart with nine laps remaining and then held off the JR Motorsports Chevy by .670 seconds to secure his 14th career victory in a thrilling finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. He becomes the first driver to win multiple NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the historic 2.5-mile track — answering his 2019 win. "You just try to manage it the best you can but it's kind of the luck of the draw who gets the best push," a smiling Custer …

If you just picked road teams ATS last weekend, you’re 5-1-1. If you’re a smart gambler, congratulations, you had a great week. But there’s no such thing as “smart gambler.” You probably folded like me. The only road teams I picked on Super Wild-Card weekend were the Ravens (check) and Bears (bad beat). So I’m currently 1-4-1. That’s not the playoff start I was hoping for, and these certainly are not bets to bank on … yet. But with four games in two days I have a chance to be back in this thing. I’ve gone 4-0 before, and I expect to do it again. Here’s who I like today. Rams at Packers (-6.5) source: Getty Images Jared Goff will get the start today after John Wolfrord was ruled out. Blake Bortles (remember him?) will back up Goff, who recently underwent thumb sur…

I doubt a college football game from 2019 will be used as scouting tape for an NFC Championship Game, especially when Brock Purdy was only a sophomore and that was the sole season that Jalen Hurts played in Lincoln Riley’s offense at Oklahoma. Highlights from the matchup went viral on Twitter earlier this week. Taking a look at the box score and the final score it appeared to be a good old-fashioned Big 12 fireworks show. Oklahoma won at home, 41-42. Purdy totaled six touchdowns on the day and Hurts scored five. I went back and watched the entire game, and it played out more like freeze tag than it did a track meet. It was fast at points, but overall very choppy. Also, if Purdy’s performance against the Philadelphia Eagles that night is similar to his Nov. 9, 2019, one in Norman,…

Bryce Young is certainly a deserving Heisman Trophy winner. Alabama’s sophomore quarterback has thrown for 4,322 yards with 43 touchdowns and four interceptions this season, completed 68 percent of his passes, and despite not being a big-time runner, carried three scores in himself. Young also is the fifth quarterback in the last six years to win the Heisman, after a run of four straight was broken last year by Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith. There have been 22 Heisman winners in this century, and all but four — Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, and Smith — have been quarterbacks. You have to go back to 1997-99, with Charles Woodson, Ricky Williams, and Ron Dayne, to find the last time the Heisman went to someone other than a signal-caller in back-to-back years. You�…

2013 was a banner year for televised cursing. Of course, when A.J. "Fuckin' Shit" Clemente made his appearance, we knew we were in for something special—but he's far from the only media or sports person to utter expletives on-air. Here's our favorite profane moments of 2013. (See last year's version here.) …

These photos, collected from the year in sports, will restore your faith in humanity, will make you say "awwwww," and you probably can't make it through them without crying. Also there's lots of people getting hit in the face, like this Raiders fan. Click through for more, and add anything we missed below. Hesitant champagne bukkake.
There's still a lot going on here.
Tom Brady could not fucking throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.
The Olympic spirit.
The Steelers fan experience.
LOOK AT LEBRON'S GODDAMN SMILE.
…

Here's Anthony Davis casually catching an alley-oop—Basketball Twitter is saying he invented the block-steal, but you can't block an alley-oop before the oop happens, c'mon—and then dribbling to the other end for a dunk during a USA Basketball scrimmage. He's still a mutant basketball player of terrifying skill. [ @BeyondTheBuzzer] …

data-mm-id=”_dhv832p0u”>Conor McGregor returned to the octagon last night in dominant fashion, TKO-ing Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in 40 seconds. Soon after his fans came back to reality, the discussion transitioned to his next fight. Here is a look at the four best options for McGregor:Jorge MasvidalA brawl with Masvidal is the most exciting matchup that can take place inside the octagon right now. The first step is complete after McGregor ignited the sport yet again Saturday night. While their star power isn't comparable, Masvidal became the sport's biggest draw in McGregor's absence. The UFC is at its best when the build-up is WWE-like, and this is the closest we would get to that. Sure, there is a concern that Masvidal is too big, but that isn't stopping…