Thomas Muller is one of the marquee names who followed Lionel Messi to the MLS and the veteran German forward has made quite the impression.

The 36-year-old joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in August last year after bringing an end to a trophy-laden 25-year spell at Bayern Munich. While European fans knew all about his world-class ability and bubbly personality, the American fanbase have seen just how special a talent he is.

Muller’s debut season with the Caps saw him live up to expectations with 14 goals and seven assists in 32 games. If that wasn’t enough, he has now set a record at one of the MLS‘ biggest showpieces.

Thomas Muller Makes MLS History

Muller took part in the MLS All-Star Shooting Challenge, which is the main event for the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge. Players are given 30 seconds per shooting round with 11 fixed targets in place valued at two, five, and 10 points, while another moving target worth 20 points is activated in the final 20 seconds.

The 2014 World Cup winner broke the record with an astounding 79 points after hitting 10 of 11 targets. This included the 20-point moving target.

You can watch Muller’s record-breaking achievement below:

The commentators were blown away and one told him:

Football fans were also in awe, and many pointed out how the German looked to have enjoyed himself, with one writing on Reddit: “Muller is the perfect star for these games. You just know he’s having a blast.”

Another added: “Son and Muller talked about how fun they are having doing the challenges, but yet some people in Europe s*** on having fun lol.”

One wrote: “I love watching absolutely class athletes do stuff like this and remind us they’re on another level.”

Last year’s record holder, Evander of FC Cincinnati, was later given the chance to defend the previous 72-point record, and he matched Muller’s tally of 79 points. The yearly contest is heating up and is growing in popularity with fans not just in the US but around the globe.

Other top footballing names to have taken part in the past include Arsenal duo Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz. Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min also took the challenge on after joining Los Angeles FC last summer.

Muller Missed Out on MLS Cup Glory to Messi

While Muller may have picked up an individual honour by breaking the record in the MLS All-Star Shooting Challenge, he failed to win a trophy in his first season with the Caps. After helping Jesper Sorensen’s side reach the MLS Cup final, they came up against Messi’s Inter Miami.

Muller captained his new team in a 3-1 defeat to David Beckham’s co-owned Herons in December, with Messi grabbing two assists on the day. It was bittersweet for the most decorated German footballer in history, but he certainly wowed supporters during his debut campaign.

The former Bayern star has already started his sophomore season as his side drew 0-0 against Minnesota United on Sunday. The Caps next face LAFC at home on August 2nd.

Tottenham fans have been left worried by growing rumours of a serious injury to one of their star new signings over the last day or so. Excitement among Spurs fans is at a real high after a £237million spending bill that has seen the North London club sign the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke among others.

Roberto De Zerbi is being backed like no Spurs boss before him, with the club commissioning a club-record spend so far this summer, and it’s expected the spending will continue, leading to an attacking signing or two between now and the end of the window in early September.

In the meantime, Tottenham are currently working on their fitness with pre-season preparations in Australia, specifically in Sydney, and De Zerbi is putting the players through their paces, which will come as no surprise given the fitness demands of the way his teams play the game.

Tottenham’s Mateus Fernandes injury fears eased

via Reuters

After footage emerged of Fernandes sitting out a training session in Australia, fans began to speculate that he might have an injury, and those rumours quickly graduated to talk of a serious injury like an ACL rupture. But according to Alasdair Gold of Football.London, the rumours are unfounded, and there is no concern over a serious injury.

Fernandes is expected to sit out Tottenham’s next pre-season friendly, according to the report, but it part of De Zerbi requiring a high workload of the players who were part of the initial pre-season group, which excluded the World Cup participants.

The hard work required of those players early on has meant the club has had to monitor their fitness levels closely, and those in danger of being overworked, or indeed those with some early summer niggles, will sit out sessions, or even games, to avoid any true risk of a significant injury. Clearly, De Zerbi values the hard work in training more than the pre-season games, and it will be interesting to see what results are yielded, given the injury troubles Tottenham have had over the last couple of years.

But De Zerbi wants fitter and faster, and that’s not an easy process for players during a hard, and usually hot, pre-season. The good news for Spurs fans is that Fernandes appears to be fine.

Reality check for Spurs players

via Reuters

Many Tottenham players have spoken about the ambition shown by De Zerbi about this Spurs project, and even Fernandes himself said when signing: “I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. The way he spoke with me, with my family, it was very special… it made the decision easy.”

But they are now realising the hard work required to reach the standards of the Italian boss, and that playing within some styles of play require an elite level of fitness that simply does not come without a relentless training block.

The 2026 World Cup will go down as one of the most controversial in history and FIFA have been dealing with immense criticism.

Conspiracy theories, contentious refereeing decisions, the suspension of a red card ban and a brawl after a disappointing final marred the greatest tournament in football. Spain became champions, dethroning Argentina, whom the sporting body were accused of trying to ensure remained in the competition for as long as possible.

La Abiceleste’s journey to the final took many twists and turns, which included a drama-filled comeback victory over Egypt. They also beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals, taking advantage of Breel Embolo’s second-half sending off.

IFAB Claim Embolo Sending Off Incorrect

Denny Medley (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)

Argentina won 3-1 against the Swiss courtesy of goals from Alexis Mac Allister (10′), Julian Alvarez (112′), and Lautaro Martinez (120+1′). Their two extra-time goals came after Embolo’s red card in the 72nd minute and at that time the European nation were largely the better team.

Embolo received his marching orders after VAR opted to overturn Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro’s on-field decision. He initially ruled that Leandro Parades had fouled the Rennes forward, but VAR stepped in and deemed that there was no contact and handed the player a second yellow card for simulation.

A mistaken identity rule was used to send Embolo off and led to huge backlash, including from Switzerland manager Murat Yakin. He said that it “destroyed our game.” Others in the sport hit out at the ruling and two weeks later the IFAB (International Football Association Board) gave their verdict.

The IFAB released a statement this week and insisted that a yellow card “can only be reviewed to identify the player who committed the offence that was penalised.” The football lawmakers claim that although the use of the mistaken identity clause to deal with simulation was “well received” during the World Cup, it will not be used “until a review is concluded.”

This wasn’t the only occasion the mistaken identity clause had been used during the tournament. Tim Ream had a yellow card rescinded after VAR alerted referee Danny Makkelie that the wrong player had been penalised for an offense in the USA’s 4-1 win over Paraguay during the group stage.

The booking was transferred to Miguel Almiron instead after Makkelie rewatched the incident on the pitchside monitor. The IFAB’s statement confirms that, technically, both uses of the clause were incorrect because neither player committed the same foul.

‘Cannot be Disputed’ – FIFA Respond to IFAB

FIFA president Gianni Infantino via REUTERS/Gareth Bumstead

FIFA have now responded to the IFAB and strongly defended their interpretation of the mistaken identity clause. On X, their FIFA Media account wrote:

“FIFA’s interpretation of Mistaken Identity was consistently applied during the FIFA World Cup. There were two instances in which a player was mistakenly identified as having committed a yellow card offence and the VAR advised the referee to correct the factual error caused by the opponent’s simulation. The simulation itself cannot be disputed and it should not result in a disciplinary sanction against an opponent that may then lead to further consequences, such as a sending off for a second yellow card or a match suspension for accumulated cautions.”

They added: “We do not consider this to have been a referee or VAR error and the decision restored justice. We note IFAB’s comments in its Circular, we have been in contact with them throughout and they confirmed that this interpretation is valid, that it was well received and that it will form part of the discussion on revisions to the VAR Protocol, as discussed at the last AGM.”

The main issue surrounding the use of the clause is the wording of the existing protocol and is set to lead to further discussions about VAR’s scope for intervening in simulation cases. The standard of refereeing became a major talking point throughout the tournament, as did FIFA’s handling of big calls.

Embolo’s wasn’t even the biggest controversy to take place at the World Cup. FIFA’s decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban for a sending off in the USA’s Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegoniva came after influence from the White House.