Lionel Messi scored all four goals in Barcelona's 4-0 win over Espanyol because, well, that's just what he does. His fourth goal marked his 50th La Liga goal of the season and 72nd in all competitions -- a new record, surpassing the 70 Archie Stark scored for Bethlehem Steel in 1924/25.

After putting away the penalty, Messi jogged over to outgoing manager Pep Guardiola to give him a hug, which quickly became a team embrace.

Featured image: Courtesy of Dan Morrison and bethlehemsteelsoccer.org

Against the expectation of many in the US, the United States Football Association's first international tour in Scandinavia in the summer of 1916 had been a great success. The cash-strapped USFA had come out of the trip in the black—the Swedish FA had paid for the tour thanks to the backing of a leading Swedish newspaper—and the team had performed well to garner a 3–1–2 record despite having been put together only days before departure to Europe without the benefit of tryouts.

By Chris Wright

'Twas Pep's last game at the Nou Camp yesterday eve before he buggers off on his Gap Year, and the Barca fans gave him an emotional send-off during their 4-0 win over Espanyol unfurling a huuuge banner before the game reading 'T'ESTIMEM PEP!', which loosely translates as 'WE LOVE YOU!

John Nyen on the U.S. Open Cup.

years ago there was some big news in association football.

World War I was finally finished and in England, official competitive football was allowed to resume (between 1914 to 1919 the FA Cup and League Cup were suspended due to the war with regional competitions taking place in their stead).

The Bethlehem Steel FC tour to St. Louis in December of 1916 for the unofficial title of "Champions of America" was not the first time a Philadelphia-area team had made a trip out West. Five years before, Tacony FC, the winners of the American Football Association's American Cup tournament in 1910 and a semifinalist in the tournament in 1911, had made the same trip in what would be the first of a series of exhibition matches between St.

The earliest internationals in Philadelphia involved English clubs such as the Pilgrims and the Corinthians, teams imbued with the spirit of amateurism who embarked on North American tours between 1905 and 1911 that were motivated both by the desire to show Americans how the game of soccer was meant to be played and to make money.

Featured image: The Bethlehem Steel FC victory float after winning their second US Open Cup, then known as the National Challenge Cup, on May 6, 1916. (Photo: (Photo: University Archives & Special Collections Department, Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Tuesday night will be the first time that the Philadelphia Union has hosted a US Open Cup match.

Barcelona provided Pep Guardiola with the perfect sendoff by routing Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the Copa del Rey final on Friday night, the club's 14th trophy in four seasons under its most successful coach.

Pedro Rodriguez scored in the third and 25th minutes, and Lionel Messi ended his record-setting season with his 73rd goal in the 20th minute.