Soccer

Soccer superstar Neymar says he has Michael Jordan to thank for inspiring him to achieve greatness -- saying even when he was a kid, he wanted to be like Mike.

Of course, Neymar happens to be a Jordan Brand athlete -- but he sat down to talk about #23 and gushed about his first pair of Jordans and how they impacted his life.

Neymar says he's always been impressed with MJ's work ethic -- and has tried to apply it to his own life.

Kiss-tiano Ronaldo????

Seems someone has finally tamed the tan stallion ... because Cristiano Ronaldo was getting VERY up close and personal with a hot blonde in Miami this weekend ... and even planted a kiss on her!

The two were all about the PDA -- holding each other in the pool ... and literally getting on top of each other on the deck chairs.

At one point, a smokin' hot friend came over and began smackin' the lady on her butt -- and no one complained.

Despite all the attention, Ronaldo has yet to put her on his Instagram page -- so, it's not official ... at least not yet.

11:09 AM PT -- MYSTERY SOLVED!!!

The woman is Cassandre Davis -- a Florida-based fitness model who's racked up more than 500k instagram followers due to her ass-centric workout videos.

Yeah, he's not good.

Here's Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar trying his hand at golf ... and failing miserably.

He's currently in the middle of one of the richest contract negotiations in pro sports ... but Thursday night soccer superstar Paul Pogba decided to HIT THE CLUB!!

TMZ Sports has footage of the 23-year-old Juventus player leaving 1 OAK nightclub in Hollywood after 2 AM -- while surrounded by an entourage that was slapping anyone trying to record the guy on their cell phones.

Pogba had reportedly undergone a medical exam while in L.A. -- while Manchester United continued to work on a 5-year deal that would pay the superstar roughly $90 MILLION!

Here's Team France national soccer star Loic Remy explaining why he's all about Hillary Clinton for president ... and then showing off his insane abs.

Remy was out at a Hublot event in L.A. with his Chelsea teammates when he explained why he thinks it would be cool to see Hillary in the White House ... "It's good to have a woman president."

We also asked if he had any workout advice for people at home trying to get some abs -- that's when he busted out his own washboard situation and told us, "I was born with a 6-pack."

He's one of the BEST goalkeepers in the world ... and Chelsea superstar Thibaut Courtois says he's considering moving to the U.S. and playing in the MLS one day.

The 24-year-old superstar was at a Hublot event in L.A. Thursday night -- when we asked if he would ever consider following in the footsteps of stars like David Beckham and Robbie Keane who migrated from the Premiere League to the MLS.

"Yeah, I might retire here," Courtois said ... "It's nice to have an experience abroad of Europe and if I would choose a country to do that it would be here."

There's more with Thibaut, we also ask the Belgian-born athlete:

-- Is your daughter going to play soccer?

-- What's your favorite Belgian beer?

-- Who's the best player to ever score on you?

-- Can the U.S. ever win a World Cup?

More freakish displays of athleticism from Odell Beckham Jr.

The NY Giants superstar visited FC Bayern Munich practice in Germany Friday morning ... and put his impressive soccer skills on display with stars Xabi Alonso and David Alaba.

OBJ played soccer as a kid ... and was so good, he claims he could've gone pro if he didn't give up the game to pursue other sports.

French soccer superstar Patrice Evra was in L.A. during the horrific terror attack in Nice Thursday ... but tells TMZ Sports he's crushed over the situation ... and sad for the future.

The 35-year-old -- who just played with France during the 2016 Euro Cup -- was leaving Mr Chow in Beverly Hills last night ... when he got emotional about the incident.

"We're really sad," Evra said ... "We have to stop."

Evra says he also realizes there will likely be more terrible days like this time to come -- "The future is no good. It's not looking good at all. That's why it's a sad day."

He left with one final message ... "We're all son of god."

Portugal national soccer teams fans went ABSOLUTELY BONKERS after their team won the '16 Euro Cup ... LIGHTING FIRES in the streets ... after their 1-0 victory over France.

A MASSIVE crowd assembled at Futebol Park Alameda in Lisbon to watch the match. It started off bad ... with Ronaldo injured on the pitch, sobbing.

By the end of the night ... fireworks, firecrackers, and regular ol' fires burned as the Portuguese fans turnt up.

No word if cops made any arrests ... but the partying looked peaceful.

Tracy McGrady doesn't give a damn about soccer and he wants the whole world -- which loves soccer -- to know it ... saying the beautiful game is a total freakin' waste of time.

We got McGrady out at LAX and asked him his thoughts on Messi and the whole Argentina meltdown from earlier in the week.

Here's the thing ... McGrady told us he has no thoughts on it ... because soccer is a terrible sport that he wouldn't dare waste any of his multimillionaire time on.

A shame actually ... we found a video that proves T-Mac actually has some real ball-kicking talent.

Chile was LIT after their team won the 2016 Copa America title ... literally ... with fans taking to the streets of Santiago for a massive celebration that included some pyrotechnic partying.

Only thing burning hotter than the fires in Chile? Argentina fans after Messi bricked that huge shot ... then FREAKIN' RETIRED after the match.

Congrats to the victors.

While Lionel Messi was busy sulking after his penalty kick choke, Team Chile was RAGING IN THE LOCKER ROOM ... celebrating with Bud Lights and golden trophy pics!

In fact, Alexis Sanchez -- winner of the Golden Ball (best player in the tournament) -- stripped down to his jockstrap and posed with his trio of golden awards ... the Copa trophy, his winner's medal and the Golden Ball.

Meanwhile the locker room at MetLife Stadium looked like a scene from "Dexter" -- with tarp laid down all over the place to make sure the beer and champagne celebration was easy to clean up.

Congrats to the winners -- question is ... you REALLY think Messi was serious about quitting his national team?

Team USA soccer goddess Christen Press says she LOVES the way her nude pics turned out in ESPN's Body Issue -- but says her bun-bearing days are over ... even if Playboy calls.

More freakish athleticism from NBA star Bismack Biyombo -- who put his soccer skills on display in NYC Wednesday ... crushing 4 GOALS in a celebrity charity match.

The Toronto Raptors star teamed up with some soccer pros and ex-NBA star Steve Nash for Steve's annual "Showdown in Chinatown" game which benefits the Steve Nash Foundation.

But Biyombo didn't just phone it in -- dude played HARD against the likes of Landon Donovan and other soccer pros.

The coach of the German national soccer team is apologizing for scratching his crotch and butt during a game AND IMMEDIATELY SNIFFING HIS FINGERS!!

The video went viral during the Germany vs. Ukraine match earlier this week ... when Joachim Löw was caught on camera digging down below and then taking a big whiff of the scent.

Now, Joachim is apologizing ... telling the media, "I saw the pictures as well and obviously sometimes you do things subconsciously. It happened and I am sorry."

"It was adrenaline and concentration. I will try to behave differently in the future."

Gross.

Pele's personal treasures are selling for INSANELY HIGH PRICES -- with his medal from the 1970 World Cup getting a winning bid of ... $500,000!!!!!

The medal was part of an incredible collection of Pele's trophies, awards and other memorabilia that hit the Julien's Auctions event in London.

The auction house has not yet revealed the ID of the baller who bought the $500k medal -- but damn. BTW, part of the proceeds benefit a Brazilian children's hospital.

In addition to the $500k medal. Here are some other big ticket items:

-- Pele's Jules Rimet Trophy ... $571,000

-- "1,000th Goal Ball" ... $117k

-- 1958 World Cup Winner's Medal ... $290k

-- Player of the Century award ... $83,000