Soccer Page 171 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
US Men’s Soccer Team Can Screw Up World Cup Qualifying in a Whole New Way This Time
If you can believe it, World Cup Qualifying in CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) was supposed to have started already. However, with FIFA canceling the spring, summer, and September international windows due to COVID-19, the North American region ...
NWSL Restart a COVID-Free Success as Houston Dash Win Challenge Cup
As strange as it may sound, maybe because good news is rarer these days than adamantium, the NWSL Challenge Cup wrapped up today and would have to go down as a success. At the top of the “reasons why” list: after the Orlando Pride pulled out before even arriving in Utah, the tournament saw no positi...
Leicester Pull Another Brendan Rodgers, And Villa Hero’s Final Act Saves Them In Premier League’s Last Day
There was a lot to be decided on the Premier League’s long-awaited final day this morning. Two relegation spots, and two spots in the Champions League, were still up for grabs when things kicked off. It didn’t lack for drama....
Leeds United Are Finally Back Where They Belong
Anyone who claims returning from the land of the dead isn’t possible should cast their skeptical eye to the Premier League in September when the 2020-2021 season kicks off. There they’ll find Leeds United, promoted this past weekend, who will be returning from a decade-and-a-half spent in a formless...
Even Though It’s Broken, 'MLS Is Back' Can Still Teach Us About Life
The “MLS Is Back” tournament certainly has already taught us much about the world — or this country specifically. How greed and corporations can run roughshod over personal concerns, how clear logic will never apply in that process, and how the working stiffs don’t get much of a say. Also that Disne...
Manchester City Are Destroying Everything In Its Path, Including UEFA
If it’s felt like Manchester City are just an irresistible, and inevitable force, today will only underline that. Not only have they outscored their opposition since soccer returned 25-3, or won six of their eight games, or still have a very good chance at claiming three trophies this season (alread...
Soccer Doesn't Have a Coronavirus Problem, the MLS Does
Professional sports have been back for months....
Arsenal’s Defending Continues To Be The Best Television
With production shut down on everything in Hollywood these days, you might be worried that soon your entertainment options will run dry. Comedies you’ve come to count on to provide just enough giggles to get through this death march of a timeline might not be around. Don’t you worry, weary traveler,...
MLS’s ‘New Normal’ Is a Bleak, Barren Field With Ads Plastered Everywhere
As the first American men’s league and the first league to actually bring to life the dog-in-a-burning-room meme, MLS hit the field last night. We didn’t know what it was before, other than a vague, bad idea, and it doesn’t feel like we have much more of an idea now....
Philadelphia Union Players Surprise MLS With Names of Police Brutality Victims on Their Backs
Before kicking off the second MLS game in the “MLS is Back” tournament, the Philadelphia Union paid tribute to the Black American victims of police brutality....
What Exactly Is MLS’ Endgame?
The lie that every league in the U.S. has sold, and not very well, is that it can return to action safely, even if in spaces where COVID-19 is raging. Even the leagues that are returning only in Florida, where they set records daily on new cases and the state government’s response is like trying to ...
Has Barcelona Finally Broken Lionel Messi?
Everything about Barcelona the past decade and a half has been about pushing things until they break. Sometimes that’s good, as its dominance on the field has yielded an ungodly sum of league titles and four Champions’ League triumphs....
Iceland’s New Crest Will Make You Want to Fight the Nearest Bear
The Football Association of Iceland released its new crest today, and to describe it “as the most metal thing you’ve ever seen” does it an injustice. From now on, any heavy metal song will now be described as, “That’s Iceland’s crest.”...
The Premier League’s Upstarts Have Stalled Out
Every team in every league that decided to return to play after the pandemic shutdown was going to struggle to hold onto their form from before the break. Three months without playing, and weeks and weeks of not even training, made everything a crapshoot. For teams that seemingly had something magic...
USA Doesn’t Have a Monopoly on Racially Coded Language in Sports
Baseball is America’s national pastime, but the use of racially coded language when referring to players is not a phenomenon that’s specific only to baseball. Certainly, if you’ve heard about an NFL cornerback with “deceptive speed” or an NBA guard with “outstanding leadership qualities,” you can ma...
It’s All Going Wrong for Barcelona and Messi Can’t Save It Any More
It was a big ask for any football club to hang on to whatever they had before the shutdown due to coronavirus. A three-month break is larger than the normal offseason these teams get. When everything was on ground as shaky as Barcelona’s lead in La Liga, it was probably always doomed. The only thing...
Liverpool’s Dominant Title Win Driven By Efficiency
Over the week leading up to Liverpool clinching the Premier League title on Thursday with Manchester City’s loss to Chelsea, NBC wanted you to believe that their 30-year wait was on par with some of the more storied championship droughts in North America. Hell, a great number of Liverpool supporters...
The NWSL Takes a Knee
Twenty-two starters clothed in Black Black Lives Matter T-shirts from the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns knelt during the national anthem before the National Women’s Soccer League kicked off their first game of the Challenge Cup Saturday. ...
American Christian Pulisic’s Magisterial Goal is a Must See
Hey, remember back in 1990 when you were super-stoked to watch American John Harkes be a non-factor for non-factor Sheffield Wednesday? He was the first American to play in the English Premier League and we were all amazed. Don’t pretend you weren’t....
As the NWSL Tournament Nears, Utah COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise
Another bubble is about to burst in the sports world and no, this one’s not in Florida....